MATCH 2018: I MATCHED!

I matched to my #1 Choice, Clinica Sierra Vista (CSV)/Rio Bravo Family Medicine , in my hometown of Bakersfield, California.  Yeeee!

It is a great feeling and relief to know I have a residency spot.  Throughout medical school as a Caribbean medical student, and despite maintaining a positive attitude, there was a feeling of uncertainty that I never fully managed to conceal.  The real possibility of being an M.D. without the opportunity to get a decent job after school if I didn't get into a residency position. I just maintained the faith through the doubt and it paid off.

This is a journey imagined since seeing that Ross was signing a contract with Kern Medical and that I may have an opportunity to rotate at home and establish some relationships.  I always envisioned returning for residency.  I was dismayed when I found out the Family Medicine residency at Kern was ending during my 3rd year of medical school, and elated when finding out that Clinica Sierra Vista was stepping up and creating their own Family Medicine rotation to fill the void.  I was able to begin my first rotation of Family Medicine with CSV and from that point on I knew that this is where I wanted to be.  However, I wasn't bold enough to tell the program director that yet, but I have a co-intern who indeed did tell her. I loved the family atmosphere, care shown when dealing with the patients, and the relationships the residents built with their patients during the clinics. When I finished the rest of my core rotations, I knew that family medicine was my residency of choice and CSV would be my #1 choice.

I didn't think I would be applying for the 2018 match.  I took a two month withdrawal to study for Step 2 CK and didn't take it until August 23, which meant I probably wouldn't have the scores by the time applications opened. I spoke with my advisor, who said that I should delay the match until 2019 to be ensured that I have a complete application including USMLE STEP 1, STEP 2 CK, and STEP 2 CS results.  I had yet to take or schedule Step 2 CS.  Therefore, I decided to push back the match until 2019, and I spread out my rotations to give breaks in between.  As I entered my Family medicine Sub-I rotation in October the program director said she was surprised to not see my application, and she thought I had applied to internal medicine.  I assured her that I had not, but explained my situation.  She, along with the program coordinator, then encouraged me to apply,  so I rushed to get a token for residency application, write my personal statement, get a final letter of recommendation, schedule STEP 2 CS, study for and take STEP 2 CS, and complete my ERAS application all while doing a sub-internship.  Throughout this process, my advisor was upset, and continued to strongly advise me not to apply.  I just continued to pray that everything would work out. I managed to condense my schedule again in order to push up my graduation date. 

It wasn't until early November that I finally completed my application, which is extremely late considering many people already had interviews and the application opened in mid Septmber.  This definitely caused some anxiety for me. Ultimately, I applied to 39 programs, significantly less than the 250-350 that I was initially advised to apply for. I still believe Ross is correct in recommending such a high number of applicants; it is better to be safe than sorry when considering the repercussions  of not matching.  Because I was applying so late, I thought that I was mostly gambling on the CSV program so I would focus my efforts there and the programs surrounding my hometown.  Outside of that, I just applied to the family medicine programs that take the most Ross students over the last 3 years.  All five of my interviews ended up coming in cities in Central California. It was nice to be able to drive to my interviews and not worry about back-to-back flights. Actually, applying late saved me alot of money with interviews and also with flights.  I probably saved at least $6,000 compared to what other students spent on application fees, traveling, and hotel stays.

During the interviews, I did develop a "gut feeling" about which program I thought would be a good fit or not.  You can tell from the interactions with the faculty, residents, and overall feel of the hospital. After the CSV interview, I felt like that was home, and I knew that that was my #1 choice. Additionally, it would allow me to be at home with my fianc, who signed a 3 year contract as a nurse with a hospital in Bakersfield. But of course I would have been happy to match anywhere and she would've been supportive.

Keeping with the theme,  I am now scrambling to get the paperwork in order for the California PTAL, which is the main thing I need to complete before residency.

Ross threw an excellent match party in Los Angeles at Madera Kitchen in Hollywood.  We had an open bar and appetizers.  I got to connect with my old interviewer from Ross, along with other staff.  I was also excited to see how well my classmates had done, and saw some really impressive match sites.   I'm really proud of our group and how well we react to adversity.

This process has further taught me to lean of God and let Him direct my steps.  On to the next part of the journey!

Step 2 CK

Well, I’m making my way up the ladder, slowly. Finally finished Step 2CK after a couple of postponements. Overall, it was a more enjoyable test than Step 1, because everything was more clinically relevant with not as much route memorization.

I began studying for the test in May during a radiology rotation but was only scoring in 40-60 percentile on the exam.  I then went home in June and was studying about 5 hours a day, thinking that I would be ready to take the test by the end of the month. However, I was quickly reminded of my knowledge gaps after failing COMP in late June, so I postponed the exam.  I took the exam again in July and passed with a score correlating to approximately 200. In July, I was doing a busy family medicine rotation, so I did not devote as much time to studying as I had planned.  I finalized a date of August 23^rd.

Due to my subpar performance on Step 1, I was paired up with a mentor provided by Ross who had performed well on Step 2 CK. I met with him weekly leading up to the exam on August 23, and he helped my stick to and create a study plan for myself.  Having someone hold me accountable was a tremendous help.  It is not a good feeling to meet in consecutive weeks after not accomplishing the goals you have set for yourself, so it pushed me to study more. I bumped up the studying to 8-12 hours/day in August, when I did not have any rotations.  I set goals for the week such as going through internal medicine questions that week on going through a certain number of online med ed videos by splitting up the videos each day.

Overall I met my goals of going through UWorld questions 2x and subsequently going through incorrect questions until there were none left.  I must have done some of the same questions at least 4 times before I finally got them right. I’m so stuck in my ways.  I watched all the online med ed videos, which were immensely helpful for general understanding despite how well or poorly I may have done on the exam, I am glad I watched these videos.  I also looked through the notes, which were well worth the $90, without watching the videos.  I read through Master the Boards, some seconds twice, but this did not stick with me nearly as well as the Online Med Ed notes. I took 3 NBME exams and did the free 150 question exam.  This helped to get my timing down and build stamina for the actual exam.  My scores on NBME were 183, 200, and 230.  I also took Uworld self assessments 1 and 2 with scores of 183 and 215 respectively. 2 days before the test I rushed through USMLE secrets, which got me a few points on the actual exam, and I also rummaged through forums for high yield images, including ophthalmology, which also got me a few points. I did a much better job this time around of limiting my resources as opposed to step 1 when I used multiple question banks and multiple review books.

The actual test didn’t feel as long as even the 4-6 hour practice tests I did.  Probably because I took a quick break after each section, I didn’t feel as fatigued after the test was over. My snacks were 2 pb &j sandwiches, a trader joe kale, broccoli, chicken prepackaged salad, and trail mix. This gave me good energy throughout the test.

I recognized a good amount of questions from uworld, and I didn’t run out of time on any of the sections. And just did my best to not second guess myself and trust that I know the material.

I was so happy for the test to be over, and return to a somewhat normal life. Then I took a trip to Vegas with some friends and put the test in the back of my mind until my score comes back in a few weeks.