tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58322742728730823162024-03-23T07:58:15.648-05:00Silver Linings!The blog is on my personal experiences during my USMLE journey. Please remember to help others when they reach out to you, since you might be the only one to do so!
My email is neilnf@gmail.com should you have any queries or suggestions.Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-3482381906028460912023-01-28T13:50:00.004-06:002023-01-28T13:50:39.385-06:00How to use Mendeley when writing a paper/citing articles?<p>I am writing this post to help my residents/researchers in writing their papers for publication. When I started out, I did not have the best tools to succeed, but thanks to my colleagues, mentors, and a LOT of people, I learned a lot and now I have a small number of publications. </p><p>To help everyone, I am going to break this post down into steps.</p><p>1. Create an account and install Mendeley- It is a free citation software that you can download <a href="https://www.mendeley.com/" target="_blank">here</a></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnawMsNIGPIpGztXxdR_OazJ_P5JegO4TocZaKuVL5gJXzx-iCdnzRXDzl-lkM3Nq6aTkeELKudbK_HQYaMBTMDd1_k4ppMuSHoo0TbSkq1MWTL1fPWOtcpg-QROOmgSR0o-5MjBEFMDSrEaWJ3yr6rKW2u8rgev7FYwoc30MprAdL95DFn3_9PaBXnQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="1019" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnawMsNIGPIpGztXxdR_OazJ_P5JegO4TocZaKuVL5gJXzx-iCdnzRXDzl-lkM3Nq6aTkeELKudbK_HQYaMBTMDd1_k4ppMuSHoo0TbSkq1MWTL1fPWOtcpg-QROOmgSR0o-5MjBEFMDSrEaWJ3yr6rKW2u8rgev7FYwoc30MprAdL95DFn3_9PaBXnQ=w640-h384" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>2. Once installed log into your account. You can drag and drop the paper to your account and the beauty of Mendeley is that it GENERALLY auto-recognizes the paper and adds the name title to it. For example the pdf file on your desktop maybe this <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPjHlmjkzs5akPbQCjNhYl_QpDwkjP1TYJ9F9-nQLX3kIDiQZhReyM6wHQ5t_2_IcH15U8pDW9WD_Gh94AjlUAddEwpZTsavN7Np443eUCz0NwH-WwLnVJ4PPcsu70UoVrGEmhI-bQ451y3nd4pPwxZ7UxlC_rRrBlnnRD-JuOp3cOzX74w5VxKaQjZQ" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="110" data-original-width="96" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPjHlmjkzs5akPbQCjNhYl_QpDwkjP1TYJ9F9-nQLX3kIDiQZhReyM6wHQ5t_2_IcH15U8pDW9WD_Gh94AjlUAddEwpZTsavN7Np443eUCz0NwH-WwLnVJ4PPcsu70UoVrGEmhI-bQ451y3nd4pPwxZ7UxlC_rRrBlnnRD-JuOp3cOzX74w5VxKaQjZQ=w92-h106" width="92" /></a></p><p>But Mendeley will rename it to this </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgh36k0y0t4tIaz__W143_h9luZWCStC_CX0kkTkK33_8WUsfTT2S0ZeFirlUeugGqtMj_eOpxdXOvIwuF_ncBX0QbGMqT5VqUr2qf4O0UEfvZlPoBX825tvvjHgXdacr-EL3NcbdWyFDq9Rab7Bg3dfwyijq4smTWcFEKl1nXAPuOtVXT6oM-O554vow" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="1913" height="86" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgh36k0y0t4tIaz__W143_h9luZWCStC_CX0kkTkK33_8WUsfTT2S0ZeFirlUeugGqtMj_eOpxdXOvIwuF_ncBX0QbGMqT5VqUr2qf4O0UEfvZlPoBX825tvvjHgXdacr-EL3NcbdWyFDq9Rab7Bg3dfwyijq4smTWcFEKl1nXAPuOtVXT6oM-O554vow=w640-h86" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>which is extremely helpful to realize what the paper is on rather than trying to rename every pdf file/article that you download off the internet. </p><p>3. In Mendeley, go to Tools and install Mendeley Cite for Microsoft Word.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEcbC2ploD9QRFNfF9b9hwd7-6WY8RGoOvy4TWtaXed7tHkUyKG5Mu18SAH2DkbjBq76tEcC7Ef3RklFwk00n8wap_mt7DDW6Mk-lOF034bJIhk_N0oL7Zr-hpsBkWuljegAl98KqyEDgqbNOLOyXWHt80U5BhWzJ1gspfQfeJWldfM7EWeNl3lk4KbA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="186" data-original-width="716" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEcbC2ploD9QRFNfF9b9hwd7-6WY8RGoOvy4TWtaXed7tHkUyKG5Mu18SAH2DkbjBq76tEcC7Ef3RklFwk00n8wap_mt7DDW6Mk-lOF034bJIhk_N0oL7Zr-hpsBkWuljegAl98KqyEDgqbNOLOyXWHt80U5BhWzJ1gspfQfeJWldfM7EWeNl3lk4KbA=w640-h166" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p>4. Start writing your paper in MS Word and once you want to cite something go to References, where you should see something called Mendeley Cite-> Click on it (it will ask you to log in again)-> Click the papers you want to cite and then click 'Insert citation'<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEi56hrcevQ91a4ZhzR-gl6MxnRNjo-hMsuZrAhShuGM_BbKKmPjeNTUz7t5ZvEQohfTKAvB-kr-3Ba1W5B8FIDGoyOXOQ0uURBcxSVCsU0jNOpfDIAeJx7XInUtbHLx-9nBCHj-te1ted8Jv_jbzRG_t5le6q9Ww_DvXh8xn3ha-q7Y9rNaIikvlGOg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="980" data-original-width="1916" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEi56hrcevQ91a4ZhzR-gl6MxnRNjo-hMsuZrAhShuGM_BbKKmPjeNTUz7t5ZvEQohfTKAvB-kr-3Ba1W5B8FIDGoyOXOQ0uURBcxSVCsU0jNOpfDIAeJx7XInUtbHLx-9nBCHj-te1ted8Jv_jbzRG_t5le6q9Ww_DvXh8xn3ha-q7Y9rNaIikvlGOg=w640-h328" width="640" /></a></div><br />It should look something like this <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhBzvvXWgUZimBQ73YR8pnRVBv94Fnie3WgUhoLB78QKywVfcadVwW8PZKmlnXDegJ4npVdzbAykmUGw924c6rL2pp_bFv5019B-PEAZzwCFUabFhY5C1NSzye8KK4zNXgFwSylYX1rBRm5MyqZXPsjtgzmjsb9sKCMna_xpWsn2WdJfBA7r9yDUUL1RQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="41" data-original-width="237" height="55" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhBzvvXWgUZimBQ73YR8pnRVBv94Fnie3WgUhoLB78QKywVfcadVwW8PZKmlnXDegJ4npVdzbAykmUGw924c6rL2pp_bFv5019B-PEAZzwCFUabFhY5C1NSzye8KK4zNXgFwSylYX1rBRm5MyqZXPsjtgzmjsb9sKCMna_xpWsn2WdJfBA7r9yDUUL1RQ" width="320" /></a></div>5. Now you can keep it as noted above or you can change the citation style to something different like the AMA 11th edition, which is a numbers reference technique by doing the following steps<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMqgMBNlnEquH9Mgfv3reMTZT92PyAzWVCsvyK-s3mcGJY9MQaezbjorK6hizkGLx0oVl4DcdIgBBf2mJrqfR45V_nUTaEwQlWSNpAq6Rjab6eQKqE0lvQCZrNdCeKV7us2GiHiGDRwQjVS9HLPqt5GRhI5Vs2SICNAMvV2rycMfPxFfO8goi-hohjRA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="958" data-original-width="1894" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMqgMBNlnEquH9Mgfv3reMTZT92PyAzWVCsvyK-s3mcGJY9MQaezbjorK6hizkGLx0oVl4DcdIgBBf2mJrqfR45V_nUTaEwQlWSNpAq6Rjab6eQKqE0lvQCZrNdCeKV7us2GiHiGDRwQjVS9HLPqt5GRhI5Vs2SICNAMvV2rycMfPxFfO8goi-hohjRA=w640-h324" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p>6. In the end, insert your bibliography by doing the following <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0pIXoj9ngqrj5siuAyJ7_oIZaowQf1XYP5lOf-_xoAGeIZpqm0hCwQmVeqz-cM4_w1eu35kenXUaWgni88jUzsC040SR0GRW8vQWueSEqfgUzEO4EAXmcbXOWx6IfSJIgXQLkKaGSu68LeVR3JaLqvXMA6VQsHomIAT2Fx8dY12jz9duujNvmnMZYrA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="292" data-original-width="1506" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0pIXoj9ngqrj5siuAyJ7_oIZaowQf1XYP5lOf-_xoAGeIZpqm0hCwQmVeqz-cM4_w1eu35kenXUaWgni88jUzsC040SR0GRW8vQWueSEqfgUzEO4EAXmcbXOWx6IfSJIgXQLkKaGSu68LeVR3JaLqvXMA6VQsHomIAT2Fx8dY12jz9duujNvmnMZYrA=w640-h124" width="640" /></a></div><br />7. Voila-> You have just learned the art of writing a manuscript and citing articles.<p></p><p>Please note, that people also use EndNote, Zotero, and many other citation software. Some of them are paid and I am NOT very well-versed in them, hence I will not try explaining them either. Hopefully, this small tutorial will be helpful to the multitude of researchers and residents out there :) </p><p>The video version of this can be found here. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="426" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jPY31Ty_Vuw" width="512" youtube-src-id="jPY31Ty_Vuw"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p><br /></p>Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-72429252561915326802023-01-07T07:26:00.003-06:002023-01-07T07:26:28.274-06:00Pediatric critical care boards<p> There is unfortunately no real study guide for the pediatric critical care boards and hence I decided to create this blog post. </p><p>The content outline for the Pediatric critical care exam can be found <a href="chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.abp.org/sites/abp/files/outline-critical-care-updated.pdf">here</a> and/or <a href="https://www.abp.org/content/content-outlines-subspecialties">here</a>. I am sure they will update it with time passing each year. The exam itself is 200 questions long divided into 2 sections of 2h 15m each with a 30 min break in between. Approximately 4.5 hours long in total. Details can be found <a href="https://www.abp.org/content/exam-day-what-expect" target="_blank">here</a>. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJUKxGkFugP8s_xCj-mjbIyD95plUYeP1uTesHiHd8VMQpQlU0jjFNuY7nC7NLdY9lJ0G-TlyNVeX-BY0zKqNejyB3wlEfPt77y0-cDXC8erK65S7jrJOseHzlTtv8mHHMhAUj5V2Cor3JMka9VSZd7WzN_FeONFYbVEKCeaCerMV2CtidWFolcrVv7Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="590" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJUKxGkFugP8s_xCj-mjbIyD95plUYeP1uTesHiHd8VMQpQlU0jjFNuY7nC7NLdY9lJ0G-TlyNVeX-BY0zKqNejyB3wlEfPt77y0-cDXC8erK65S7jrJOseHzlTtv8mHHMhAUj5V2Cor3JMka9VSZd7WzN_FeONFYbVEKCeaCerMV2CtidWFolcrVv7Q=w388-h318" width="388" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>This is another image that the ABP will send you closer to the exam date</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiI1EQEUugdieTOub0I3ttQ7Rfo1_l0CAn95_dxlI1KTteJ9f3dgd-F9Dab9TeQgpNJxe59MGPnefpqKceOzJM1gGDwqKznDcKXi1gyZZ3I-_tAuQXW0rqsbXMlbq3C3JUqyr6e6mOaOOzMQ5Ft6Cc4S1B0c7rpb84C1XJVqaYMotmC8dJJzPux_hvdeA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="522" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiI1EQEUugdieTOub0I3ttQ7Rfo1_l0CAn95_dxlI1KTteJ9f3dgd-F9Dab9TeQgpNJxe59MGPnefpqKceOzJM1gGDwqKznDcKXi1gyZZ3I-_tAuQXW0rqsbXMlbq3C3JUqyr6e6mOaOOzMQ5Ft6Cc4S1B0c7rpb84C1XJVqaYMotmC8dJJzPux_hvdeA" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><b><u>Stuff that I used</u></b></p><p>1. <u>PediaLink/Prep ICU:</u> Prep ICU has approximately 72 questions per year, each focusing on different topics/concepts. It is NOT as streamlined as the pediatric boards questions which is a bit frustrating since you cannot focus on different topics/concepts. In addition, my program director used to send the fellows a question a week with her weekly update email, which was really useful. I created a OneNote book and just started filing them into their respective section. For more details please watch this video which I created for the pediatric boards.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="352" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mO1tDblPz1I" width="423" youtube-src-id="mO1tDblPz1I"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="322" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tXQxhwO8As8" width="388" youtube-src-id="tXQxhwO8As8"></iframe></div><br /><p>2. <u>Pediatric Critical Care: Text and Study Guide [Lucking et al]:</u> I personally loved the 1st edition as it was succinct and to the point. If you have access to it, then I would use it alone and NOT buy the 2nd edition. I bought the 2nd edition but I think it was too much like a textbook and I ended up NOT using it. I used it for concepts for a little bit but overall I personally liked the 1st edition way more.</p><p>3. <u>Old prep questions: </u>Like I mentioned in point 1, there are VERY few questions each year in PrepICU and hence if you get access to old question banks I would use them to study/revise. Please note that since guidelines change, the older the prep questions the more incorrect they can be. For example, the surviving sepsis guidelines have changed a lot since the 2013-2014 set of questions.</p><p>4. I bought the Multiprofessional critical care review course which can be found <a href="https://www.sccm.org/Education-Center/Educational-Programming/Multiprofessional-Critical-Care-Review " target="_blank">here</a>. In hindsight, I am not sure if this was a great use of my CME money. The teaching videos that you get from the course are amazing and I think I would definitely do the online video section alone if possible since you get education from the leaders in the field. However, the in-person course was a bit lacking, and in their defense, as this was the first time a new hybrid method was being trialed and I think they will get better with time. </p><p>5. I also used the multiple-choice questions that SCCM has which can be found <a href="https://www.sccm.org/Education-Center/Critical-Care-Review-Pediatric/Critical-Care-Review-Pediatric-Bundles">here</a>. The questions themself were not hard. They are more factual and you either know the answer or you don't. It really helped me in solidifying my concepts a bit more, to be frank. The question bank gives you approximately 240 questions. Again, I am not sure if this helped me but I would rather just pass the boards in one attempt than have to do it all over again and hence I did it. </p><p>Once I kind of went through the resources mentioned above once and then I did it a couple more times till I remembered the reasoning and rationale for almost all the questions. </p><p><b><u>My personal journey/timeline</u></b></p><p>Thanks to my colleagues I had approximately 1 week of time off prior to the boards. My studying was not as pristine as I would have liked it to be but overall when you practice PICU you kind of are learning at the same time. Also, the one thing that really is nice about the ABP boards is that they ask you clinically relevant questions and things that you will encounter in your day-to-day practice which is way better than the obscure genetic questions that you would see in the pediatric boards. </p><p>Date of Exam: Nov 3, 2022</p><p>Date of result: Dec 12, 2022</p><p>Result: Passed</p>Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-16403592090562009212023-01-06T18:15:00.000-06:002023-01-06T18:15:01.776-06:00How to buy a car at/below MSRP?<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I bought my car (Subaru Forester LTD) in 2021, during the so-called car shortage which happened due to the micro-chip shortage during the pandemic. Since this was my first car, I was not really sure what I should be doing. During my research, I came across youtube videos by the 'Your auto advocate' group <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@YourAdvocateAllianceYAA">https://www.youtube.com/@YourAdvocateAllianceYAA </a> and started following them and learning more about car buying terminology through their free deal school course at <a href="https://community.joinyaa.com/c/deal-school/">https://community.joinyaa.com/c/deal-school/</a>. It teaches you about car financing and quick terminologies to make you a smarter car buyer. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">After going through the deal school and learning the terminology/tricks of the trade, I <span style="color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; letter-spacing: 0.1px;">created a pseudo-email account and started sending emails to different car dealers in the area, since </span><span style="color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; letter-spacing: 0.1px;">I did not want to be spammed by the dealers with their 'last-minute' deals. I used the email templates that the team at @yaa so painstakingly have written, which can be found here [</span><a href="https://joinyaa.com/guides/email-templates-to-buy-a-car-online">https://joinyaa.com/guides/email-templates-to-buy-a-car-online</a>/] I am sure they have updated the templates since the last time I used them, but I got a decent deal on my car so I have no qualms in recommending them. Please note: The dealer will ALWAYS try to get you to come to the showroom to give you a good deal, but please do not fall for that trap. If they cannot send you an email with their so-called 'good deal' then it is NOT worth driving to the dealership. If they want your business they will need to work with you for it. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Also, the yaa group had an add-on that looked up the car's VIN and could tell you have long the car sat on the dealer's lot. This just gives you some bargaining power when you are at the dealership.<a href="https://joinyaa.com/cars/#/"><b> </b></a><b><a href="https://joinyaa.com/cars/#/">https://joinyaa.com/cars/#</a>/ </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; letter-spacing: 0.1px;">So coming to my journey. I started scrolling through the videos as noted above at the beginning of 2021 to just understand stuff. I started my search in </span><span style="color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px;">earnest on June 20th, 2021, and finalized the car by June 22nd, 2021. </span><span style="color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; letter-spacing: 0.1px;">I work in Wisconsin and I am comfortable driving around for a good deal, I </span><span style="color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px;">contacted dealers in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.</span><span style="color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px;"> </span><span style="color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px;">The dealers in Chicago gave me the best quote but the dealer in Iowa was amazing. Since in addition to the deal, he was ready to give me a FREE loaner vehicle till my car came in, and hence I decided to go with him.</span></span></p><div style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0.1px; margin-top: 0px !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The breakdown of my deal is approximately like this.<br style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;" />$ MSRP<br style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;" />-$2,566 Discount<br style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;" /><span style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 600; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><em style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;">$MSRP-discount-> Sales Price plus state tax and fees</em></span><br style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;" /></span></div><div style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0.1px; margin-top: 0px !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;" />Thanks to my credit score I got 0% financing for 36 months and hence I am paying it over 3 years. I really could not have done/learned how to buy a car without the team at your-auto-advocate and a big thank you to <action-text-attachment content-type="mention" sgid="BAh7CEkiCGdpZAY6BkVUSSIwZ2lkOi8vanVtcHN0YXJ0LWFwcC9Vc2VyLzExMjk1MjA_ZXhwaXJlc19pbgY7AFRJIgxwdXJwb3NlBjsAVEkiD2F0dGFjaGFibGUGOwBUSSIPZXhwaXJlc19hdAY7AFQw--a187b6e1e8da9c732c807b70b9db1a16e8f2d23a" style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span class="mention user_mention_1129520" style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><a class="mention__name" href="https://community.joinyaa.com/u/a8b54ac9?show_back_link=true" role="button" style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: inherit; width: auto; word-break: break-word;">Zach Shefska</a></span></action-text-attachment>, <action-text-attachment content-type="mention" sgid="BAh7CEkiCGdpZAY6BkVUSSIwZ2lkOi8vanVtcHN0YXJ0LWFwcC9Vc2VyLzExNjIyMjE_ZXhwaXJlc19pbgY7AFRJIgxwdXJwb3NlBjsAVEkiD2F0dGFjaGFibGUGOwBUSSIPZXhwaXJlc19hdAY7AFQw--f61cf7aa20189032b6aaeca4a2b3de25da58791e" style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span class="mention user_mention_1162221" style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><a class="mention__name" href="https://community.joinyaa.com/u/2b649030?show_back_link=true" role="button" style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: inherit; width: auto; word-break: break-word;">Ray Shefska</a></span></action-text-attachment> <action-text-attachment content-type="mention" sgid="BAh7CEkiCGdpZAY6BkVUSSIwZ2lkOi8vanVtcHN0YXJ0LWFwcC9Vc2VyLzExNDM4OTk_ZXhwaXJlc19pbgY7AFRJIgxwdXJwb3NlBjsAVEkiD2F0dGFjaGFibGUGOwBUSSIPZXhwaXJlc19hdAY7AFQw--21418e2e5512aad35737fe822a1e604332451f0e" style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span class="mention user_mention_1143899" style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><a class="mention__name" href="https://community.joinyaa.com/u/f9cd9e35?show_back_link=true" role="button" style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: inherit; width: auto; word-break: break-word;">Kimberly Kline</a>,</span></action-text-attachment> and many others who directly/indirectly helped me in finalizing the deal.</span></div><div style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0.1px; margin-top: 0px !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0.1px; margin-top: 0px !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The dealership that I worked with was <span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;">C&S Subaru in Waterloo [</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; letter-spacing: 0.1px;"><a href="http://vinurl.com/1624297872903-R38WE94BX25D" style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration: inherit; word-break: break-word;" target="_blank"><span style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 600; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;">www.candscarcompany.com</span></a>]</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; letter-spacing: 0.1px;"> and the person I worked with was Mr. Scott Thurn. </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; letter-spacing: 0.1px;">(319) 291-7321 Office; </span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; letter-spacing: 0.1px;">(319) 415-8051 Cell</span></span></div><div style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0.1px; margin-top: 0px !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; letter-spacing: 0.1px;"></span></div><div style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0.1px; margin-top: 0px !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;" />Things that I liked about my dealer</span></div><ol style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 5px 0px 10px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5rem; word-break: break-word;"><li style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0.1px; margin-top: 0.5rem; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> The deal (got it below the MSRP)</span></li><li style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0.1px; margin-top: 0.5rem; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Free loaner vehicle till the car came in </span></li><li style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0.1px; margin-top: 0.5rem; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Just being very responsive and super helpful and no additional sale gimmick. </span></li><li style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; margin-top: 0.5rem; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="color: #19283a; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px;">Even though he got the car I wanted from a nearby dealer he did not up the price because of that.</span></span></li></ol><div style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #19283a; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0.1px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;" />If you need any more detail please let me know.<br style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;" /><br style="--tw-blur: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-brightness: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-contrast: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-drop-shadow: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-filter: var(--tw-blur) var(--tw-brightness) var(--tw-contrast) var(--tw-grayscale) var(--tw-hue-rotate) var(--tw-invert) var(--tw-saturate) var(--tw-sepia) var(--tw-drop-shadow); --tw-grayscale: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-hue-rotate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-invert: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-saturate: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-sepia: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-transform: translateX(var(--tw-translate-x)) translateY(var(--tw-translate-y)) rotate(var(--tw-rotate)) skewX(var(--tw-skew-x)) skewY(var(--tw-skew-y)) scaleX(var(--tw-scale-x)) scaleY(var(--tw-scale-y)); --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-color: rgb(var(--color-gray-200)); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: normal; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;" />Neil Fernandes</span></div>Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-20609689656544175252021-09-17T21:30:00.000-05:002021-09-17T21:30:03.079-05:00How/where do I open a Roth individual retirement account?<p>This post is NOT financial advice and I AM NOT A FINANCIAL advisor. Please talk to a financial advisor if you have one. </p><p>This post is on how to open a Roth IRA while in training (residency/fellowship) and save 6k in a tax-free account per year (this post is in 2021 when the contribution limit is 6k). The general rule of thumb is to go for Roth (post-tax) when you are in training and a pre-tax (traditional) account when you are in your peak earnings (attending) years [Reason for this advice is your tax bracket changes based on the money you make].</p><p>One can open a Roth IRA account in ANY of the well-known trading companies like Vanguard, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, etc. The drawback of these companies, at least for me at the beginning of my financial journey was not knowing what to invest in. In other words, I really did not know much about the stock market, index funds, etc. Hence, for those who are still new to investing and want to play it safe but still get a head start on investing I recommend the company <a href="http://betterment.com/friend-referral-offer?referral_key=neilfernandes2">Betterment</a> to do the investing. They generally invest in low-cost index funds which is what you want to put your money in instead of stock-picking. </p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Once you open your account via the above <a href="http://betterment.com/friend-referral-offer?referral_key=neilfernandes2">link </a>or <a href="http://betterment.com/friend-referral-offer?referral_key=neilfernandes2">http://betterment.com/friend-referral-offer?referral_key=neilfernandes2 </a>you will get to a page where you will have to open your account. </li><li>In the middle of the page, you should have an option saying 'Get Started'</li><li>Click on that and then go through the steps (should be pretty self explanatory)</li><li>Once the account set up is done you should reach the following screen <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWEoHiUPQZoP6X8r9gWtK6FFwMkPfqJcnFh2mJZglIjitZmabUgYQETYeddyBy9S2-rME3UriIHCANA7K5tH5arrRYlx5dvN3c93IjZJwR99uiwANHqbMW9dG5w-MbG8pkTwtd306fgX_/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="624" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWEoHiUPQZoP6X8r9gWtK6FFwMkPfqJcnFh2mJZglIjitZmabUgYQETYeddyBy9S2-rME3UriIHCANA7K5tH5arrRYlx5dvN3c93IjZJwR99uiwANHqbMW9dG5w-MbG8pkTwtd306fgX_/w640-h412/image.png" width="640" /></a></div></li><li>Click on the option 'Invest for retirement'</li><li>Fill in the details (another couple of sell explanatory questions)</li><li>Towards the end, you will have an option to open a 'Roth IRA' which is what I would pick</li><li>Decide on how you will fund the account-> transfer the money-> and bingo you are done. </li><li>You are now a proud owner of a Roth IRA. Money grows now tax-free!</li></ol><div><br /></div><div>Please note that Betterment charges you an advisor fee, which is around 0.1% or something like that which comes to a couple of dollars. Once you do become financially literate, you can rollover the money to another account like Vanguard or Fidelity which should be really easy to do. However, when you are taking baby steps in the journey of financial planning and while you are learning to become a better doctor, worrying about money should be the last thing for you.</div><div><br /></div><div>A big thank you to the <a href="https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/">Whitecoat investor</a> for helping me start on my financial journey!</div><div><br /></div><p></p>Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-67049327479854230692021-08-17T19:55:00.001-05:002021-08-17T19:55:11.692-05:00Tips for new attendings <p>I had written on a post when moving between residency and fellowship. You can find the link here <a href="http://neilnf.blogspot.com/2018/06/moving-tips-for-residents.html">http://neilnf.blogspot.com/2018/06/moving-tips-for-residents.html</a> </p><p>I am updating the post to make it more all-inclusive and financial savvy. </p><p>Things to do before graduating and planning the move.</p><p><b><u>Disability insurance: </u></b></p><p>This is one thing that skyrockets as soon as you get out of residency/fellowship. I would try to get this one ASAP since your earning potential and disabilities will only go up as you get older. This insurance just safeguards your family and you, should something happen to you. I have found the following links to be really useful when trying to understand disability insurance and would recommend reading the same. </p><p>The White coat investor is an amazing site for financial literacy, and this is the one for disability.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/disability-insurance-introduction/">https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/disability-insurance-introduction/</a>. It is a series and I would try to go in order</li></ul><p></p><p>The following links are quick facts on the same so that you can quickly understand it.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-disability-insurance/">https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-disability-insurance/</a></li><li><a href="https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/top-ten-questions-physicians-ask-about-disability-insurance/">https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/top-ten-questions-physicians-ask-about-disability-insurance/</a></li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Group vs individual (an eternal dilemma during residency is if we need it but I hope these links are useful)</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://thephysicianphilosopher.com/group-disability-insurance/">https://thephysicianphilosopher.com/group-disability-insurance/</a></li><li><a href="https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/ama-disability-insurance/ " target="_blank">https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/ama-disability-insurance/ </a></li><li><a href="https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/how-i-review-existing-individual-disability-policies/">https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/how-i-review-existing-individual-disability-policies/</a></li></ul><p></p><p><b><u>Utilities</u></b></p><p>You will have to end your current utilities i.e., water, electricity at your current place and begin the same at the new location.</p><p>Use USPS mail forwarding service to forward any/all mail addressed to you at your old location to the new place <a href="https://bit.ly/3pPwqia" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/3pPwqia</a>. There is a charge of <$2 when I did this, but this is worth it.</p><p><b><u>Bank accounts</u></b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Close old accounts that you will not use and streamline the ones that you will use going forward.</li><li>Consider opening a new bank account in the new job place to get account opening bonuses (check <a href="https://www.bankrate.com/banking/">https://www.bankrate.com/banking/</a> or<a href="https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-bank-account-bonuses/" target="_blank"> https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-bank-account-bonuses/</a> for the latest information.</li><li>I would recommend updating your banks with your new details<b><u> around 2 weeks</u></b> before the move since this will help you in using the same as address proof for getting your driver’s license (they need 2 forms of address proof). </li></ul><p></p><p><b><u>Credit cards</u></b></p><p>Consider opening new credit cards since you may have a LOT of expenses while you are house hunting/doing a house make over. My list of credit cards is as follows <a href="https://maxrewards.app/refer/neilf120">https://maxrewards.app/refer/neilf120 </a></p><p><b><u>International graduates</u></b></p><p>Do not forget to update USCIS with your new address since your immigration is linked to the same. <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/addresschange" target="_blank">https://www.uscis.gov/addresschange </a></p><p><br /><b><u>Financial tips</u></b></p><p>This podcast/video by the white coat investor is worth a watch <a href="https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/financial-priorities-as-a-new-attending/">https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/financial-priorities-as-a-new-attending/</a>. In summary</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Do a back door roth IRA </li><li>Max out the 401k/403b</li><li>Max out the 457b if available- This is a judgment call since it depends on the financial stability of your practice.</li><li>Max out the HSA (please note that you can contribute money ONLY for the months you are eligible) For example, for me I became eligible in Aug and hence I can contribute only 300*5months= $1500.</li><li>DO NOT opt for COBRA since you can retroactively activate it should you become ill.</li></ol><p></p><p>#tipsfornewattendings</p><div><br /></div>Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-24526000823349803062020-11-16T07:40:00.002-06:002020-12-11T08:55:56.144-06:00Sending/receiving money from your loved ones<p>So should your family want to send you money from your home country (for me it is India/INR) to the place you are currently living (for me it is the USA/USD/$) how would they have to go about it? The general norm/websites that I could find always go the opposite (from the USA (USD/$) to India(INR/₹), but should you need to do India to the USA this post should help you.</p><p>I personally use Transferwise to do the transaction. The <i>minimum/maximum amount that one can transfer will be based on which country you are sending the money from. </i>The money generally gets transferred in 3-4 business days and you can get the best rate possible, which means more money to you. The setup process is simple but you will need some sort of identification (driver license/passport), to make sure you are a legit person and not a computer bot. So one can create an account for his/her family and himself/herself and get money with not a lot of hassle.</p><p>The entire process (from the person sending money) in short is as follows. </p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>You need to open an account with Transferwise. You can use my referral link <a href="https://transferwise.com/invite/u/neilf236" target="_blank">here </a>and get up to 600USD for free with no transaction fees.</li><li>You have to confirm that you are a human being and they ask you for either driver's license/passport for identity verification purposes</li><li>How much money you want to send. You will get to know at this step HOW much the receiving person will get along with the transaction fees that they will charge </li><li>Who do you want to send the money to- You will need information on the receiving person (their bank account details like account number and routing number)</li><li>How would you like to pay: They give options for bank transfer/card transfer (depends on the country you are sending the money from)</li></ol><div>Now should you choose bank transfer in the above step, the way that I understand it is that you have to make a transfer to THEIR (transferwise) bank in your home country and then they transfer the money to THEIR (transferwise) bank in the recipient country and then to YOUR bank account finally. In all, this is the reason for the lag period of 3-4 days, given the multiple middle players. OR you can watch this <a href="https://youtu.be/EWCFao8kcbI" target="_blank">video </a>where he explains the process. </div><div><br /></div><div>The other reason I like transferwise is that they will give you a debit card, in which you can open an account in any country in the world and it will function as a traveling card! So instead of getting a cashier's check for my trip to Europe or use my credit card with no transaction fee, I can just open an account in the local currency, and then I can transfer my money to that account. The exact details can be read about over <a href="https://transferwise.com/us/borderless/card" target="_blank">here</a> or watch the video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=16&v=Zt09M0Iu0yY&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=TransferWise">here</a></div><p></p><p>What are the ways you transfer money to or from your home country? Let me know in your comments and I can update the post should it be useful.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-48075418210458937322020-01-21T08:25:00.002-06:002020-01-21T08:25:41.739-06:00Guide to Global Entry by an Indian citizen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I used to always feel jealous when I saw the TSA-precheck
customers zip through the TSA line and I have always wanted to do that. As I am
an Indian citizen, I do not qualify for TSA as only American citizens and LPRs
qualify for the same. However, there is something that is called Global entry
which includes the TSA precheck which I applied and got approved for. This post
is regarding the same. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">First off a brief overview of what is Global Entry: </span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Global Entry allows expedited processing for pre-approved,
low-risk travelers when they arrive in the US at select airports. Instead of
standing in line, program members proceed to Global Entry kiosks, present their
machine-readable passport or U.S. permanent resident card, place their
fingerprints on the scanner for fingerprint verification and complete a customs
declaration. The kiosk issues a transaction receipt and directs the traveler to
baggage claim and the exit. Aside from avoiding processing lines and paperwork,
another benefit of the program is </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">TSA Precheck eligibility.</i></div>
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<span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><u>People who can apply for Global Entry: </u></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, and citizens of
Colombia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Panama, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland,
and Mexico. (Depending on the country, visas may be required.) Canadian
citizens and residents are also eligible for Global Entry benefits through
membership in the NEXUS partnership (the agreement that allows members
expedited processing when entering the United States and Canada).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> My application process is as follows. </span></div>
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<li><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Create a trusted traveler profile here. </span><a href="https://ttp.cbp.dhs.gov/"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">https://ttp.cbp.dhs.gov/</span></a><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Select Global entry and then create an account and then fill
in the details as asked. One will be asked to pay a $100 non0refundable
application fee <i>(many credit cards will</i></span><i><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> refund the same)</span></i> <span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In addition to
personal information—name, email address, gender, eye color, height, language
preference—it requires you to fill in your employment, travel, and address
history over the past five years. It also asks if you've violated any customs
or immigration laws or been convicted of a crime. Fill out the application and
submit a $100 fee, which covers your five-year membership if approved, but is
non-refundable if your application is rejected. You can pay by credit card or
electronic bank transfer.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Once you have submitted the application, within 1-2 hours you
should get an email from </span><a href="mailto:passport.admin@passportindia.gov.in"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">passport.admin@passportindia.gov.in</span></a><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> with instructions on how to set up an
appointment in India vs USA (the USA part is new and has just started in the
last couple of months. The earlier rule was to make an appointment when going/planning
to go to India). You will have to pay ₹500 in the Passport Seva <a href="http://www.passportindia.gov.in/" target="_blank">Portal</a>, </span><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> for their background check in India. Once the
payment is made and appt is confirmed, the page will tell you the things to
take to the appointment (E.g. Proof of address (Passport, aadhar card),
application confirmation page or SMS confirming the appointment). During the
interview, your fingerprints and photo will be captured and there will be some other
formalities</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Once this interview is done, one has to wait for the police
clearance which can take anywhere from 1 day to a week. My dad and I went to
our nearest police station to ask if this could be expedited and they obliged.
They will need 2 neighbor Aadhar card photocopies with signatures to attest
that you live at the home address that you have in your Aadhar card.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After this, it is all sitting back and wait for the conditional
approval to be granted. (takes anywhere from 6months to a year). A good place
to look for is <a href="https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trusted-travelers/1851287-global-entry-citizens-india-17.html" target="_blank">FlyerTalk</a><span id="goog_422439859"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_422439860"></span>, where one can see what is the current status.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Once you are conditionally approved, you have to go to a
nearby airport/GE location to attend an interview where they will ask why you
want GE, show your documents. Do take your visa documents in addition to
passport and driver's license. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Please
note that scheduling an interview is painful as there are no dates for most
cities. However, keep checking the list and you might pounce on a date should
someone cancel</span> </li>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My personal experience
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<li><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Passport appt 04/29/2019</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Police verification 04/30/2019</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Conditional approval 12/19/2019</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #434343; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Interview 1/12/2020 </span></li>
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A few sites that I found useful</div>
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<li><a href="https://indianewengland.com/2019/10/indian-citizens-are-now-eligible-for-global-entry-program-in-the-us-here-is-how-to-apply/">https://indianewengland.com/2019/10/indian-citizens-are-now-eligible-for-global-entry-program-in-the-us-here-is-how-to-apply/</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://passport.in.ckgs.us/gep">https://passport.in.ckgs.us/gep</a></li>
<li>Application centers in the USA <a href="https://passport.in.ckgs.us/application-centers">https://passport.in.ckgs.us/application-centers</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/international-arrangements/global-entry-indian-citizens">https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/international-arrangements/global-entry-indian-citizens</a></li>
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Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-65467155430244627252019-08-05T12:00:00.000-05:002020-11-16T08:02:22.966-06:00Quick getaway with Spirit Airlines<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One of my good friends from residency sent a Facebook group message to the rest of us who are in the field of Critical Care saying, "Hey we are having a party at the Lakehouse, do come!'. Given it has been a year since we have seen or spoken to each other I decided that I will head 'home' i.e. Cleveland for sure *hoping my chief gives me off that weekend*<br />
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So with the goal in mind made plans. I scoured the internet for flight deals and found the cheapest flight on 'Spirit Airlines'. I had been warned through ads colleagues and even Trevor Noah (talk show host who sneaks in quick punches on the airlines) that the experience will be horrible and there will be flight delays and I will be left stranded. Anyhow, cheap as I was I decided to take my chances. So this is my post on travel with Spirit Airlines. I have in no way been compensated by the airlines and this is my OWN thoughts on the trip.<br />
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Prior to packing I googled and checked what are the dimensions of the luggage that I can carry. To be frank any regular bag pack should be okay but I have just put the dimensions for those who like numbers. 18 x 14 x 8 inches (45 x 35 x 20 cm). Anything bigger than this will have to be checked or billed, which is EXPENSIVE. So please pack wisely for the trip. Please note that they do not have weight restrictions on the bag.<br />
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I packed my bag with essentials for a 2 day getaway. The check in process was painless, which I did 24hrs in advance. I got my boarding pass on the Spirit airlines app in Android and breezed through security. The boarding process itself was a bit confusing. I was on Zone 3 but I think the lady at the gate really did not care in which order we boarded so once Zone 1 was done we all just stood in a big line with a mix of Zone 2-4 in no particular order. Next came to stowing luggage either under the seat or in the overhead bins. Given I am tall I quickly put my bag in the over head bin and had all the room in the world to stretch my legs which was a blessing. The seats do NOT recline which is no a big bother to me but some people do complaint about the same online. Given I was post call I slept the entire duration of the flight. There was beverages that were served during the flight but all for a fee. So I would recommend shopping for drinks/food BEFORE getting on the flight. Once we landed it was the same process as any other flight, with disembarking in chaotic order. But disembarking nonetheless.<br />
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On the way back, same ordeal but the man at the gate announced that we had to board in Zones which was good to hear. I was again in Zone 3 and arrived at the gate when my time was ready. We boarded the flight in a safe and orderly manner and arrived at Boston on time and in one piece.<br />
<br />
So in all, Spirit is great for a short trip/getaway and if you have very minimal stuff to carry. It is NOT great for long destination and if you have a lot of luggage. I would recommend any other airline as it will be cheaper in the long run.</div>
Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-15253878565153187642019-01-07T19:01:00.000-06:002019-02-11T16:06:56.110-06:00H1B stamping by an Indian in Canada<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
Prior to applying one has to apply for a Canadian visa- Most go for a visitor visa. Please ignore this if you are a citizen/permanent resident in Canada. For details on getting a Canadian visa please refer to my earlier post <a href="http://neilnf.blogspot.com/2018/12/applying-for-canadian-visa-from-us.html">here</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<b><u>Personal credentials</u></b><br />
Last H1 visa expired 2015 but had my i797s so was legal till now. Further had changed employer in between.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Applying for an H1B (USA) visa in Canada</u></b></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Fill <a href="https://ceac.state.gov/genniv">DS-160</a> with the hopeful consulate location. These are a few locations in Canada- Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Quebec City, Montreal. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Generally, there is a HUGE wait time for Toronto and Vancouver (around 3-4 months) given they </span><i>are top places</i></li>
<li>Then go to the following <a href="https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-ca/niv">site</a>. Create an account and fill in the details and then schedule an appointment.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Documents that I took</u></b></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Valid unexpired passport – Passport should be valid for at least 6 months beyond the expiration date of your intended status.</li>
<li>Older passport containing the visa category stamp. If you are renewing H1B then take the passport that has the H1B stamp</li>
<li>DS-160 confirmation page ONLY</li>
<li>Visa application fees receipt. One can get it from this. (Top right-hand side click continue and the last option- View payment receipt)</li>
<li>Visa instructions- refer to the picture below</li>
<li>Original Non-immigrant Visa Petition Approval Notice (Form I-797) (or something similar).</li>
<li>Original degrees</li>
<li>Recent Paystubs from your company</li>
<li>SSN</li>
<li>Valid driver's license</li>
<li>Credit card</li>
<li>Photograph (within the last 6 months)</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Personal experience</u></b><br />
<u>Scheduling</u></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I started my DS 160 towards the end of October.</li>
<li>Took an appointment towards the end of January since that was the only available date at that time</li>
<li>Asked for an expedited visa, please refer to the picture below. Phrase it as to why should they expedite your visa</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<u>Appointment</u></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>My interview was scheduled for 8 am, reached there around 720am, given was super anxious and thought why not go and get the lay of the land prior to the interview. However, the elevator was not working and they were delayed. At around 815 the started letting people in beginning with 715 730 and so forth. I finally entered approx 9ish (did not have a watch/phone so not sure of the exact time).</li>
<li>Once the prelim guard clears you, you enter inside, go to the left and climb 1 floor and then go through security (TSA style)</li>
<li>From here go to Window 1- Someone checks your documents and photographs. [If you are renewing please take the passport that had the last stamped visa]. Also, my photograph was not reading for some weird reason, so I took another snap there (C$10 for 6). Frankly, the new one looked weirder than my previous one but I did not argue and they let me continue. Also, as I mentioned earlier, my chosen consulate was Toronto but I got Vancouver in the end. So they had to transfer the same to Vancouver (took about ~15-20 mins for that- I am not sure given no watch)</li>
<li>From there you are sent to window 2- This is where they 10 print (take your fingerprints). Left 4 followed by right 4 followed by thumbprints and they give you a number here</li>
<li>From here you are then taken to the 20th floor (around 5-6 ppl at a time)</li>
<li>One is made to stand in line again and then wait for a VO to open up.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<u>Questions asked</u></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Where are you working?</li>
<li>What are you working as?</li>
<li>Where did you graduate from?</li>
<li>Can you show me your previous passport which had the H1B stamp?</li>
<li>Here are your rights, the visa is approved.</li>
<li>Collect in 3-5 business days. Gave a green sheet with instructions.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
A couple of visas were rejected prior to me for not having enough ties/not proper visa class. I did not pay attention to more details.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Best of luck.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Please Note </u></b></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd5DCHX0U0a_rlooozg9jUJzFeiTsj4qQjmXufbUMoWjHVR4q0Pq0w_XMOK-98NZ3lriv5T3znkUOQnZNKhdzIqeEd_cQT44lewUR_A0zV_tYirx9tsiOogR0jh5oWQ5m7kS-bGM34lqB1/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>
<li>You can take your cell phone for the Vancouver embassy. I did not take mine, as I was staying close by. (Airbnb)</li>
<li>The consulate is close to a Starbucks and it is in a side location, easy to miss. Use google maps and key in the address. Also, there will be a huge crowd of people looking clueless which should tip you in the right direction.</li>
<li>One can request for an expedited appointment ONLY once you have scheduled an appt. I was lucky in the sense my request got approved though in another consulate (Vancouver)</li>
<li>The VO will take your 797 and you will get it when you collect your passport.</li>
<li>The picture that explains couple of the above stuff is this</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd5DCHX0U0a_rlooozg9jUJzFeiTsj4qQjmXufbUMoWjHVR4q0Pq0w_XMOK-98NZ3lriv5T3znkUOQnZNKhdzIqeEd_cQT44lewUR_A0zV_tYirx9tsiOogR0jh5oWQ5m7kS-bGM34lqB1/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 16px; margin-right: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="976" data-original-width="1471" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd5DCHX0U0a_rlooozg9jUJzFeiTsj4qQjmXufbUMoWjHVR4q0Pq0w_XMOK-98NZ3lriv5T3znkUOQnZNKhdzIqeEd_cQT44lewUR_A0zV_tYirx9tsiOogR0jh5oWQ5m7kS-bGM34lqB1/s320/Capture.PNG" width="320" /></a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b></b><u></u><br />
<b><u>Post interview</u></b><br />
- For some weird reason when I click on my check DS 160 state after the interview the page keeps crashing. But when you open the same in internet explorer does not crash as often.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Few websites that I found helpful</u></b></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://www.desi-compile.com/guide-filing-h1b-visa-stamp-canada/">https://www.desi-compile.com/guide-filing-h1b-visa-stamp-canada/</a></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://www.immihelp.com/experience/view-22-visa_stamping_canada_mexico.html">https://www.immihelp.com/experience/view-22-visa_stamping_canada_mexico.html</a></div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-49480051966419121472018-12-21T18:49:00.000-06:002019-12-05T05:09:22.724-06:00Pediatric board preparation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><u>Senior recommendations and advice</u></b><br />
The predicted breakup for the board questions:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Between 60-70% MCQs are from concepts asked in the previous years </li>
<li>Between 20-25% MCQs are questions asking a more difficult concept but from the same topics from previous years</li>
<li>About 5-20% of the questions are newer topics/very difficult or impossible questions</li>
</ul>
Therefore, its almost impossible to pass without doing the previous years questions!!<br />
<br />
<b><u>Application procedure</u></b><br />
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Opens in January or somewhere over there and it is administered over 3 day period in mid-October</li>
<li>Prior to sitting and writing it you will NEED a PERMANENT license to take the boards. My sincere advice is to start applying for it early. However, it also depends on where you are practicing/doing the fellowship. Since some states like MA, do not allow a permanent license for IMG's unless you have completed a residency (3 years of training in the States)</li>
<li>Do note- You can register for exam w/o license but need proof of it prior to writing the boards</li>
<li>Once registered for the exam they will send you an email maybe 2-3 weeks later telling you can schedule your exam. I took my test on Day 2. </li>
</ul>
<div>
<b><u>Documents needed for above</u></b><br />
By early July</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Copy of your medical school diploma + English translation, if necessary</li>
<li>Copy of ECFMG Certificate or documentation of successful completion of the MCCEE or Fifth Pathway/FMGEMS</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
By October 1st of the year you are writing</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Copy of your valid (current), unrestricted medical license </li>
<li>The copy of the lice must include the expiration date and must be issued before October 1st </li>
<li>Please note that temporary or training licenses are NOT acceptable </li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div>
The exam itself</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Approximately 335 questions divided across 4 sections, with each section having roughly equivalent content, difficulty, and length</li>
<li>4 sections, 84 questions per section, 1 hour 45 minutes/section</li>
<li>Most of us finished at least 2 sections with about a half 20-30 min to spare</li>
<li>3 Breaks: OPTIONAL</li>
<li>15 min, 60 min, 15 min</li>
<li>Passing score: weighted score of 180, ~75% questions correct.</li>
<li>Each exam is different, and some exams are “harder” than others, but are weighted accordingly to give you a scaled score from 0-300</li>
</ul>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjocniCFO_vlonMBU6ytOkW5_uyMsbUozVpyM7RSgR3Ha0KOU5RuRMiFGWTFN6cxTsPUPQ_bfNZSCsa2J7kwlcBdIhwmAh7iOGo_mD0UAa27osFIQtlIe17obc7QJnKZkisjAg9_js1jnLF/s1600/asdf.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="881" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjocniCFO_vlonMBU6ytOkW5_uyMsbUozVpyM7RSgR3Ha0KOU5RuRMiFGWTFN6cxTsPUPQ_bfNZSCsa2J7kwlcBdIhwmAh7iOGo_mD0UAa27osFIQtlIe17obc7QJnKZkisjAg9_js1jnLF/s320/asdf.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span id="goog_1856556338"></span><span id="goog_1856556339"></span><br /></div>
<div>
Things that I used for the preparation are as follows<br />
<br />
My first year ITE was pretty good. I attribute that to my Step 3 knowledge. However, my 2nd year ITE was not great. Started reading from the Medstudy books system wise and doing questions, system-wise (the video shows how to do it). I even bought the medstudy flash cards. My 3rd year ITE was good and I just kept at what I was doing till then. Towards the end of 3rd year, kept glancing through 'Laughing your way through the Boards'. Recommended by my seniors and attending. Loved it</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><u>PediaLink</u></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The following video has tips that I used for studying.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tXQxhwO8As8/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tXQxhwO8As8?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><u>Medstudy</u></b><br />
The following video has tips that I used for studying from Medstudy</div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gSbl6REK0Ss/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gSbl6REK0Ss?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<b><u>OneNote</u></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mO1tDblPz1I/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mO1tDblPz1I?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
Best of luck.<br />
<br />
P.s.- I passed the boards! Yay. I am now a Board Certified Pediatrician.</div>
</div>
Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-78062577876487332022018-12-10T21:45:00.001-06:002018-12-10T21:45:15.687-06:00Applying for Canadian Visa from the US<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Decided to write on this given felt that it was one of the most confusing visa's I have applied for.<br />
<br />
The following website is a good place to read up on the prelim stuff.<br />
<a href="https://www.desi-compile.com/applying-canadian-visitor-visa-step-step-guide/">https://www.desi-compile.com/applying-canadian-visitor-visa-step-step-guide/</a><br />
I, unfortunately, had issues with my browser (Chrome- given it was translating pages and kept redirecting me a million times)<br />
<br />
<b><u>Online application</u></b><br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Go to the following page and determine your need for the visa/travel <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/come-canada-tool.html">https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/come-canada-tool.html</a></li>
<li>Once done, they will give you a reference code and a document checklist to keep handy and will help you to fill the visa document. I had the misfortune where my browser kept giving me the following error </li>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="1422" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24eIDrCkp4YjKWKD7cuD9bw0Z_j_KXU_JLBO2-OG7Jx9wPr2MT2BVIuju3Qofzf1aj1twduFWiyb3FadTIosbCChNAOKRfqPeAYpFfShK7Iw6kWa3iDO-VokaxJqKPQXBb8DFvshGXMrH/s320/Error.PNG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">ERROR Message that I kept getting</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<li>Realized after surfing a million pages and after installing adobe a number of times that it was just a glitch on the system and once you download the PDF (IMM5257E) it will be sorted out. This means you will get a fillable application.</li>
<li>Once you are done downloading the application and filled it in create a MyCIC login via this <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/account.html"><span id="goog_338368249"></span>link<span id="goog_338368250"></span></a></li>
<li>Most likely you will have to register for a GCkey (if you have never applied for a visa prior to this)</li>
<li>Once logged in choose ‘Visitor visa, study and/or work permit’ service to continue. You will be asked to enter the personal reference code you received in the step above. (P.s.- I kept getting redirected at this point- I finally used internet explorer and then things went smoothly thereafter)</li>
<li>Follow instructions thereafter and it should be smooth sailing. You will have to upload documents (travel history and family history etc), pay stubs, employer letter and what not. At the end of this, you will pay for the application and then finally submit it.</li>
<li>You will then receive an email stating that they have got your application.</li>
<li>Within next 1-2 business weeks (please check processing times online- it depends on the place where you have applied from), you will receive an email from CIC asking you to submit your passport to VAC (Visa Application Center). This indicates that your application was approved and now CIC needs your passport to stamp the visa. <i>(This step is the most confusing part of the process as the email from CIC is not descriptive enough and causes confusion among applicants).</i></li>
</ol>
<div>
<b><u>Sending the passport</u></b><b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<b></b><b></b><u></u><u></u><br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Follow the link in the letter sent by CIC above- <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/account/where-submit-passport.html">https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/account/where-submit-passport.html</a></li>
<li>Find the center based on geographic location. In the USA it is either LA or <a href="https://www.vfsglobal.ca/Canada/USA/">New York</a>.</li>
<li>Find the VAC website which should be mentioned below the options available.</li>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: left;">
This is the most confusing part of the application.</div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>You will have to submit the following in the mail (by UPS)</li>
<ol>
<li>Cashiers check/Money order- Get it from nearby local businesses which might charge 1 dollar to do the same. A bank may charge you 7 dollars which is half the cost of the money you are sending. ($19.90). The fees are listed <a href="https://www.vfsglobal.ca/Canada/USA/Service_and_Service_Charge.html">here</a>. I guess when I submitted my application this place just opened up and hence there was no UPS return fee available, which I expect will change with time.</li>
<li>Letter from the embassy</li>
<li>TTS services <a href="https://www.vfsglobal.ca/Canada/USA/pdf/USA.doc.pdf">consent form</a></li>
<li>Passport</li>
<li>Return shipping label by UPS (go to the nearest UPS store who will help you out with this)</li>
</ol>
</ol>
<div>
Got my passport back in 2-3 weeks (again no updates from the VAC center regarding the reciept of my passport or no. Thankfully I had UPS on my side and I knew they had definitely received it but still it was nerve wracking waiting for an answer)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Hopefully, this helps a bit. Best of luck!</div>
</div>
Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-63346640697970713772018-10-05T09:46:00.003-05:002018-11-19T14:34:41.976-06:00Indian passport renewal in the USA <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Most residency and fellowship programs give only 1-2 weeks of vacation at a time. This makes it difficult to renew one's passport back home in India. Hence, it is easier to do the renewal in the States while you are working and don't really have a pressing need for the same.<br />
<br />
I would recommend/it is recommended to renew your passport in the States at least 1-2 months prior to the expiration of your current passport. Generally would be recommended to do at 2- 3 months prior to future travel plans and the visa renewal, but would talk to the attorney processing your legal paperwork (like H1B or J1 renewals)<br />
<br />
To be frank, the renewal process is pretty straightforward. Go to this website and follow instructions as is <a href="https://passport.in.ckgs.us/howtoapply">https://passport.in.ckgs.us/howtoapply</a>.<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> <span style="color: black; font-size: 16px;">But just in case, I found a really helpful link to someone's personal experience on renewing their own passport. </span><a href="https://www.am22tech.com/renew-indian-passport-usa/" style="font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;">https://www.am22tech.com/renew-indian-passport-usa/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "times new roman";"></span>My personal timeline with the renewal process<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Sept 18th- </span>Submitted my passport application</li>
<li>Sept 19th- Under process with the consulate </li>
<li>October 3rd- Returned from the consulate</li>
<li>October 4th- Shipped back to me</li>
<li>October 5th- Received my new passport</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<div>
<b><u>A couple of tips </u></b></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>There is generally a notary at the place where you work who will notarize your documents for free</li>
<li>Passport size photos are 2*2 in the States. The cheapest spot I found was in Costco, but people have used Walgreens Walmart CVS etc. They are pricey just FYI</li>
<li>Renewals can be done on the basis of a petition. One does not need an approval to apply for the passport</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-38486418934431623272018-06-10T09:54:00.003-05:002021-05-31T18:42:52.845-05:00Moving tips for residents<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Now that I am moving given a job change just a couple of tips for those who will be doing the same next year. Broken it down into phases<br />
<br />
<b><u>Looking for a new place</u></b><br />
Apps that kind of help you scope out the places and average rent. Generally, 1-2 months is ideal timing since old tenants move out and you would be moving in.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>Trulia- https://www.trulia.com/- </b>It gives you a sense of security, given you know the crimes that have taken place in the area and the average rent in the same region. Please note there might be a LOT of brokers in this place so you may have to pay a broker fee, WHICH IS A LOT! </li>
<li><b>Apartments.com- https://www.apartments.com/ - </b>This was a lifesaver for me in my hunt, since I was expected to shell out a LOT for an apartment. And the ones I saw were pretty expensive compared to the size. In my head, apartment complexes were nonexistent in the place I was moving to. However, on this site, you can see the different complexes and the average rent that it might be, which was super helpful and extremely relieving. </li>
<li><b>Apartment List- https://www.apartmentlist.com/- </b>This site helps you in shortlisting apartments based on your preferences of distance and budget.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<b>Utilities/Mail</b><br />
- Do note that you will have to end your electric/water accounts at your old place and start one's at your new place<br />
- USPS has an amazing service whereby you can change your current address to your new one at this <a href="https://moversguide.usps.com/mgo/disclaimer?_bt=%253d%253fUTF-8%253fB%253fNTYwNDE2MTkw%253f%253d&_vi=%253d%253fUTF-8%253fB%253fNTE5NjAyNDQx%253f%253d">place</a> and not worry about losing mail<br />
- This is a website which helps in managing your electric utility bill. You get $25 off your electric bill via this referral <a href="https://arcadia.com/referral/?promo=neil7265" target="_blank">link</a>. The big reason I like it is that you can use your credit card when paying bills which helps in earning points. Review on Arcadia can be found <a href="https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/life/home/arcadia-power-review/">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>Bank accounts</b><br />
- I would check whether your current banks have good coverage in the place you are going to move to. Eg- Chase is great in Ohio, but BoA is better on the East coast. Similarly, KeyBank is a major player in Ohio, not so much on the East coast.<br />
- So either close or keep your current accounts depending on what suits your requirements.<br />
- Update your mailing address with the accounts so as to not have issues when you make transactions.<br />
<br />
<b>Credit Cards</b><br />
- This would be a good time to open a new credit card had you not already done so last year. Link to my credit card recommendations is <a href="http://neilnf.blogspot.com/2016/08/credit-cards-and-terms-made-easy.html">here</a> and flying tips with Amex referral is <a href="http://neilnf.blogspot.com/2017/11/travel-experiences-from-newbie-on.html">here</a>. This is the <a href="http://maxrewards.app/refer/neilf120" target="_blank">link </a>with all my current credit cards<br /><br />
<b>Selling your old things</b><br />
Apps like LetGo and OfferUp work well, or you can sell your furniture to your juniors/colleagues if you do not like to transact with unknown people.<br />
<br />
If you have more tips please post below, or send me an email with your comments and I will update the same.<br />
<br /></div>
Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-63236878067443365312018-05-17T19:24:00.003-05:002018-05-19T16:40:34.379-05:00Step 3 preparation by Puneet Baweja<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hi all the following post is by Puneet in regards to preparation for Step 3.</div>
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Preparation Materials: Master The Boards Step 3, Step 2 CK UWorld notes, Uworld qbank and CCS. </div>
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Preparation: Go through MTB properly once before starting qbank. I added in ccs portion about halfway through the qbank. I had about nine days between the two parts, therefore, the week before each exam I concentrated only on the relevant material. </div>
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<b>Day 1 - Foundations of Independent Practice (FIP): </b>This is basically CK along with basic science correlations. Concentrate on your uworld CK notes and all the basic science in MTB. As for Biostats, go over all the cases in uworld once a couple of days before and create your cheat sheet for the equations. In the real exam, Biostats use up a lot of time therefore if it seems like it could take a while just click something and move on… come back to it if you get time at the end of the block. </div>
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<b>Day 2 - Advanced Clinical Medicine (ACM):</b> This is all about managing comorbidities, risk and prognostic factors. Go over your step 3 uworld notes for this. So make sure you know which risk factor matters more in each patient and know where to pick treatment over investigations. Don’t even bother looking at biostats or basics anymore. Your notes for CCS will help here as well since it’s all management, therefore, don’t wait too long to start CCS. </div>
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<b>CCS: </b>This again requires work if you’re not a resident. Familiarize yourself with the software, it’s all about practice. Approach this like CS- Have a plan of what to do and which differential diagnosis to suspect depending on patient history. Know how to order each investigation in the most convenient way, as in type in oxy to select oxygen therapy as well as pulse ox at the same time. Also, the week before day 2, as I went through MTB, go over all the diseases a general physician should be able to treat in CCS manner. This way you won’t forget the specific investigation and treatment in the real exam. Also, don’t forget to go over the ccs software on USMLE's website since it’s a bit different than uworld.</div>
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Best of luck!<br />
<br />
Puneet<br />
<a href="mailto:drpbaweja@gmail.com" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">drpbaweja@gmail.com</a></div>
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Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-81135710331717127052018-02-28T12:07:00.001-06:002018-02-28T13:27:42.591-06:00A million moving parts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The following post is by one of my colleagues at work. An amazingly inspiring story to keep persisting when all the odds are against us!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"It is a gamble. There are a million moving parts to matching to Residency and despite everything we do, there are powers beyond us that determine how those million parts fall together. But fall they will, and you will have an answer on the <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_690100476" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">15th of March</span></span>. That is the best thing about this whole journey. Closure. I was lucky. Very lucky. I had a lot going against me. I applied for residency at the age of 28, 4 years after I'd graduated from an obscure medical school in China. I had lower end scores, no step 3 and I needed a visa. I matched in my first attempt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Here is my story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was 2014 and my boyfriend of 5 years and I would spend hours discussing ways of avoiding the inevitable course our futures held, had we stayed in India with our social limitations on just being us. I wanted out. Soon after graduating, I worked with the organization of my dreams-Doctors without borders. 3 years with them allowed me the privilege to serve in the poorest and most dysfunctional parts of India. South Chattisgarh, Eastern Nagaland by the border with Myanmar, Mumbai. I did my time and worked hard. In my last project in Mumbai just as I joined the project, I had 2 colleagues leaving to begin their Residency. This serendipitous moment planted the seed in me to think of the USMLE's. I had never really thought about it prior to that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_690100477" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">30 days later</span></span>, I quit my job, convinced my parents and boyfriend that this our future and started the journey. I had no idea the rollercoaster ride I had just thrown myself into. This was the biggest risk I had ever taken. I started off by deciding on a timeline to get things done. My biggest struggle was getting Clinical experience opportunities. Every hospital that offered observerships required step scores or personal recommendations. I got lucky early when I applied to observe under an ID doctor at a hospital in Florida that accepted me simply based on my personal statement and my past ID experience with MSF. A lesson for all of you is try to tie your past life experiences into your application. It really helps. My ID observership was a huge success. I was diligent during the month, came in earlier than the residents, left after, attended lectures, helped out the team, reached out to other faculty and got myself on board 6 publications that help me to this day! Another tip for all of you is to try to network with other faculties in the hospital you are doing an observership in. You won't believe the doors that will open with a simple email to a professor in the hospital(I introduced myself as an observer in the hospital which I was--gave my email a lot more relevance)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My second observership was a disaster. I made a cardinal mistake of doing my observership in a specialty I had no interest in. I struggled with showing interest in contrast to my previous observership. Lesson number 3- Might be obvious but please do electives in subjects you are interested in - Your passions drive a lot of your juju and people can easily spot when you don't have your heart in it. It's funny because I was in cardiology. My third observership was at a community hospital in Cleveland that was fortuitous in that it put me on a path that would eventually lead me to Residency. I again used my rule number 1 which is getting in touch with other physicians while I was on this rotation, except that this time I started emailing attendings and contacts outside the hospital. I noticed I had a colleague from my MSF years doing his residency in Cleveland and reached out to him and he connected me to a physician at the Family Medicine clinic of the program I eventually matched into.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This opened a lot of doors. I was able to learn more about the program in an area of medicine I was passionate about and it showed. At the end of the rotation, I got a stellar recommendation and the program very likely factored that in when they ranked me. I interviewed at a couple of other places but my heart had already been set on this program. On March the journey came full circle when I opened the email. I had matched!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In hindsight, I would give the following advice</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-Networking matters! Help is found in the most unlikeliest of places. Reach out to other doctors at the hospital to possibly extend rotations</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-Do observerships/rotations in a field of medicine you are interested in</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-Figure out what your life story is and if you feel it is not extraordinary --make it! There are a million NGO's looking for volunteers, it will give you a nice context to weave your narrative</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I wish you all the best and ask you to be hopeful! I matched in the face of a million odds. It is possible. The other side is beautiful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What if you don't match</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-try again a second time. Do rotations that are in programs with residencies</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-Think about alternate medical careers-Not the best option if you want to do clinical but Clinical Informatics is a great option-there is an increasing demand for FMG's with a medical background to get involved. Another option is the pharmacy industry. There are always options available if you look closely. You will probably have to do a few months of unpaid work before you get your foot in the system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rahul Shenoy</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="mailto:rshenoy@metrohealth.org">rshenoy@metrohealth.org</a>"</span></div>
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Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-65304305645880707882018-01-23T17:51:00.003-06:002018-01-23T17:51:47.624-06:00Fellowship application timeline<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">This
is regarding my fellowship application for Pediatric intensive care application.
This is based on my personal journey. I had a <b><u>LOT </u></b>of help during the same and I
am ever thankful for my mentors, seniors and colleagues for guiding me through
the way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">First
off, once you have decided you want to pursue a fellowship I would start
working on building contacts in the field. I spoke to my seniors and
mentor and asked what I could do to make myself more marketable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Couple
of things that I did/things that were recommended<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li><b><u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Away electives</span></u></b><span style="line-height: 107%;">- If your program lets you
do so. Generally, helps in building rapport with attendings at other programs and
thereby your network.</span></li>
<li><b><u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Research</span></u></b><span style="line-height: 107%;"> in the field of your
interest/application</span></li>
<li><b><u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Presentations: </span></u></b><span style="line-height: 107%;">Try presenting at a National
conference if possible in your 2<sup>nd</sup> /3<sup>rd</sup> year of residency
prior to applying for a fellowship if possible.</span></li>
<li>Work
on your <b><u>personal statement</u></b>
during your down-time in 2<sup>nd</sup> year. Since this is generally the bane
of existence for most residents</li>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">For
Pediatric fellowship the time line is a bit as follows<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Somewhere in the middle to end of June<o:p></o:p></div>
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Apply for a token to create an ERAS account<o:p></o:p></div>
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End of June to 2<sup>nd</sup> week of July<o:p></o:p></div>
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- Work on the ERAS application. <o:p></o:p></div>
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- Get LOR’s (take into consideration that
your attendings are busy and have a life of their own! They will take at
least 2-3 weeks to write you a STRONG LOR. Do consider that it takes 5
business days to upload the same to ERAS. The Program Director LOR has to be
one of the 3-4LOR’s that you send to programs) P.S.- You should be dropping
hints to them in the end of May that you are expecting them to write LOR’s
for you in case I missed mentioning that.<o:p></o:p></div>
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2<sup>nd</sup> week of July<o:p></o:p></div>
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You can technically apply if your
application is ready to the programs. P.S- The programs CANNOT see your
application yet<o:p></o:p></div>
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July 15<sup>th</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
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Moment of truth. This is when the real
application begins, and programs call for interviews<o:p></o:p></div>
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July 15<sup>th</sup> till the mid November<o:p></o:p></div>
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Interviews take place here. So, a lot of
post call travelling and leave requests and what not. Finances/travelling tips
for fellowship interview in another post that you can find <a href="http://neilnf.blogspot.com/2017/11/travel-experiences-from-newbie-on.html"><span style="color: black;"><b>here</b></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Mid October to end of November<o:p></o:p></div>
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Work on your ROL. Trust me a month seems
like a LONG time<o:p></o:p></div>
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End of November to Mid December<o:p></o:p></div>
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The MAGICAL match process takes place in
NRMP. Start praying for good news.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mid December<o:p></o:p></div>
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Cheers! You have matched at your desired
program! </div>
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If not take part in SOAP (post-match scramble in residency)<o:p></o:p></div>
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</tbody></table>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Please
note: NRMP token opens somewhere in between. I do not remember the exact date
unfortunately. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Tips
on looking up programs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li> Talk to seniors, attendings on the places you
are applying to PRIOR to applying.</li>
<li>Visa
is another criterion that some of us used prior to applying. Unless you do not
have such restrictions</li>
<li>FRIEDA
is a good place to read on programs as well</li>
<li>Lastly
email the coordinator for places that you have no information on. They will
generally get back to you within 2-3 days.</li>
</ul>
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</div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Hopefully this helps all individuals who will be applying the following year for fellowship! Best of luck and fingers crossed</span></div>
</div>
Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-12795655423136168102017-12-10T20:34:00.001-06:002017-12-10T20:53:54.011-06:00The road to residency: how I got into a competitive specialty with low Step 1 score, no research and no electives<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The following post is from one of my colleagues and good friends from residency. I know a lot of great medical students give up on their dreams should they not match in the first attempt. This post is for such individuals to tell you that there is light at the end of the tunnel! Dream big and you will make it!</div>
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"I first decided to study for the USMLE when I read questions from First Aid to USMLE that was sitting on my friend’s shelf (Thanks Nishchit). After reading that book, I was convinced that the training I would get in the United States would be the kind of training that would suit my personality and allow me to grow. I was right. I am a fourth-year Med-Peds resident at Case Western Reserve University- MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, about to enter a fellowship in Critical Care Medicine at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), Pittsburgh. I am living my dream.</div>
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It wasn’t easy getting here though. In addition to being an IMG from India and needing a visa, I had a low Step 1 score, a good Step 2 score, passed CS and Step 3 in first attempts, and had no elective experience. I had only one month of observership when I first applied for Internal Medicine. I had no research or volunteer experience. Oh, and did I mention that I was three years out from my graduation? Needless to say, I didn’t match the first time. It was hard. It was crushing. After almost two years of studying, spending money to go the United States and having the right intention of simply wanting to learn, I didn’t match. I sat on the curb of a busy street in Bandra and cried my heart out. My partner who was sitting next to me cried with me.</div>
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I woke up the next morning, opened my laptop and looked at my resume. I looked at all the things my profile was lacking. I needed more US clinical experience and I needed to do volunteer work. At that time was working in an ICU in Mumbai. My work was shift based and it wasn’t hard for me to find another job. I found an LGBT clinic in Mumbai and started working as the staff physician. The clinic was located within the office of a large non-profit which had connections to the United States. (I did not know that at the time) I worked hard and made connections with two US physicians. One I reached out to myself- a Med-Peds physician running an LGBT clinic in Ohio and the other a Family Medicine physician who had come to the Mumbai clinic for a conference. The Med-Peds physician decided to take me on as an observer. The Family Medicine physician got me interviews at his program. I worked hard during my observership with the Med-Peds physician and got into the residency program there. </div>
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It all seems smooth now, as I recount the steps I took to get a residency in the United States. It wasn’t easy though and often I wondered what I would do if I failed.</div>
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My path is unique and can hardly be replicated. But I have found that the common thread between my story and other success stories is ‘persistence’.</div>
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USMLE scores are extremely important, but they’re not all that matter. If your scores are not good, make sure the recruiters see your other qualities that will make you a good resident. My profile wasn’t very good on paper, so I set out to correct that. I also knew that I was a hard worker and people liked my work, so my goal was to demonstrate to my future boss that I would make a good resident. It worked. I got into a highly sought after residency program.</div>
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The road to a residency in the United States is a long and hard, but in the end, it is fair and I assure you that you will grow as a physician. However, before you embark on this journey, make a commitment to yourself that you will get into a residency program in the United States.</div>
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<br /></div>
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You WILL fail if you give up! But you WILL succeed if work hard and persevere! Failures that come along the way are only to make you stronger, to make you a better professional. So take that in your stride and work on making yourself a more attractive candidate. The rest is, as they say, up to what some call God, some luck and some providence. </div>
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Varun Shetty</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">varunshetty@protonmail.ch</span>"<br />
<br />
His story continues here <a href="http://neilnf.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-road-to-fellowship-aiming-for-stars.html">http://neilnf.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-road-to-fellowship-aiming-for-stars.html</a></div>
</div>
Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-25223353622539398452017-12-10T20:34:00.000-06:002017-12-10T20:43:33.442-06:00The road to fellowship: aiming for the stars<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This post is by my colleague who I had to hound to write this post once I knew where he matched. The reason I wanted him to write this was to prove that IMG’s do have what it takes to get into prestigious institutions and to not listen to the disbelievers!<o:p></o:p></div>
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"I was ecstatic when I got into the Med-Peds program. It was the perfect program for someone with a global health interest like mine. Also, after having worked in Mumbai in non-academic settings for a year, I was hungry to learn. Medicine became my life and I enjoyed every day at work. Finding my way into residency also gave me confidence. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I then made a decision. All my life I was aiming low, telling myself that I would never be good enough to go to AIIMS, Harvard or any of the Ivy league programs. I told myself that this time I will try. I will work hard to find myself in the best program in the specialty of my choice. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So, from the beginning of my residency, in addition to focusing on my clinical growth, which I must add is extremely important and indispensable, I starting thinking about what fellowship I wanted and how I was going to get there. <o:p></o:p></div>
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My interest is in the practice of critical care in a global health setting. I decided that I wanted to do Infectious Diseases and Critical Care- an unusual choice but an upcoming specialty in medicine. With my program director’s help, I found a mentor and worked on an ID research project. I completed it within the year and submitted it to IDWeek, an international ID conference. I presented there the year after. I also worked on workshops, papers and other teaching projects. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I realized in the course of applying to residency, that being on a visa is big negative for programs. H1B visa narrowed my fellowship prospects further. So I had to be the best candidate possible. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Somewhere in my third year, I realized that Med-Peds being a four-year program, left me with just two years for fellowship as the limit on H1B is 6 years, after which we have to have applied for a green card or leave the country for a year. I had to then make a choice. ID or Critical Care. I couldn’t do both, at least not initially. This was really hard. I knew I loved both but I couldn’t decide. Also, my profile was better suited for an ID program than a critical care program. After weeks of thinking about what I wanted, discussion with visa lawyers to get the specifics of visa and green card right, I decided to apply to both ID and critical care. My philosophy was that what I really wanted was to be in academics practicing global health medicine. It was important for me to land in a program that supported my career interests and helped me grow. And as I found out through the fellowship interview process, it is predominantly about finding a mentor.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I looked at ID programs and realized that I could not even apply to some Ivy league programs because they wouldn’t sponsor an H1B visa. I looked at 30-something critical care programs and found that only about 15 programs sponsor an H1B visa. I was indignant, but thankfully I had put in all the work to become a good candidate. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="BodyA">
I heard from some really strong ID programs and I was drawn to all of them! Amongst the critical care programs, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"></a>UPMC, Pittsburgh seemed most interesting. It is probably the oldest critical care program in the country and arguably one of the best. When I interviewed at UPMC I found out that they have a global health track. I also found a physician there who I knew would be the perfect mentor for me. My interview went well. I was well prepared (make sure you prepare for some behavioral questions) and my enthusiasm for my future career interest and the program was apparent. I got a pre-match offer for critical care (most critical care medicine programs are not part of the match) and I was thrilled to accept it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I look back and see how far I have come. How many years it took me and how hard it was. But when I was inside it all, I never dreamed I would come this far. But I did not doubt my love for medicine, my enthusiasm or my stamina to do what it takes. My only motivation was, and is, to become the best physician I could become!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I won’t oversimplify the process of getting into residency and fellowship by saying that all that is needed is motivation and love for the field, because I know that unearned privilege like having money to stay in the US to do rotations, luck, meeting the right people and bunch of other factors all make a difference. But I can tell you that you will absolutely need hard work, motivation and perseverance to make your dream come true. It is possible to become that successful physician you want to be. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Dream big. It will happen.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Signing out<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="BodyA">
Varun Shetty<o:p></o:p></div>
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(varunshetty@protonmail.ch)"</div>
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Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-85567576950403686092017-11-14T16:34:00.002-06:002019-07-09T18:16:14.952-05:00Travel experiences from a newbie on the fellowship interview trail<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It seems like just the other day I got done with the residency interview trail and now I am going for the fellowship interviews! Please note the following is for fellowship interviews. If you are a medical student applying for residency I would use my earlier <a href="http://neilnf.blogspot.com/2014/11/tips-while-travelling-in-states.html">post</a>.<br />
<br />
Couple of differences that I noticed between residency and fellowship interviews is as follows<br />
<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Given you are earning in dollars now, the pinch of money is NOT too much but still palpable</li>
<li>Most hospitals generally provide accommodation. The really fancy ones even pay for the airfare!</li>
<li>The fellowship programs are trying to sell themselves to you instead of vice-versa (at least that is what I felt)</li>
</ol>
<br />
One goes for interviews generally in the 3rd year of residency OR 4th year if you are Med-Peds/Chief in your program. So if you are in residency you generally travel on post-call days, eat pre-interview dinner and sleep at night in the hotel accommodation the program provides. Therefore as mentioned in point 1, you want the fastest yet cheapest option. This is generally flights unless the distance is not too far in which case people do drive.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Couple of tips that I felt that a candidate can do to make the experience easier (at least in my case; please note that different people have different options. This is my experience)</u></b><br />
I highly recommend getting the <a href="http://refer.amex.us/NEILFflM5?XLINK=MYCP">Amex Platinum credit card</a> since it gives you HUGE perks. My referral link is <a href="http://refer.amex.us/NEILFflM5?XLINK=MYCP">this</a>. To list a few<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>60,000 membership reward points for spending 4k. You will definitely hit this depending on the number of places you interview at</li>
<li>$200 airline credit- It works with only single airline</li>
<li>$200 Uber credit ($15 per month)- One uses this feature A LOT on your interview trail. </li>
<li>$100 credit for TSA pre-check which is something US citizens can do but for IMG's only if you are one of the global entry countries can you do the same</li>
<li>Access to a LOT of lounges during flights. I feel this is another BIG perk for residents who are interviewing and frequently flying</li>
<li>You get complimentary gold access to Hilton, Marriot and Starwood preferred. (The hotels treat you like royalty)- As mentioned in point 2 on the top, the programs pay for the stay. So you can give your account number at check-in and you get rewarded for the stay.</li>
</ul>
The annual fee though high ($595), I feel the above perks are worth it.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Please note- </u></b><br />
- In case the program does not pay for accommodation, you can check Airbnb for a place to stay at a cheap rate and maybe rent a car to the interview/uber it.<br />
- One can also apply for the Chase sapphire reserve since that has travel deals as well.<br />
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I flew the following airlines. Highlighted the perks and features which I liked. All the airlines generally give you pretzels/cookie with a drink (coke, Pepsi etc). You can spend money on hard drinks should you want to indulge in the same.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/tmgMQbrz0GmAKssHzELmb6XaNq-81ckbakr-RMvaCHJos-6ObHqhZFJFHZsb5cu4slxO=w300" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/tmgMQbrz0GmAKssHzELmb6XaNq-81ckbakr-RMvaCHJos-6ObHqhZFJFHZsb5cu4slxO=w300" width="200" /></a></div>
<b><u>JetBlue</u></b>- Loved this airline since there is free wi-fi with amazon prime video streaming. The food is amazing as well. The leg space is GREAT! Given I am a tall person, I love when I can stretch my legs without feeling like I am cramped in my seat.<br />
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<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/917400951740293120/M34Ltj41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="200" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/917400951740293120/M34Ltj41.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b><u>Southwest</u></b>- There is NO predetermined seating. Your seat is dependent on WHEN you check in. You get a boarding group number and at the time of boarding, you are broken into groups based on the same. You board the plane and call dibs on the seats. The biggest perk is the 2 checked bags for free, which you can use if you are changing your base-camp. You get wifi to watch cable channels to kill time. You have to pay for internet though.<br />
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<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/781541813760954368/hTiVxR-B_400x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/781541813760954368/hTiVxR-B_400x400.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b><u>Delta</u></b>- The service was great. Loved the food. But depending on when you book your tickets you may get a good deal.<br />
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<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/876846725729615873/OqjbP6Dl_400x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/876846725729615873/OqjbP6Dl_400x400.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b><u>American Airlines</u></b>- Cheap low cost but no special perks that I would run wild for. Had a couple of bad experiences but the flight crew made up for the same.<br />
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Just to get myself organized, I used the following apps. They are available for Android, Apple and windows.<br />
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<b><a href="https://www.tripit.com/home">Tripit</a> Pro version</b>- It is $49 for a year subscription which is okay per me for the interviews. It gives you notifications on when you can check in and gives you the shortest route to take to the next gate, which helps when your layover is just half hour and you have to run to the next gate. You can even store your hotel reservation, so you know your itinerary is not missing anything.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/QZmvQx0O0XdpVn34cKsAnhEGDBqWRNsaeDHPpmkjqK1Ed20EyzfMP_dFjFJhvAeM-tT5KbPlXBo=w640-h400-e365" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="640" height="125" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/QZmvQx0O0XdpVn34cKsAnhEGDBqWRNsaeDHPpmkjqK1Ed20EyzfMP_dFjFJhvAeM-tT5KbPlXBo=w640-h400-e365" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://awardwallet.com/?refCode=ul2gip7l7a">Awardwallet </a>pro/free version- Helps you track your miles and know when miles are expiring. It also has a feature of letting you know when to check-in. My referral link is <a href="https://awardwallet.com/?refCode=ul2gip7l7a">this </a><br />
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Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-29116660555398301892017-03-21T10:19:00.001-05:002017-03-21T10:27:45.916-05:00Medical training license for Ohio residents<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background: white;">The application for training license for new residents is
pretty straightforward and self-explanatory. But here is the simplest
explanation for filling out the form.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="background: white;">State of Ohio Training Application</span></b><span style="background: white;"> Medical Training Certificate
applications are available online at the State Medical Board of Ohio website: <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://med.ohio.gov/DNN/PDF-Folders/Applicant/TrainingCertificateApplication.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1490194270107000&usg=AFQjCNF3f0euv8W2-51xcR6sbhDQzSSJeg" href="http://med.ohio.gov/DNN/PDF-Folders/Applicant/TrainingCertificateApplication.pdf" target="_blank">http://med.ohio.gov/DNN/PDF-<wbr></wbr>Folders/Applicant/<wbr></wbr>TrainingCertificateApplication<wbr></wbr>.pdf</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
It is a
27-page document. The following page numbers are to be co-related with the
same.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Page 8</b>-<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
- Choose
MD<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
- If you
do not have SSN leave it blank<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
- For
physician address- you can use your home country address if you do not have a
US one at the moment<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Page
9-</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Leave
ECFMG certificate expiry date blank<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Page
11</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Put the
dates you stayed in USA and state traveling for interviews<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Page
19-</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
You can
use your home country's notary for the Affidavit but let them know it is a
legal document and then do some fancy stuff and charge you the same<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>Page
24</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Leave the
expiration date blank<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
If you
are an IMG you do not have to fill<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>pages-
23, 25 </b> <o:p></o:p></div>
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Once the form is done contact your program on how to go about after the same.</div>
</div>
</div>
Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-22885268275135851612017-03-18T13:07:00.000-05:002019-03-25T19:39:17.702-05:00J1 Visa process by Zeeshan Mansuri<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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J1 PROCESS (for INDIA)</div>
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1. Match day – YAYYYYYY! Match day done and dusted. Now, what’s the next step?</div>
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2. Wait for the email from your program coordinator. They will send it by next week.</div>
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3. You will receive a packet of your residency contract plus 100s of other forms from your program, which includes the same info to be filled in a gazillion times.</div>
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4. For J1, browse the MOH (Ministry of Health) website. Download the Statement Of Need (SON) application (attached with the post) and complete the bond papers and get it signed by 2 people, your father/mother and a gazetted officer (Check the application form for details). The bond basically states that IF you fail to return to India to complete the waiver, you/your Dad/Mom will pay 5 lakh rupees to the Government of India and IF you/your Dad/Mom fail to do so, the gazetted officer who signed the form will be liable to pay. Also, the gazette officer should have more than 7 years left in his/her service and CANNOT be a blood relative. Also, you will also require a sign from the gazetted officer’s boss to confirm that the gazetted officer is speaking the truth and has furnished the correct information.</div>
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5. Make sure to sign each and every page of the SON application at the bottom. Make sure to fill all the different annexure forms in the application as applicable.</div>
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6. Please plan to travel to New Delhi once they start issuing. They usually will give you a token number and will process only 25 a day (This varies from year to year). If you or your friend can go (your friend will need an authorization letter signed by you, authorizing him to get the SON in your place).</div>
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7. No bribing in the MOH office last year. It may change this year. (You get the point!!!)</div>
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8. ONCE YOU RECEIVE THE SON, MAKE SURE DATES OF YOUR RESIDENCY, YOUR NAME, SPECIALTY ARE ENTERED CORRECTLY. Remember it’s a Government office and they will be casual and make spelling mistakes.</div>
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9. Pay your SEVIS fee early. Your application will be processed by ECFMG by the order u paid your SEVIS fee. Make sure that all required documents are uploaded properly.</div>
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10. Send the NOC to the program. They will upload it to OASIS on the ECFMG website. ECFMG will take approximately 1 -3 weeks to send your DS 2019 form. Once you receive in your hand, you can schedule your visa interview after paying the appropriate fee.</div>
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11. The interview is very chilled out consisting of 3-5 questions. The visa officer will sign your ds 2019 and give it back to you (if he/she forgets, ask for it and keep it safe).</div>
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12. Passport in 3-5 days - bingo!!</div>
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13. Book your flight tickets by April 15th. Anytime later than that will hurt your dad's wallet by extra 150-200$. I would suggest going back ASAP.</div>
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14. In between, your program coordinator will be sending your more documents to sign and return.</div>
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15. All J1 applicants can start from India 30 days before the official start date of your program. (H1B people can start only 10 days before start date).</div>
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16. Visit all places you want to go and meet everyone you want to meet. Once you start residency, you will start missing all of that. These next 100 days are going to be THE golden period of your lifetime. THE last big vacation. Enjoy every minute of it!! Feel free to add info, correct anything or ask questions. Cheers! Good luck <span class="_47e3 _5mfr" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 0; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle;" title="smile emoticon"><img alt="" class="img" height="16" src="https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v8/feb/2/16/1f642.png" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: -3px;" width="16" /><span class="_7oe" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0px; width: 0px;">:)</span></span> God bless <span class="_47e3 _5mfr" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 0; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle;" title="smile emoticon"><img alt="" class="img" height="16" src="https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v8/feb/2/16/1f642.png" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: -3px;" width="16" /><span class="_7oe" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0px; width: 0px;">:)</span></span></div>
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<div style="color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
Best,</div>
<div style="color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
Zeeshan Mansuri</div>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">zeeshanmansuri@gmail.com</span></span></div>
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<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 6px;">
<a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bzu7W625v0SLLWY4d3pUb2cxb2c">SON</a><span id="goog_692424024"></span></div>
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Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-47320529437886242672016-12-03T20:50:00.000-06:002016-12-03T20:50:58.351-06:00Internship<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This is regarding internship aka 1st year of residency in my program</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>General rules</u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Most programs make each module lasting 4 weeks, and they generally start on a Monday in internship. There are a TOTAL of 13 modules for the academic year, with a month for vacation</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The first month was more of getting used to the EMR system in the hospital while figuring out how to get from home to hospital and back! Another part of starting new in a place is figuring out transportation. Should you be in New York, the public system is well connected. However, in Cleveland, the same is not true! You will need a vehicle if you intend to survive internship, at least that is what I think! Let me give you the following example- If I take the bus daily, I will take an hour to reach work, but if I have a car I will reach the SAME place in 20 mins, which translates to 40 more minutes of sleep! Who says no to that! </div>
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<br /></div>
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Lastly, it takes every resident, in my opinion, a good number of days to learn how to function in a new unit. But, I feel as long as you have good seniors, you will thrive, no matter where you are! </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>EMR (Electronic Medical record)</u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Things that I would recommend future applicants to look for is definitely the EMR (electronic medical record) system which a hospital uses. For example, my program uses EPIC, which is PRETTY powerful. We do NOT have written documents and thanks to a tie up with different hospitals within the EPIC ecosystem we are able to access patient records in other hospitals as well. </div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
As an intern trying to learn the ins and outs of Epic, took me a GOOD amount of time ~a month, and that too I only knew the basics. Till date I keep finding out new things about epic, both from my current interns as well as the attendings I work with, to say the least.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Things the EMR is used for - writing daily progress notes, results for labs that were sent and at times to mail another physician via the patient workspace about patient information. When I started my residency, my PD and chief, realizing that we as IMG's have a lot to learn placed us in electives, which helped us learn how to function in epic without getting too overwhelmed. For my good fortune, I had a co-resident, with who I powered through learning EPIC.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>Modules</u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Wise wisdom from a senior of mine- 'Internship is not about learning, it is more about surviving! You are in a new place, with new colleagues, learning new etiquettes and to top it you have a NEW EMR to figure out, the best you can do in this year is to survive! You will start learning in your junior and senior year; so make mistakes and don't be shy to ask questions, as you are here to learn!' And now that I am in the 2nd year of residency I cannot but express how true those words are! Internship is more about getting to work and getting your responsibilities done in time i.e. time management.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Most programs have the same set of modules, but just different names. Our program has a good mix of general floors, subspeciality floors, outpatient experience, ED, electives, NICU and vacation in internship. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I started off with electives, which for me was perfect, I used to have a good amount of teaching, and given we had to get certified in BLS, NRP and PALS, my attending used to let us off for the needed amount of time! I loved the attendings who I worked with and I imbibed some of their signature moves, so to say, because they were so good! </div>
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For the next rotation I went into NICU, this for many of the pediatric residents, seems to be the bane of their existence. For this, I went in with advice from a senior, who said 'You either hate the NICU or you love it, there is nothing in between!' I had amazing seniors in the NICU, who helped me out, not only by helping me write progress notes, but by also doing some of them on my first day when they realized I was freaking out and sweating buckets!! Here knowing dot phrases (things we use in epic to auto populate results) plays a major role!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And then finally I went into the floors! Again I had amazing seniors! I still won't forget the first day I did my pre-rounds, I was a mess. My seniors, to whom I am ever thankful for, took me aside and pointed out what was wrong and ways that I could improve, and after that floors were a piece of cake. Towards the end of the rotation I even was told that compared to what I did on day 1, I was a much better resident at the end! The work times for floors as an intern is hard! You have to reach early in the morning, so as to finish pre-rounding, which includes knowing the overnight events, labs that were sent if any and a focused physical examination. Here I feel in addition to talking to the overnight resident, the nurses play a major role, as they know minute by minute play of what happened with each patient. Learning to admit and discharge patients along with discharge summaries, is a MAJOR role done by interns. Towards the end of internship you realize what labs to focus on and how to present cases better, things like lab trends make more sense that just reporting numbers! In floors, you depend on your co-residents to help you out with work like admission and discharges, seniors for tips and tricks with EMR and nurses and finally the attending on how to interact with patients!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the States there is something called as a resident team clinic (continuity clinic)- This is a place where you get to see every week on a particular day, a set of kids for well child visits. You become a child's pediatrician, something that I am sure most of you want to do! You get to see a child grow up in front of you which is a wonderful experience.! In this team clinic, you are generally with a preceptor who helps in molding your general pediatrician skills. There are so many things you can learn from you preceptors if you only let them teach you! The urgent care clinic is considered the outpatient experience. You get to see a wide variety of illness from colds to rashes to asthmatics to what not! You learn to figure out which is a sick vs, not sick kid!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Lastly, we also have a rotation in the newborn nursery which I must say was really amazing for multiple reasons! One since you have cute babies there and 2 because my attending was amazing and 3 because my colleagues were hilarious! </div>
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As your residency progresses, you will learn that your co-residents play a MAJOR part in how you like your program. Even seniors, since if you don't know anything they are the people who can guide you to the correct answer. In my program at least, my batchmates are really amazing! Everyone steps up if the work is too much for one to handle! Lastly, we throw random functions for no good reason! </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Fellows, though people say are not good, I feel if you use them in the right way they are the best people to have. For example, you are interested in a particular sub-speciality, fellows help in telling you what things you should look for in a program and they are also more approachable compared to attendings given they are younger as well as they know what a resident is going through! </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now at the end of my internship, the only thing I look back and think, if I had to do it over again I would not change anything! The entire year was one roller coaster ride, but it was worth it!</div>
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<br /></div>
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If there is any grammatical error, please excuse it! Just wrote this in an hour for people who are going to come over for residency!</div>
</div>
Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-74151353001991903942016-08-06T17:00:00.002-05:002023-04-26T10:54:57.884-05:00Credit Cards and Terms made easy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I am not sure how far it is true. But referral links seem to help some people get credit cards quicker than if they try to apply for the card themselves.</span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Just as an FYI, some people wonder what it is to have a credit card and what does it entitle you to </span></div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><u style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Credit line-</u><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> This is your spending limit</span></li>
<li><u style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cash access-</u><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> When you use your credit card to withdraw money like a debit card</span></li>
<li><u style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">FICO score/credit score</u><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">- It measures your credit worthiness to credit card companies. It is a BIG deal in the States, at least if you planning to buy a house or take a huge loan. A good number is anywhere >700 I believe and an ideal number is >750. This </span><a href="http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/creditscores.aspx" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">site</a><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> is useful for people interested in knowing more about credit scores. Factors that impact the score</span></li>
</ul>
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<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="a">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #333333; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l4 level2 lfo1;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Payment history (35%)</b> Timely payments on all your accounts can help you get a higher score. The score is lowered for late payments, delinquent or over limit accounts, bankruptcies, and liens.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #333333; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l4 level2 lfo1;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Total amount you owe (30%)</b> This is the ratio of what you owe to the amount of your available credit or your debt-to-credit ratio. A high credit card balance can lower your credit score as it may reflect difficulty affording your monthly payments. However, if you have a high credit limit and you keep your balances low, your debt-to-credit ratio will be low, so a higher credit limit can help you protect your good credit score. But this is only the case if you continue to keep your balances low.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #333333; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l4 level2 lfo1;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Length of credit history (15%)</b> This shows how long you've been using credit and how well (or poorly) you've managed your finances in the past.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #333333; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l4 level2 lfo1;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>New credit accounts and inquiries (10%)</b> This includes accounts you've opened recently and recent inquiries from companies you've applied to for credit. Be aware that applying for too much credit can lower your score.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; color: #333333; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l4 level2 lfo1;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Types of credit in use (10%)</b> This includes all your credit accounts—credit cards, installment loans, mortgages and other types of credit.</span></li>
</ol>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">You can also use credit score checking sites like </span><a href="https://www.creditkarma.com/" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Credit Karma</a><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> or </span><a href="http://csesa.me/?r=DdEl9NIJ" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Credit Sesame</a><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> which helps to keep track off credit checks on your account</span></li>
</ul>
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<b><u><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Example for the use of a credit card- </span></u></b></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I want to buy a 4K item but I have only 2k in my BANK account. For people from my country where debit is the mode of payment, one would have to wait till you have the money to buy things and only then can you buy it. This is where a credit card comes into play, it gives you the power to pay for stuff that you DO NOT have money for at the moment. So say I have a credit line of 5k, now I can definitely buy this item since it WITHIN my spending capacity, in other words, I have an invisible amount of 5k which can be used to buy it. Now the only trick is that you HAVE to pay off this balance before the set due date on your credit card. So you have to link your bank account to this credit card and pay off the amount you spend on it. PLEASE NOTE YOU HAVE A DEADLINE for payments, so if you are sure you WON'T have the ACTUAL money to pay off the credit card <u>DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT BUY</u> the item.</span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">People do say that one should not MAX out a credit card. It means, if I am not mistaken, DO NOT over spend. So say the item was 6k and your credit card limit is 5k, then sorry to say my friend YOU CANNOT buy the item ONLY on the credit card. However, you can pay 4.99k from the credit card and the rest from the 2k that you have in your bank account. Once again a reminder YOU HAVE to pay off the credit card before the due date for the card.</span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Now coming to the actual credit cards for people, the following are some credit cards that I have which I feel are useful</span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><u><a href="https://refer.discover.com/s/in7ka">Discover</a></u></b></span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">This was my first credit card. I got it when I had no history and I guess the referral from my friend <b>made</b> the difference, since I know of people who did not use a referral and were rejected. So in case you want a referral this is my <span style="color: red;">referral</span><b><span style="color: red;"> <a href="https://refer.discover.com/s/in7ka">link</a></span></b></span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>I feel the cash back bonus in different categories is extremely useful. Details can be found <a href="https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/cashback-bonus/cashback-calendar.html">here</a></span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>Also, link this card to your Amazon account and see the rewards building.</span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>There is a promo that at the end of your first year, they will double your reward points which is pretty good</span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>You can also get referral bonus of 50 bucks which is a pretty sweet deal to be frank</span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>You get your FICO score <b>for free</b> on a monthly basis (when you have at least 6 months of history if you are an IMG like me)</span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>International transactions are charged an extra of 3% </span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>It at times is NOT accepted everywhere</span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><u><a href="https://www.referyourchasecard.com/18p/PSNT48HC3Z">Chase Freedom</a></u></b></span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">This is one of the steady cards that I know off. I heard rumors of this card shutting down since there is Freedom Unlimited, but I highly doubt it. This is a card one must get once your Discover card starts showing you a FICO score. So in case you want a referral this is my <span style="color: red;">referral<b> <a href="https://www.referyourchasecard.com/18p/PSNT48HC3Z">link</a></b></span></span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>The card is by Chase, which is a big name in the banking sector</span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>Rotating 5% reward categories like Discover, calendar can be found <a href="https://creditcards.chase.com/freedom/calendar">here</a></span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>You earn a $150 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening</span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>Unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases - it's automatic</span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>You don’t get a FICO score like Discover</span><br />
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<span face="helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"> I have switched from sapphire preferred to freedom unlimited due to the fact that I earn 1.5x points for everything. My referral link is <a href="https://www.referyourchasecard.com/18p/PSNT48HC3Z">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.referyourchasecard.com/6m/36YA6B5JLS"><b>Chase Sapphire</b></a></span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">A sleek metal card design which was my BIGGEST reason to get the card. So in case you want a referral this is my <span style="color: red;">referral<b> <a href="https://www.referyourchasecard.com/6m/36YA6B5JLS">link</a></b></span></span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>You earn 75,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $625 in travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. <i>(I now it is a A HUGE AMOUNT, but guess offering to spend for others helps here) </i></span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>For those who travel and eat A LOT, you get 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases</span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>Earn 5,000 bonus points after you add the first authorized user and make a purchase in the first 3 months from account opening- <i>You can add random person and once they swipe destroy the card</i></span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>$0 foreign transaction fees- <i>This is another awesome feature when traveling outside the States</i></span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>1:1 point transfer to leading frequent travel programs at full value - that means 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points equal 1,000 partner miles/points- <i>I have NOT used this feature but it is really enticing</i></span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>Travel confidently with premium Travel Protection Benefits, including Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Trip Delay Reimbursement and more<i></i></span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">-<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span>Annual fee after the first year $95, which though is high I feel is worth the cash back</span></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">That's all folks for now!</span></div>
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Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-14765301970408473852016-06-03T21:26:00.000-05:002016-06-03T21:26:44.645-05:00“I regret saying that I am denying you visa to the US”<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">“I regret saying that I am denying you visa to the US”</span></h4>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><i>“Why?” asked me!</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><i>“Because your scores are very low and I do not feel that you will be able to do anything with these there”, said a slightly surprised visa counselor.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><i>“Who are you to judge my scores? You are not qualified to do so. I know my scores are not good. But I have done my background research before deciding to commit so much of time, money and effort to this. It is tough but it is not impossible! When there is hope, why should I give up on my dreams?”</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><i>There was a whole minute silence. The shock on the counselor’s face was screaming that no visa candidate had ever argued with him like this. But for my pounding heart, it was a do or die moment!</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><i>“Ok, you will get one chance and only one to prove what you can do”</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><i>And so I got my first EVER international visa stamp, that too into the US and thus my journey to the States began!</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">Hi all, I was reading Neil's blogs and thought to share my experiences in the USMLE journey so that others who are in similar situations like mine are motivated to see through it until the END!</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">That being said let me start at the beginning.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">In 2013, I was one amongst the thousand's of US residency aspirants and by no means a lucky one! I literally had every hurdle imaginable to an IMG.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><u>Citizenship: </u>I am from a third world country and NEVER visited any foreign country.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black;"><u>Exam scores: </u>My USMLE step 1 score was below the 90<sup>th</sup></span><span style="color: black;">centile and step 2 in low 90s.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><u>Graduation:</u> I had been working for 2 – 2.5 years after medical school and so </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: #222222;">I wasn’t a fresh </span>graduate.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><u>Past 'Research' experience:</u> I did do some clinical research work after graduation, but nothing too fancy.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><u>US experience:</u> I had a very short (2 week) observership in one of the University hospital's (from where I was lucky to get a<b> good letter</b>)</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><u>Interview call: </u>of the 70 odd pediatric programs that I applied to, I received only <b>1 interview call.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><u>Match day!</u> – of course, to no surprise for all, I<b><u> did not</u></b> match :( </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">However, I feel God must have heard my prayers, because on the day after 'Match' day – I received a call from the program coordinator of the hospital I interviewed at stating “One of our matched candidates is not able to make it to the residency program. Are you still interested in joining us?” </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">And I was SHOUTING in utter disbelief! “Yes, I am.” </span><span style="font-family: "wingdings";">J</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "wingdings";"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">Finally, when I did go to get my H1B visa stamped, the visa officer who denied my visa in the first place, saw me and looking at me came out, smiled and said: “Well Done!” Oh, the joy of proving someone wrong, Incredible!</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">So here I am, almost at the end of my pediatric residency and still living a dream! </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">The sole purpose of writing my path to USMLE is to encourage you to keep trying! Don’t give up on your dreams, no matter how crazy people think you are! You never know what life might have in store for you. I faced hurdles, </span><b style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: medium;">extra </b><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">hurdles, in every step! Every person I knew looked at me as if I am crazy to pursue USMLE further. But I knew what I wanted and I was determined to do all that I can! So saying I end with this </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">I shall be telling this with a sigh</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Somewhere ages and ages hence:</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">I took the one less traveled by,</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">And that has made all the difference.</span></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">The Road Not Taken – Robert Frost</span></span></b></div>
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Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832274272873082316.post-27461586310631592842016-05-12T12:45:00.002-05:002016-05-12T12:45:44.424-05:00Taxes in the US<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This time, I thought would just write about tax paying in the US for my fellow residents or new residents starting this year. First off the basics, a tax year is counted from January 1 to December 31, and you are required to file federal income tax returns by </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">April 15.</span></div>
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There are multiple ways to pay taxes</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Online - Turbo tax etc which are really simple and free, at least the basic outline</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Through an agent for a <b><u>fee</u></b></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I personally did mine through an agent since I am new to the States and I did not have much free time as an intern. In the first year of residency, you get a decent amount of money back and hence I recommend going with an agent. So, as usual, I asked my senior on who to contact and he gave me the</span> contact details of his tax agent and she kinda ran me through the entire process. There were some colleagues and <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">seniors of mine who have stated that one can get the same amount of refund via online software's (Turbo-tax), but I personally did not have much time or luck to go through the same.</span></div>
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To file taxes you need the following documents </div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">W2 from your employer</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;">1</span><span style="background-color: white;">099-INT if you had any miscellaneous incomes (see below for more details)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;">Moving expenses (a rough estimate)</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Once you get those details you send the same to your tax agent who gives you an estimate of how much refund you get and then you are set.</span></div>
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<b><u>Note</u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">If I am not mistaken there are 3 taxes in total</span></div>
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- Federal (USA)</div>
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- State (Ohio)</div>
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- City - The general consensus is that one does not owe city tax if you live and work in the same city. </div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Elaborating on some terms</span></div>
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<b><u>Form W4</u></b></div>
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When you join a company, your employer will ask you to fill Form W4. That form gives information to the employer regarding how many deductions an employee can make. For every deduction claimed, the employee is able to deduct a certain amount of income from the income tax. The number of deductions claimed in the W4 form is just an estimate regarding how much tax you may owe. </div>
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<b><u>1099</u></b></div>
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There are several types of 1099 forms:</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">1099INT: For interest paid by a bank.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">1099DIV: For dividends and distributions paid by financial institutions.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">1099R:Distributions from Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">If you paid interest on a mortgage or real estate taxes, you will receive 1098 with that information.</li>
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Neil Fernandeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02494707604357591833noreply@blogger.com1