Personal Statement Tips

Firstly, ignore the grammatical errors in the post, was a bit tired! :P

Now to begin, a good number of individuals have asked for tips on how to write a Personal Statement for the Match. There are a million results that pop up when you google search personal statement & your specialty.  

Tips for writing PS

• http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/about-ama/our-people/member-groups-sections/minority-affairs-section/transitioning-residency/writing-your-personal-statement.page?
• http://www.med.unc.edu/ome/studentaffairs/residency-and-the-match/residency-application-process/cv-personal-statements
• http://www.cmu.edu/hpp/apply-to-schools/personal-statements/tips.html
• http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/tips/personalstatement/
• http://www.accepted.com/medical/residencyessays.aspx

These are a few sites which give you sample personal statements

• http://www.medfools.com/personalstatements/
• http://www.usmleweb.com/showarticleef.html

It is hard to create one, that is for sure, but you must attempt to make one at least. Firstly just read a couple to know what a personal statement should have. Keep reading online PS's till you get that one which strikes you that your life was shaped like that one. 

Once you have created your personal statement, keep reading and re-reading it. Send it to your OLDER siblings or friends to proof-read it. Once this phase is done and ALL GRAMMATICAL ERRORS are corrected send it to your seniors to check if they are impressed by it. For heaven's sake DO NOT THINK THAT THEY ARE JOBLESSLY sitting around just to read your PS. They have a lot of other commitments. If they do give you a feedback well and good, if not still thank them for going through, since they have taken time from their busy schedule to actually read it.

Lastly, before FINALLY uploading it on ERAS, do check it for Plagiarism. You really do not want to use a completely copied PS from the web. It there is NO originality in the PS, you can be rest assured it will be discarded by the PD. Try to have 80 or higher original content

These are a few sites that help you in the plagiarism area

• http://smallseotools.com/plagiarism-checker/
• http://www.plagtracker.com/

A reader even suggested the following link https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/best-plagiarism-checking-tools/  with their review as follows 'What I like the most about the article is their honesty and objectiveness when choosing/ranking the best and more accurate plagiarism check tools available out there, in addition, they suggested a few free tools, so it’s great for someone who would want to try it'

Finally, this is how I structured my PS

1. An opening line by one of my profs or an online quote which hit me hard and caused me to think.
2. An event which caused me to like the field (in my case pediatrics)
3. Why this field, I mean to say what is so special about it and what I have done to show my interest in the field
4. Steps I have taken to be prepared for residency in the States
5. My strengths and why the program should choose me
6. Summary- Which has the HIGHLIGHTS of the PS

Guide by Dr Vikas Reddy

An exhaustive guide to the USMLE by Dr Vikas Reddy :)

My Match 2015 timeline

This is the simplest way I could tell how I Matched and what I did in each month.

Hope this helps some of you :) All the best.

P.S.- I applied with my CS pending on Sept 27th 2014.

Step 1                              Feb 10th                    
Step 2 CK                       July 24th                    
Step 2 CS                        August 12th                  Pass 1st attempt (Result- October 8th)
Graduated                       October 09th
ECFMG certified            October 29th
Step 3                              December last week     Awaiting results (Update 25th March 2015- Pass)

Research - 2 ICMR projects and 1 college project.

Applied to

Pediatrics
     42 programs.
     10 interviews.

People who MATCHED could you please fill in this Excel sheet :)

Year	Month	What I was doing
2013	March	M.B.B.S. Internship starts	Electives hunting without Step 1 scores
	April	Chilling plus Intercollege fests plus USMLE material hunting.
	May
	June
	July
	August
	September
	October
	November	Step 1
	December
2014	January
	February
	March	Proper electives hunting with Step 1 scores + little CK studying
	April
	May
	June	Step 2 CK
	July
	August	Electives +  Step 2 CS
	September
	October	Graduation and Credentials verification
	November	Interview season + Step 3
	December
2015	January
	February	Praying to Match + Junior Residency
	March	Match

Step 3

This post is more on the exam than on a study plan for sure since I feel that is more confusing than the study preparation itself. Basic format of the NEW exam is as follows

DAY 1

• Total exam duration - 7 hours
• Has 6 blocks – 42-43 questions with 60 minutes for each block.

DAY 2

• Total exam duration 9 hours in total. Has 2 parts
• Part 1 –

o   6 blocks with 33 questions and 45 minutes for each block.

• Part 2 – (CCS)

o   13 case simulations with each being either 10 or 20 minutes in length.

The MAIN change according to me is in the scheduling of the exam. I mean in the new pattern you can schedule day 2 of your exam at a different date but at the SAME test centre and within 14 days.

Materials I used:

1. OLD MTB 3
2. USMLE world - Qbank, CCS, UWSA
3. Archer introductory videos

The general question on everyone’s mind at the moment I think is should I read my basic science book like 1^st aid for Step 1 and go through biochemistry and learn the enzymes and also to buy the new MTB 3 (I have not read it so not sure about MTB 3 new addition) My advice would be a firm NO, as I feel step 3 is basically the same as CK but they are more focused on the management aspect of the patient and how you can apply your BASIC science concepts. At least for me it wasn't like step 1 where I had to mug up a couple of enzyme names and know the deficiency of which causes what and so on and so forth. My advice would be prepare the same as you would for the old step 3 examination. In addition to the Uworld qbank do the Uworld self-assessment test and USMLE.org practice materials.

Coming to the CCS part of the exam I felt this part was my Achilles heel. I would highly recommend doing the Uworld CCS cases as many times as possible and read the explanation. Also Uworld also gives you a PDF handout for 40 to 50 cases which I think is good enough. Furthermore to help in CCS there is a person called Archer who has a course.  I recommend watching his CCS Strategies video which is 2.45 hours long which gives you a quick over view of CCS. Also do the CCS cases that USMLE has on their web site.

The difficulty of the questions were essentially according to me like Step 2 CK, but as I do not have my result I would not like to say anything for sure. Also I felt day 2 was tougher than day 1 but some guys I spoke to felt both days were easy. Any how my study time was around a month and a half technically with studies being in between interviews and Christmas festivities. At the moment as my result is unknown I cannot exactly say whether it was sufficient or not but hoping for the best.

Good luck to all who are giving it soon!

(Update 25th March 2015- Pass)

How to get an ERAS token in order to apply for the MATCH

This was a question that may sound dumb at first, but when actually faced it, looks like a real serious one. Anyways just listing out the procedure below.

ERAS token is a way through which one can start one's application for residency. For IMGs (International Medical Graduates) one can get the token in the following way.

1. Open your OASIS account from the ECFMG portal.
2. On the left hand side there will be the following option - ERAS® Support Services, click on it
3.  Next click on  ERAS Residency Token NOT THE ERAS Fellowship Token
4. Once you complete the request and make the payment you will be directed to your ERAS token number. 
5. Do note it down since if not mistaken I do not think they send you your number or anything, so either print the page or write it down on a sheet of paper. You will not need this token number once you create an account in myeras FYI
6. Then go to the myeras page - https://services.aamc.org/eras/myeras2015/ and then click register token and do as the instructions are told, which are pretty simple and straight forward.

Best of luck