Tag: Application

Posted on

How To Write Your Residency Personal Statement (And a copy of mine!)

Initially inspired by a blog post from LifeOfAMedStudent.com about how to write your residency personal statement I wanted to share a few tips and tricks on how to write a great personal statement. By no means is the following all inclusive as the complete scope of writing your personal statement is beyond just one blog post. But hopefully any of my followers from medical schools in the Caribbean, United States, or around the world wondering how to write a residency personal statement will have a little bit more guidance. Oh, and also a copy of mine. So here are a few pearls of wisdom about how to write your residency personal statement.

 

Read ‘The Successful Match 2017: Rules for Success in the Residency Match’

I’ve pushed this book before and I’ll do it again now because I truly feel that it was the best book to read when applying for residency with regard to understanding the process. It explicitly spells out objective data about the match based on surveys filled out by program directors. No hearsay. Just facts. It’s a big book but you don’t have to read it from cover to cover in one sitting. Snag a copy and peruse through it when you need it because it helps you during each step of the residency application process, including the personal statement.

 

 

Just stay par

Don’t let your personal statement harm your application. In my opinion, personal statements aren’t going to get you an interview that you wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. However, a really bad personal statement might kill your application like a shot of potassium to the heart. You want your personal statement to keep you par. So don’t use overly eloquent wording or try and reinvent the wheel. Be conservative and try to just hit onto the green. Don’t go for a whole-in-one.

 

 

You are applying for residency- not medical school or a fellowship

When you applied to medical school you were expected to draw on past experiences that made you want to be a doctor. This is not that time. We already know you want to be a doctor. They want to hear why you want to become a specific type of doctor. Write about why you want to go into your specific field. Additionally, don’t get ahead of yourself by writing about fellowship opportunities. Sure, you might only be going into internal medicine so you can become an interventional cardiologist. But you need to sell yourself on why you want this specific specialty right now. Just remember what job you are applying for.

 

 

Know your audience

Are you applying for orthopedics or pediatrics? Because I’m willing to bet that those personal statements are going to be quite different. Not because of the style of the essay but because of what attributes those essays will convey. Surgical residencies generally value ‘compulsive, high energy, confident, hardworking, committed’ applicants while pediatrics value ‘team players, well-organized, well-rounded, flexible, positive attitudes, and flexible’ applicants1. Organize your personal statement to convey attributes attractive to your respective specialty.

 

 

How to design your personal statement

Further detail of how to construct your personal statement is outside the scope of this blog post but let me give you the basic foundation. First you need a backbone. It’s that story you think of when people ask you why you went into medicine and it should be something that happened during your clinical rotations. You know, something you probably made a Facebook status or Instagram post about. Next, you need to think a about which attributes you want to put on display (i.e. what attributes do you have that your future specialty finds attractive). Then tie those attributes back into the backbone of your story to build the rest of your skeleton. Then close it off with a strong summary and don’t be shy to tell them what you want! Here’s an example of a rough outline:

  1. Paragraph 1: I have 3 attributes that make me an ideal candidate for this specialty. For instance, this one time…
  2. Paragraph 2: I demonstrated attribute number 1 when I did this
  3. Paragraph 3: Then I used attribute number 2 when I did that
  4. Paragraph 4: And then I displayed attribute number 3
  5. Paragraph 5: I want this specialty and attributes 1, 2, & 3 make me an ideal candidate for it.

Optional: in your closing paragraph tailor your personal statement to a specific program. I personally didn’t do this…but I also applied to way too many programs. My advise is to do this for one or two programs if you know with 100% certainty where you want to match. It can be exhausting and not worth the effort to do it for every single program.

 

 

Size matters

Make your personal statement one page. It will be visually appealing to the eye and will be short enough to keep the reader’s attention. Don’t forget that the program directors are reading hundreds of personal statements. You don’t want to bore them to death.

 

 

Make them want to meet you

Personal statements are the epitome of the humble-brag. You’re being asked to humbly tell a compelling story that paints you in a positive light. That doesn’t mean your personal statement has to be a bore. You want to make the reader want to meet you. You strike that balance with two main elements- (1) having a unique story and (2) the manner in which you tell it.

For instance, a goal I set in my personal statement was to paint a picture of a patient without sharing the underlying diagnosis. And just like clockwork every program director who brought up my personal statement during my interview asked me the same question, “what was the diagnosis?”.  So write vividly about an impactful experience and make them want to meet you (even if they just want to know if they got the diagnosis correct).

 

 

Lastly, check out a copy of my personal statement from when I applied to internal medicine in 2015:

While screaming incoherently and sprinting off of her boarding flight my patient suddenly collapsed. She was immediately brought to the hospital where I was given the responsibility of her care. I remember her well because her case inspired me to pursue internal medicine as a career. I was intrigued by her unique presentation, motivated to understand the pathophysiology of her illness, and humbled by her family’s fears. My leadership experience and enthusiastic persona helped me overcome challenging scenarios while I provided quality care to my patient. Overall this experience cemented my decision to apply for an internal medicine residency, especially after my first day on her case.

My patient had been suffering from strange psychiatric manifestations, labile blood pressures, and recent-onset echolalia and athetosis. Walking into her room I immediately noticed her multiple family members at her bedside. My previous leadership experience had prepared me for this scenario. I had to communicate complex concepts that I intrinsically understood to individuals who saw it as alien. Although healing my patient’s illness was my paramount priority, I also had to effectively communicate my plan with her and her family in order to make sure that they felt that I heard their concerns and that they were safe in my care. I discussed my assessment and plan with my patient and her family while they peppered me with questions about her case. Their initially palpable anxiety began to abate as I answered each of their questions. It was heartwarming to have a positive impact on this family and showed me the value of possessing effective communication skills in building the patient-doctor relationship.

I left the room and a calm, focused tenacity propelled me to find an underlying cause. It was exciting to explore such a seemingly unrelated constellation of symptoms and it is one of the reasons why I enjoy the prospect of internal medicine. General internists have the opportunity to diagnose and treat patients with illnesses affecting them from head to toe. For my patient, every organ system was a potential culprit and I excitedly dissected each clue to find a potential suspect. Eventually though I found myself scratching the back of my head, staring blankly at the puzzling results of my patient’s lab work and sought help from more experienced minds.

Working with my resident and attending physician we were able to find the epicenter of my patient’s autoimmune battle. I took it upon myself to research the biochemical mechanism of her disease process and was happy to see that even my experienced attending physician was interested in learning about the disease pathophysiology. It showed me that every day in medicine is a school day because there is always something new to be learned no matter how much experience you have. After two months of medical management my patient was stable enough to fly and continue treatment at home. It was awesome to see the impact that treating patients medically can have on their quality of life and I look forward to learning the intricacies of the medical management of chronic illnesses during residency.

Ultimately, this case stroked my interest in internal medicine and illustrates why I will be a unique candidate for an internal medicine residency. My amazement at the body’s innate ability to harm and heal itself fuels my passion for understanding the underlying mechanism of disease and conversely of wellness. I am able to communicate in a clear and concise fashion with laypersons and medical professionals alike. Being a safe physician is a top priority of mine as well. Although I am confident in myself, part of being a safe physician is knowing your limits and asking for help when you need it, both of which are qualities that I possess. In the end, I’ve become cognizant of the fact that that the best way to practice medicine is to care for your patient, both physically and mentally. My unique perspective and skill set leave me with a strong foundation for future growth as a medical professional and I am excited to continue my medical education through an internal medicine residency.

 

 

1- Katta, Rajani, Samir P Desai, and Samir P Desai. The Successful Match. 1st ed. Houston, Tex.: MD2B, 2009. Print.

Posted on

Spotlight interview: Joey from Brooklyn lands a PM&R residency

I know him as Joey from Brooklyn and had the pleasure to rotate with him before he was Dr. Seldin. Here’s what he had to say about his journey to landing a Physical Management & Rehabilitation (PM&R) residency.

 

 

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Who are you professionally? Who are you outside of the hospital? What was your path to medicine?

The best way to tell about myself is to start from where my family is from. My father is from Brooklyn and my Mother is from Queens. I grew up on Long Island and my wife is from the Bronx. And its not hard to tell when you talk to me, my accent says it all.

I went to college to the University of Buffalo and received a BS in Psychology. During this time I became very interested in Fitness and Nutrition, performed in Body Building Shows, and learned from one of the greatest Trainers in Buffalo John Schweikhard. This love for fitness and nutrition pushed me in the direction of perusing a masters degree in nutrition from Columbia University. While earning my Master’s I lived in Washington Heights and would spend my free time on the Upper West Side (UWS). One Friday in June of 2008 I was in a Bar on the UWS of Manhattan at a place called Burbon St. I was there early and she walked in, I looked at her and said “yo legs come over here” and we hit it off. At the end of the Summer, July 28, 2008 I was in a bad accident and lost my right eye. This was hard time for me. I finished my masters thesis a few months later. 90% of the people I studied with at Columbia went right into medical school all over the country.

I lost my flow, this was the first time in my life that I wasn’t in school anymore and didn’t have a job and didn’t know what to do. After a year and a half, when I had more confidence after loosing my sight and multiple surgeries, I fell back on my fitness and nutrition knowledge and decided to professionally train people. At the same time my little brother starting to box and I put a lot of effort into helping him train. I would make his meals and slept on his couch in return. Then I came to a point when I realized I needed to really go for what I wanted my whole life which was a to become a doctor. At this time I was professionally training several doctors and one of them who was a cardiologist said, ‘if you want it then go for it’. I took the MCAT and honestly very did poorly. So I took it again, and again and again. Finally I was at a party and this kid who was shadowing at one of my client’s offices was like, ‘I’m going to Ross’. I didn’t know anything about this school and said to myself it is worth a try.

Outside the hospital I am a family man, I had my son two weeks before the start of my 3rd year of medical school. It was hard to give time from my family and study but I pushed through. I had my 2nd child 6 weeks ago. She was due the day before we started residency but she arrived early. It was perfect timing because it gave me a chance to get to know her.

 

 

What specialties did you apply to? How did you come to choose them?

Before I started medical school, I came to know this field called PM&R, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. While I was training clients I came to build a lot of great relationships. One of them worked at North Shore LIJ hospital system and he helped me volunteer at their hospital in the PM&R division. I didn’t know it at the time but this small step may have gotten me the career I have today.

So I knew in my head before I started medical school that this may be the field for me. What most people don’t know is, I kept an open mind during my 3rd year of medical school and really enjoyed all of my rotations. The closest thing to PM&R for me was emergency medicine. I also met the best attending physician there who really inspired me and peaked my interested in that field too.

So I applied to both PM&R and EM.

 

 

So going into PM&R means you have to do a transition year. Did different programs have different requirements for that transition year?

Most programs require you to complete a preliminary year in either internal medicine, family medicine, surgery, or a transitional year (this is like 5th year medical school- you rotate in surgery, OB/GYN, medicine, the ICU, EM, and some electives). Some programs have a categorical position, meaning you do your first year in that program as a medicine resident. Medicine is the most relevant in my opinion. The thing I didn’t know was that internal medicine preliminary spots are very hard to get. See, the ophthalmology, dermatology, radiology, and anesthesia guys and gals are going for IM prelim spots as well. So they’ve got the top step scores and they are US students. Where I am just in the top of the scores applying as an international medical graduate.

 

 

What was it like applying and interviewing for both of them?

I truly enjoyed the interview process and anyone who knows me also knows I am a talker. And when it comes to interviews, I thought to myself this is probably the only time I can get away with talking about myself all day. Another thing about applying to specialty fields is you don’t get interviews until October and until late December. It was mid October and I had like 4 interviews. My buddy applying to IM had like 20 by the end of September. Then all of a sudden I was bombarded with them.

 

 

How many programs did you end up applying to? What was your reasoning for that number of programs? How many interviews did you receive for each respectively?

I applied to 129 programs but I didn’t break the bank like other people I know. It ended up costing about $1,600. I applied to 10 transitional, 39 PM&R, 55 EM, and 25 IM programs. I got 10 PM&R, 10 IM Prelim, 6 EM, 1 TY interview for a total of 27 interviews. Of these interviews, 6 of these interviews I got by bugging programs to interview me and one of them is where I matched.

 

 

How did you end of ranking your programs?

My ranking was not an easy task. I went on a lot of interviews and honestly there a few things to consider for you rank. Some people rank based on location, academics, specialty, and other things. For me the most important was location. Staying in NY and being close to both my wife’s family and my family meant a lot.

 

 

What was the most challenging aspect of applying to PM&R?

There are not a lot of programs and in many programs are only 2-4 spots per year. I think there is only like 116 spots in the whole northeast.
For EM the IMG is non-existant these days. The programs are big into US students. There was lots of spots, lots of programs but I got only a few interviews.

 

 

Any crazy stories from the interview trail?

So SUNY Downstate PM&R pre-interview social, was at a bar in the village. It was open bar with top-notch drinks. The kicker was that we had to drink a certain amount to get a discount. So the residents had us downing beers and shots. I drank 6 Chimays and Duvels and downed a glass of Jonny Walker Blue. Then I had the interview the next day…good thing it wasn’t until 12pm.

 

 

What do you think were your greatest strengths about your application?

I applied locally. There are by far the most programs in NYC and having ties to an area can boost your ranking. I also scored very well. It is a special feeling when you go on an interview and pretty much know you probably have better scores then most of the people sitting next to you. If you go to Ross you know how hard it is to make it off that island and you know how hard you can work. I know I can work harder than anyone out there. I had a child right before my 3rd year of school and still was able to go up 17 points on step 2.

 

 

In contrast, what were your greatest weaknesses about your application?

The medical school I attended I would say was the greatest weakness. But is only the limiting factor for getting interviews. 80% for sure if you get an interview, they really want you otherwise they wouldn’t interview you.

My first interview was at Stony Brook PM&R, the director said, hey you go to Ross, great school. I laughed hard in my mind. Turns out that a resident many years ago at Stony Brook was a super star. On the flip side, there are hurdles with advanced match. See you can score a PM&R place on match day but that is only years 2-4 for your residency. You still need to also match in prelim as well. Now I matched in both of course otherwise I wouldn’t be talking to you about it. But sometimes a programs ranks someone in PM&R and the person doesn’t secure a prelim spot, and can’t soap into a spot either. Pretty much just fucked.

 

 

How did you do on the USMLE’s? What were your step scores? Do you think your step scores negatively/positively affected the number of interviews your received?

Step 1 242 and Step 2 257. They definitely helped me and I looked up the average scores on the ERAS stats list. No one scored as high as I did in 2014 in PM&R on Step 2. I know if my scores weren’t as good I would not have gotten close to the number of interviews I had.

 

 

What advice would you give to other Caribbean and/or American medical graduates who want to apply to PM&R?

Take every interview you can get. Also make sure you can rotate at a place that will let you go on your interviews during your rotation. On one of my electives I went on 4 interviews in one week and they didn’t give me any shit about it, which was great.

If you have shit scores, plan for back ups. Don’t be foolish. And if your scores suck, make sure you can relate to the field you are going for and kill it on the interview. I know one guy (and if he reads this will know who he is) has bad step one scores, but improved on step 2 but still under the average and landed a great residency. The reason is he related to the field and in the end of the day you only need one place to rank you (or two places if you’re going into PM&R…one prelim and one advanced spot). Even if it was your last rank, it’s better than nothing.

Take your test seriously. In June during my last 3rd year rotation I took a practice NBME and got a 220. I took another NBME one month later and got a 225. I finished 3rd year and had 4 uninterupted weeks to study. I took my 3rd NBME and got a 235. Took another 1 week later and got a 236. I wasn’t too happy at this point. But had got a lot down in the last 2 weeks of studying. 1 week before my exam, I took the USMLE World self-assessment got a 256 and was happy. 1 week later and got a 257. Holy shit was I happy.

Don’t worry about how many hours you will work as a resident in one field or anther. Before I started I didn’t know if I could really do this. But I did know I can push myself hard. Honestly I am up at 5 am every day, get to hospital 6-6:15am and finish about 5-6pm on a regular day. Not to mention short call and weekends. But I never feel like I can’t do it. You will do it. You’re so busy that the day flies by. You know your job is awesome when I go in on a Saturday at 6:30am and look at my clock and its 5pm and I need to get these last few notes done before sign-out. You can do it too I promise. I really can say that I love my job.

 

 

Thank you Joey for giving us a candid look at your application process. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss my second interview with an unmatched psych applicant.

Posted on

Spotlight Interview: a family medicine resident who failed step 1

Emily Chan is a Ross University graduate who successfully matched into her top choice residency program. However, it wasn’t an easy route to residency. As a Canadian citizen she could only apply to programs that would sponsor her visa. Oh and she also failed USMLE step 1. Here’s her story.

As a close friend, I know you pretty well. Can you tell my followers a little bit about yourself? Who are you professionally? Who are you outside of the hospital?

I’m from the beautiful area of Niagara Falls, Canada. True to stereotype, I am polite, love maple syrup, and say “eh” often. I received my Bachelor’s in biomedical sciences at the University of Montréal – in French.

Professionally, I am a hard worker and a team player. I show up to the office or the hospital with a smile and do my best. People have described me as a problem solver because I will come up with quick solutions for anything.

Outside of the hospital, I indulge in my hobby of cooking and baking. Nothing makes me happier than sharing good homemade food with friends. I also attempt, with varying degrees of success, to justify my paid gym membership even though I hate working out.

You matched into your top choice family medicine program. That’s an amazing accomplishment. Why did you choose to apply to family medicine?

Thank you! It is the most amazing feeling. I knew since I was 12 years old that I wanted to be a family doc. I’ve always loved talking to people and listening to stories about themselves, their families, and their lives. I believe that every personality fits in a certain branch of medicine. How will you know? Trust me, you’ll just feel it, you’ll know. Family medicine was my perfect fit.

Where are you from originally? Did you want to match in the US or Canada? Did you experience any extra hardships trying to match in American programs as a Canadian?

As a Canadian, I knew the odds were not in my favour across the board. Many factors influenced my choice to not pursue a Canadian residency. Canada made it very difficult for me to apply (poor matching stats, inconvenient availability of mandatory tests, and difficulty to obtain Canadian electives). I felt that if my own country made it so challenging for me to come back, then I wasn’t going to put up a fight. Instead, I concentrated all my energy to match in the US. I am very glad my strategic gamble paid off. Yes, you face discrimination because as a resident you will require a visa. I was ineligible to apply to many programs because they did not want to deal with the headache of visas. Disappointing, sure, but I don’t blame them.

Speaking of hardships, I remember the day that we all received our step one scores. You and I, along with three close friends of ours, were living together in Florida. I remember the moment when you came downstairs from your room and told us what every medical student dreads to even think of. That you failed step one. What happened? Why do you think you failed? Were you doing poorly in school? Did it come as a shock to you?

Oh that dreadful day… It was awful! I was so glad to be surrounded by friends like you when I found out I failed. You all rallied around me in a big group hug and reassured me that everything was going to be ok.

Failing Step 1 was a huge blow and I did not expect it at all. Granted, I’m not the strongest student so by no means did I expect to have a stellar score. I just expected to pass. So when I learned I was a few points shy of passing, I was crushed. I had done fine in school up to that point. I never failed any tests on the island, never repeated a semester, and I even passed the comp on the first try. Everything suggested that I’d be fine.

In hindsight, I realized what I thought was enough preparation for the test ended up being insufficient. To tackle Step 1 a second time around, I had to prepare more than ever before.

What was step 2 CK like for you? What steps did you take to make sure you didn’t make the same mistakes again?

Step 2 CK was definitely better than Step 1. I will say, all the self-doubting and insecurities resurfaced when I was prepping for Step 2. I spent 6 months studying and even delayed my test till October – meaning I applied to match without a CK score. As anyone and everyone will tell you, it’s best to apply to match with a full and complete application but mine lacked the CK. It was a risk I was willing to take. I absolutely could not afford to fail a second USMLE exam. Aside from doubling the time I dedicated to study, I got weekly tutor help to go over questions on UWorld that I got wrong. I also made sure that I took plenty of practice tests.

How many programs did you end up applying to? How many categorical? How many preliminary? How many interviews did you end up going on?

I applied to every single FM program in the US for which I was qualified. All categorical, no prelim. I spent a little over $3,100 on my 140+ applications. In the end, I only had 2 interviews. Yes, you read that right, two interviews. One interview was where I did all my core rotations in 3rd year. I got the other interview because I clicked well with residents from that program while attending the AAFP National Conference. I knew from the get go that on paper I was less than stellar so I worked hard on networking. I attended family medicine residency fairs like it was going out of style. In 12 months, I attended 3 residency conferences.

What was match day like for you?

Every medical student will tell you that match day is a nerve-wracking day, and for me, it was no different. I was hoping to match but I also mentally prepared myself that there was a good chance I would not match. When I learned that I successfully matched, I cried tears of joy and relief. Knowing that I beat the odds was the most incredible feeling. It validated all the people along the way who believed in me and said I would make it. I now had proof that outside people (not just family and friends) believed I was worthy of pursuing this profession.

I know we’ve talked a lot about a major weakness in your application but what do you think were your greatest strengths about your application? What set you apart from the other applicants?

Academia has never been my forte. I knew clinical years were my time to shine. It’s what I do best; it’s where I feel most comfortable. I worked diligently and was rewarded with A’s in all my core and elective rotations, except surgery. I genuinely connected with my attendings and they wrote me beautiful letters of recommendation. My strong LORs were undoubtedly a key component to my match success. I’ve always been a people person so interviews came naturally to me. When applying to medical schools, I had 4 interviews and was accepted to all 4. I knew I had strong interview skills. I harnessed that same energy and left my 2 residency interviews feeling confident.

The fact that you failed step one, the proverbial kiss of death to any applicant’s dream of obtaining a residency, but still managed to match into your top choice family medicine program is quite an accomplishment. In closing, what advice would you give to a medical student who failed or didn’t do well on step one?

I want people reading this to say to themselves, if she can match her top choice in her dream specialty with a 203 Step 1 score, a 215 Step 2 score, and only 2 interviews, I can do it too. One failure does not define you. You will encounter people along the road who will encourage you to quit medicine (one of my Ross professors counseled me to pursue non medical careers) or take time off (I was strongly encouraged to delay my graduation date and my match by a year) or give up all together. Take all that advice as fuel to prove them wrong.

Thank you Emily for bravely sharing your inspirational story. You are proof that it is possible to fail USMLE step 1 and still earn a residency. I’m sure it was an emotionally tumultuous path and taught you a lot about yourself along the way.

—

UPDATE: Unfortunately due to the high volume of requests to speak with Dr. Chan I can no longer forward her private email. If you have questions for her please comment below. After sufficient questions have been posted we plan to release an updated blog post with the most frequently asked questions. Thank you for your understanding.

Posted on

How to Successfully Submit Your ERAS Application

This post is for any third year med students watching your fourth year friends or Twitter followers freak out while ERAS crashes and runs at a snail’s pace. Here are my tips to successfully submit your ERAS application.

 

Finalize and upload your application before ERAS opens

There are thousands of applicants sitting in front of their computers waiting to click submit the second that ERAS opens. When it finally does open, the system is going to operate quite slowly if it doesn’t crash altogether like last year (the 2015 match). The last thing you want to be doing is uploading your personal statement, photo, or assigning documents to programs when the system is running so slowly. So do yourself a favor and finalize your application the night before.

 

Submit your application sooner than later

My biggest stressor about submitting my application was not knowing how late I could submit my application. Most programs don’t even download your application the first week. Admittedly, my source of information is hearsay and info from the internet and there are bound to be programs that break this guideline. But the majority fall under the bell curve of not downloading your application before the end of the week. Again however, every program is different and some will wait a few days to download your application, some will wait a week, and some might wait longer. It’s frustrating and infuriating that there is no clear-cut answer for when you should submit your ERAS application but the general consensus is the sooner the better.

Here is the dilemma I went through: I only got my step 2 CK score back on Wednesday but applications were able to be sent out on Tuesday. I sent out my application the day ERAS opened on Tuesday and resent my USMLE transcript the following day but I’m fairly certain I could have waited one more day to include my score with my application. It is a different story entirely if you were only getting your score a month or so after your application goes out. At that point the program would need to re-download your application in order to receive your updated USMLE transcript. In my mind, you can apply as soon as you want and get extra documents into ERAS the rest of the week as long as you get your extra documents in before your application is initially downloaded. When that tipping point is I couldn’t tell you. Just get it all in as soon as possible.

 

At least one of your letter writers will bail on you

One of my letter writers didn’t have the letter uploaded till the day before my application went out (thankfully I already had three others and didn’t even end up using it!). A friend of mine had a letter writer’s secretary forget to upload her letter entirely. It’s a frustrating and anxiety provoking experience. Do your best to gently remind your writers to submit your letter. From your perspective, this is THE most important part of your relationship with your letter writer at the moment. For them, you are likely at the bottom of their priority list. Not to say you aren’t important, but come on…you’ve worked with attendings before. They’ve got shit to do. My best advise is to secure an extra letter or two from people who are willing to write you STRONG letters. That way, if one of them falls through you will have extra ones that you can use and submit. Hopefully your worst case scenario is that you have too many letters and you don’t end up using all of them.

 

Personal statements are the worst part of the application

It’s hard to humble-brag about yourself while telling a compelling story that illustrates why you will make a perfect candidate for residency. Yeah, try that thesis statement on for size. Start writing your PS early. I wrote three different drafts before it evolved into its final form and those three drafts included dozens of revisions. Not to mention I only had to write a single PS for my internal medicine residency application. Some friends of mine had to write ones for surgery/emergency AND their back up. So start writing those rough drafts and keep on the look out for my follow up blog post about how to write a strong personal statement for residency. It’s a daunting subject and deserves its own post entirely.

 

I know this doesn’t nearly encompass all of the anxiety inducing questions that med students have on the subject so feel free to comment and ask me a question the process of applying for residency!