IMGs Applying to Internal Medicine. 2018

[Major procrastinator]

Tufts Rejection

st. elizabeth-ohio acknowledgement

The George Washington University Rejection

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[Robotneurologist]

Yeah also got that tufts rejection today. And an II from memorial hospital west in Fl.

 

[Paramyxovirus]

non-US IMG here
Both steps 245+, CS passed, all first attempt. YOG: 2014, 4 US LORs

Zero IV so far... It's getting harder to breathe

 

[6daysinPhilly]

non-US IMG here
Both steps 245+, CS passed, all first attempt. YOG: 2014, 4 US LORs

Zero IV so far... It's getting harder to breathe

I have almost identical stats and got one IV so far.
I think they went from AMGs -> USIMGs -> Non-US IMGs
and within the Non-US IMGs category, they review the stellar ones first...
So the process is going to take some time. Also many people, current residents included, seem to agree that it is going extra slow this year.
Remember this is still quite early in the process and the second wave is still ongoing.
Plus there is going to be a third wave in Nov.when people cancel interviews as they have had enough already.
So focus on preparing for interviews and take your mind off it.

 

[Major procrastinator]

non-US IMG here
Both steps 245+, CS passed, all first attempt. YOG: 2014, 4 US LORs

Zero IV so far... It's getting harder to breathe

that is unbelievable, I guess people are still scared about visas. What a shame great canditates like you will lose spots to medicore/below average AMGs and US IMGs

 

[img2017-18match]

Most of us are new to this too. But there is hope! Tons of candidates start cancelling iv during nov due to many reasons like pre-match, too many iv or just budget issues. So programs start sending a new wave of iv. If you do some research on the past years forums you'll see people getting iv even in mid jan. So..don't freak out yet. Plus your scores are really good.

Thank you! Hopefully will hear from them.

 

[Paramyxovirus]

I have almost identical stats and got one IV so far.
I think they went from AMGs -> USIMGs -> Non-US IMGs
and within the Non-US IMGs category, they review the stellar ones first...
So the process is going to take some time. Also many people, current residents included, seem to agree that it is going extra slow this year.
Remember this is still quite early in the process and the second wave is still ongoing.
Plus there is going to be a third wave in Nov.when people cancel interviews as they have had enough already.
So focus on preparing for interviews and take your mind off it.

Thanks a lot buddy for your kind words. Congrats for your interview and I hope you get many more!
Interestingly when I looked at the previous years' forums, every year candidates called it the worst/extra slow year... It's kind of funny.
I am trying my best to stay optimistic. I hope I get at least 1 IV for the motivation to kick in to prepare for an IV.
Have you been considering e-mailing program co-ordinators? I don't know if that would help. I just don't want the PC to get annoyed and blacklist me.

 

[Paramyxovirus]

that is unbelievable, I guess people are still scared about visas. What a shame great canditates like you will lose spots to medicore/below average AMGs and US IMGs

Thanks for your kind words buddy.
Looking at the trend I realize that IMGs are only great if they have got 250+. I am pretty average from that standpoint

 

[6daysinPhilly]

Thanks a lot buddy for your kind words. Congrats for your interview and I hope you get many more!
Interestingly when I looked at the previous years' forums, every year candidates called it the worst/extra slow year... It's kind of funny.
I am trying my best to stay optimistic. I hope I get at least 1 IV for the motivation to kick in to prepare for an IV.
Have you been considering e-mailing program co-ordinators? I don't know if that would help. I just don't want the PC to get annoyed and blacklist me.

I personally think it is reasonable to make contact if you haven't heard from a programme after Oct.
So it is still early..

 

[AshNiffler]

Thanks for your kind words buddy.
Looking at the trend I realize that IMGs are only great if they have got 250+. I am pretty average from that standpoint

We are probably at the bottom of the list, the top being AMGs. Luckily people have already started to cancel so we should be hearing back soon! My first interview is next Tuesday and I’m hoping for the best

 

[Paramyxovirus]

We are probably at the bottom of the list, the top being AMGs. Luckily people have already started to cancel so we should be hearing back soon! My first interview is next Tuesday and I’m hoping for the best

That's great to know. All the best for your interview and rock it!!!

 

[AshNiffler]

That's great to know. All the best for your interview and rock it!!!

Thank you!

 

[Drmnr]

Just received a rejection from University of Rochester. And also the Amgs who have applied to IM including the DO applicants have superior scores of 240’s - 260’s, so it’s no longer true that IMGs have way better scores than AMG’s. As a result, it’s getting easier for the universities to pick the AMG’s over IMGs. I guess that’s why securing interviews are becoming more and more difficult for us as each year passes.

 

[sugarangelcake]

Guys, can we stop fighting? honestly this defeats the purpose of this post.
We are just a bunch of anxious IMGs looking online for info and comfort.
I don't see how giving the names of the programmes can harm anyone?

if you guys want, you can also put your stats and IVs on this google online doc:
There are both AMGs and IMGs on there and if you sort by numbers of programmes applied to, you can easily find the IMGs (they tend to apply to >80)

I accidentally edited something and I have no idea how to undo it because it's embedded! So sorry

 

[6daysinPhilly]

I accidentally edited something and I have no idea how to undo it because it's embedded! So sorry

its fine! the owner of that online doc can recover it. dont sweat about it

 

[Paramyxovirus]

Even the maintenance e-mail gives me atrial flutter at this point

 

[Drmnr]

Seems like everything’s slowed down for now. Time to be really optimistic and hopeful. Maybe things might speed up again towards end of oct or in November.

 

[blueforest]

Tufts Rejection

st. elizabeth-ohio acknowledgement

The George Washington University Rejection

Hi old friend! Rooting extremely hard for you and can't believe all the hate you got in the previous posts, it hurt my eyes to be honest. I know how hard you worked for Step 1 and to get CS done on time. Congrats to you that you made it and pushed through to apply this year, we were in the same boat and I chose to wait till next year to get CK and CS done within the next few months. I know this will hurt me since I will have a graduation year of 2017, but I work in the hospital now and have an additional observership. I'm going to volunteer when I finish my steps , too. Ok that's it for me, sorry for stealing the thread for a moment.

 

[Always Working 1234]

How many interviews are most visa needing Non-US IMGs at now?

 

[6daysinPhilly]

I got just one...

 

[Always Working 1234]

I really hope the rest of October and all of November and better than this!

 

[6daysinPhilly]

I really hope the rest of October and all of November and better than this!

how many have you got so far?

 

[Always Working 1234]

how many have you got so far?

3 so far. None in the past two weeks.

 

[AshNiffler]

How many interviews are most visa needing Non-US IMGs at now?

3

 

[Major procrastinator]

IV at St. Vincenet, MA--OMGGGGGGGGGGG I CANT BELIEVE IT!!!


GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!! there calender still has 8 open spots


p.s. do what you gotta do, don't listen to the haters that try to pull you down

 

[Major procrastinator]

Hi old friend! Rooting extremely hard for you and can't believe all the hate you got in the previous posts, it hurt my eyes to be honest. I know how hard you worked for Step 1 and to get CS done on time. Congrats to you that you made it and pushed through to apply this year, we were in the same boat and I chose to wait till next year to get CK and CS done within the next few months. I know this will hurt me since I will have a graduation year of 2017, but I work in the hospital now and have an additional observership. I'm going to volunteer when I finish my steps , too. Ok that's it for me, sorry for stealing the thread for a moment.

Thank you so much, I'm glad your doing well. I just got my first IV!!!!

 

[Drmnr]

Congrats!

 

[6daysinPhilly]

2 rejections in a row...chicago med school rosalind and jacobi...

 

[Alezam]

Do you guys think is too late to apply to a few more programs? I see that most of the programs are still open to new applications.
Thoughts??

 

[Always Working 1234]

Do you guys think is too late to apply to a few more programs? I see that most of the programs are still open to new applications.
Thoughts??

If you have the money, there is absolutely no harm in doing so in my opinion. Chances are lower of getting anything that if you applied there earlier, but never know right.

 

[Redpancreas]

Seems like everything’s slowed down for now. Time to be really optimistic and hopeful. Maybe things might speed up again towards end of oct or in November.

Not IMG but the way it works is there's a primary wave from September 19th-October 13th. After that, interviews are handed out usually due to drops. Sometimes PDs will cave in late Oct/Nov/Dec/early when 30+ good apps pile up and send another wave. Summed up, there's no point looking at threads for trends anymore because the predictability period's over.

 

[Redpancreas]

Just received a rejection from University of Rochester. And also the Amgs who have applied to IM including the DO applicants have superior scores of 240’s - 260’s, so it’s no longer true that IMGs have way better scores than AMG’s. As a result, it’s getting easier for the universities to pick the AMG’s over IMGs. I guess that’s why securing interviews are becoming more and more difficult for us as each year passes.

Also received Rochester rejection at the same time as you as a Step 1 250+ AMG. Not an amazing step score, but it's not like Rochester's not competitive.

 

[Always Working 1234]

Not IMG but the way it works is there's a primary wave from September 19th-October 13th. After that, interviews are handed out usually due to drops. Sometimes PDs will cave in late Oct/Nov/Dec/early when 30+ good apps pile up. Summed up, there's no point looking at threads for trends anymore because the predictability period's over.

Thanks for your input, but that is simply not true for IMGs from what I know. I know some very IMG friendly programs first hand that have not given out interviews yet. Might be smaller programs, but programs that people still have a chance at getting interviews from.It might be true that more invites now might be because people dropped out, but there is still more to come. Let us keep the hope rather than making it seem like all we will get is pity invites because someone else cancelled their interview.

 

[rokshana]

Thanks for your input, but that is simply not true for IMGs from what I know. I know some very IMG friendly programs first hand that have not given out interviews yet. Might be smaller programs, but programs that people still have a chance at getting interviews from.It might be true that more invites now might be because people dropped out, but there is still more to come. Let us keep the hope rather than making it seem like all we will get is pity invites because someone else cancelled their interview.

you need to be proactive in getting interviews...just sitting back and hoping for interviews (esp if your application is complete and you are a fairly competitive applicant) is not going to get you interviews.

most invites are handed out in the 1st couple of months since interviews start in November (heck someplaces are already interviewing in October) and while some places interview into the end of Jan, holiday time is comping up and interviews don't happen around thanksgiving and the week between Christmas and NYD and programs want to make sure they have enough applicants interviewed to make sure they don't go unfilled (CW is they interview 10 people for every position ). By a couple weeks after the MSPE is out, you should be calling places you have not heard from to let them know you are interested, and to find out what your status is... some places may tell you that they will not be interviewing you and while that can be painful, it at least allows you to cross them off your list. Some places will tell you they are still looking over your application. For them, ask them what time frame they though they would be done with looking through applications so you don't bug them too much. Others may actually tell you that they were planning to give you an interview (or not sure how your application was missed and give you an interview! true story..).

I called every program I had not heard from ~ 2 weeks after MSPE went out (then it was Nov 1st), then again in the middle of December, and the the beginning of January (but a few days to be able to recover from the holidays ) and then the 3 or 4 th week in January...part of it is also to be chatty, let the PC get to know you and your voice...much harder to say no to someone they feel a connection to (i'm Southern so being chatty is easy and I was looking at mostly Southern programs so it works).

I got probably 4 interviews this way...I also had no rotations the month of January so if there was anything available at the last minute, i could accept the interview.

US-IMG (applied as a 4th year student) applied to 60 programs (mostly university programs since i was looking to do fellowship), 21 interviews, went to them all, ranked 18, matched #3 (my 1 and 2 were reaches- AMG heavy programs (only 1-2 IMGs in a class at best)) but made sure that i interviewed at places that were IMG friendly to have a safety (even though being in NYC or the NE was not where i wanted to train).

It has gotten harder since I was a student, but being proactive is still going to be the best bet to make yourself standout and get interviews...goal is to have at least 10 interviews to have a 90% change of matching and 15 for a 95% of matching. Do what you need to do to get these interviews...if you have friends or connections that help you get an interview, then now is the time to call that for that favor....that "pity" interview gets you in the door...after that its up to you to show them you belong at their program as a resident.
have a friend who had 2 interviews- one because a friend was a resident in the program (and he was heading towards being chief) and one because he did a rotation there and impressed one of the attendings and he fought to get him an interview...ended up matching (because he is a great interview, charming, humble, can sell ice to Eskimos kinda guy), became chief and then went on to do fellowship at a highly ranked program...its not impossible but you have to put a lot of effort into the process...SOAP is NOT where you want be.

 

[Always Working 1234]

you need to be proactive in getting interviews...just sitting back and hoping for interviews (esp if your application is complete and you are a fairly competitive applicant) is not going to get you interviews.

most invites are handed out in the 1st couple of months since interviews start in November (heck someplaces are already interviewing in October) and while some places interview into the end of Jan, holiday time is comping up and interviews don't happen around thanksgiving and the week between Christmas and NYD and programs want to make sure they have enough applicants interviewed to make sure they don't go unfilled (CW is they interview 10 people for every position ). By a couple weeks after the MSPE is out, you should be calling places you have not heard from to let them know you are interested, and to find out what your status is... some places may tell you that they will not be interviewing you and while that can be painful, it at least allows you to cross them off your list. Some places will tell you they are still looking over your application. For them, ask them what time frame they though they would be done with looking through applications so you don't bug them too much. Others may actually tell you that they were planning to give you an interview (or not sure how your application was missed and give you an interview! true story..).

I called every program I had not heard from ~ 2 weeks after MSPE went out (then it was Nov 1st), then again in the middle of December, and the the beginning of January (but a few days to be able to recover from the holidays ) and then the 3 or 4 th week in January...part of it is also to be chatty, let the PC get to know you and your voice...much harder to say no to someone they feel a connection to (i'm Southern so being chatty is easy and I was looking at mostly Southern programs so it works).

I got probably 4 interviews this way...I also had no rotations the month of January so if there was anything available at the last minute, i could accept the interview.

US-IMG (applied as a 4th year student) applied to 60 programs (mostly university programs since i was looking to do fellowship), 21 interviews, went to them all, ranked 18, matched #3 (my 1 and 2 were reaches- AMG heavy programs (only 1-2 IMGs in a class at best)) but made sure that i interviewed at places that were IMG friendly to have a safety (even though being in NYC or the NE was not where i wanted to train).

It has gotten harder since I was a student, but being proactive is still going to be the best bet to make yourself standout and get interviews...goal is to have at least 10 interviews to have a 90% change of matching and 15 for a 95% of matching. Do what you need to do to get these interviews...if you have friends or connections that help you get an interview, then now is the time to call that for that favor....that "pity" interview gets you in the door...after that its up to you to show them you belong at their program as a resident.
have a friend who had 2 interviews- one because a friend was a resident in the program (and he was heading towards being chief) and one because he did a rotation there and impressed one of the attendings and he fought to get him an interview...ended up matching (because he is a great interview, charming, humble, can sell ice to Eskimos kinda guy), became chief and then went on to do fellowship at a highly ranked program...its not impossible but you have to put a lot of effort into the process...SOAP is NOT where you want be.

Thanks for sharing. I agree on being proactive, but it is untrue that programs have given out all their invites was my point in my previous post. I have already sent out many interest emails out to a bunch of programs, but no replies back yet. Will give them a call at the end of next week or early the week after to follow up. Do not want to be overbearing either at places I think I might have a decent chance at getting an invite at with my credentials.

 

[rokshana]

Thanks for sharing. I agree on being proactive, but it is untrue that programs have given out all their invites was my point in my previous post. I have already sent out many interest emails out to a bunch of programs, but no replies back yet. Will give them a call at the end of next week or early the week after to follow up. Do not want to be overbearing either at places I think I might have a decent chance at getting an invite at with my credentials.

no, i agree that not ALL invites are out, but a good portion of them are...look at it from the program's POV...they don't want holes in their interview schedule. They also know that people will cancel, particularly in Jan (people get tired of interviewing, especially if they started their season in October)...have to admit the interviews in Jan were hard to do...you see the same things, saw the same thing, etc...heck I remember an interview in mid January, and the even the PC and the tour guides were tired...they asked if we really wanted to see the ICU and the med floors, since they probably looked liked all the other ICUs and med floors that we had probably seen at our other interviews!

be brief and friendly on the phone with the PC...I would start out with "Hi!, I'm rokshana xxx, and I'm a 4th year that is applying this year and am very interested in your program and want to see what my status was with you. (always helpful to have a tidbit about the program that shows them that you know their program).Then you kinda of take it from there...some are short and sweet, others will chat (especially if there are thing you have in common). Some will give you a vague idea, others will pull your application and look over it with you on the phone (remember the PC is the gateway to the PD...she has more power than people give her credit) and can move it up the line. I chatted with a PC 3 times and while i was in line at the airport to get on a flight, she called me to let me know there was a last minute cancellation and could i come in 2 days? (the answer was yes of course).

remember, each IM program is getting 2000-3000 applications in a season...its easy to get lost in that...especially if your application is good but not great...and sometimes it can be very arbitrary - i know one program that basically would pull 10 applications from each letter of the alphabet (really) and look at these applications first...

 

[Always Working 1234]

no, i agree that not ALL invites are out, but a good portion of them are...look at it from the program's POV...they don't want holes in their interview schedule. They also know that people will cancel, particularly in Jan (people get tired of interviewing, especially if they started their season in October)...have to admit the interviews in Jan were hard to do...you see the same things, saw the same thing, etc...heck I remember an interview in mid January, and the even the PC and the tour guides were tired...they asked if we really wanted to see the ICU and the med floors, since they probably looked liked all the other ICUs and med floors that we had probably seen at our other interviews!

be brief and friendly on the phone with the PC...I would start out with "Hi!, I'm rokshana xxx, and I'm a 4th year that is applying this year and am very interested in your program and want to see what my status was with you. (always helpful to have a tidbit about the program that shows them that you know their program).Then you kinda of take it from there...some are short and sweet, others will chat (especially if there are thing you have in common). Some will give you a vague idea, others will pull your application and look over it with you on the phone (remember the PC is the gateway to the PD...she has more power than people give her credit) and can move it up the line. I chatted with a PC 3 times and while i was in line at the airport to get on a flight, she called me to let me know there was a last minute cancellation and could i come in 2 days? (the answer was yes of course).

remember, each IM program is getting 2000-3000 applications in a season...its easy to get lost in that...especially if your application is good but not great...and sometimes it can be very arbitrary - i know one program that basically would pull 10 applications from each letter of the alphabet (really) and look at these applications first...

Fantastic tips and advice. Thank you!

 

[Major procrastinator]

Interview-University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Montgomery program
anyone else got an IV there? seems like a good university program.

Rejection-Loyola

 

[img2017-18match]

S

I got a rejection from Jacobi and University of Texas at Austin today. No IVs today

Same. It’s getting really hard not to get demoralised.

 

[Animalcules]

S

Same. It’s getting really hard not to get demoralised.

Hang in there. It's just about half time.

 

[Major procrastinator]

got my 3rd IV-at my friends hospital, I am not going to say the name of it.


so far 8 rejections, 5 acknowldegements and 3 IVs

 

[AshNiffler]

I had my first interview today, I had 3 interviewers including the PD, chief resident and a 2nd year. The typical tell me about yourself questions, strength, weakness, hypothetical scenarios, a couple of “Step 1” medical questions etc I honestly like the program and I bought what they’re selling. Hoping to hear back from them soon, if not ah well.

 

[rokshana]

I had my first interview today, I had 3 interviewers including the PD, chief resident and a 2nd year. The typical tell me about yourself questions, strength, weakness, hypothetical scenarios, a couple of “Step 1” medical questions etc I honestly like the program and I bought what they’re selling. Hoping to hear back from them soon, if not ah well.

what are you expecting to hear from them? is this a pre match position? if not, then you will probably get an email thank you, hope you enjoyed your day and that's it. There has been a trend with programs not to have further contact post interview. You can always request a second look if you are having a difficult in making a decision, but they really don't sway the programs.

 

[Alezam]

I had my first interview today, I had 3 interviewers including the PD, chief resident and a 2nd year. The typical tell me about yourself questions, strength, weakness, hypothetical scenarios, a couple of “Step 1” medical questions etc I honestly like the program and I bought what they’re selling. Hoping to hear back from them soon, if not ah well.

Congrats on the iv! Can u please share what kind of Step 1 questions u got?

 

[AshNiffler]

what are you expecting to hear from them? is this a pre match position? if not, then you will probably get an email thank you, hope you enjoyed your day and that's it. There has been a trend with programs not to have further contact post interview. You can always request a second look if you are having a difficult in making a decision, but they really don't sway the programs.

Prematch

Congrats on the iv! Can u please share what kind of Step 1 questions u got?

What are the type of aphasia? How would you differentiate unstable angina from stable (what questions would you ask)

 

[rokshana]

Prematch



What are the type of aphasia? How would you differentiate unstable angina from stable (what questions would you ask)

a program should not be asking you questions about your medical knowledge! If you get an interview, then your application should have shown that you have sufficient medical knowledge (i had one place where one of the interviewers pulled up an CXR and stated to ask me questions...suffice to say that was one of the 3 places that i did not put on my ROL).

 

[Alezam]

Prematch



What are the type of aphasia? How would you differentiate unstable angina from stable (what questions would you ask)

I was curious because I've seen this tendency of asking medical questions in a few forums, personaly I think is disrespectful, but nothing we can do about it. I really hope you nailed it! Good luck.

 

[AshNiffler]

a program should not be asking you questions about your medical knowledge! If you get an interview, then your application should have shown that you have sufficient medical knowledge (i had one place where one of the interviewers pulled up an CXR and stated to ask me questions...suffice to say that was one of the 3 places that i did not put on my ROL).

The aphasia question was to prove a point about a hypothetical scenario question involving speech pathologist (he actually looked surprised I knew there were 6).

 

[AshNiffler]

I was curious because I've seen this tendency of asking medical questions in a few forums, personaly I think is disrespectful, but nothing we can do about it. I really hope you nailed it! Good luck.

Thanks, you too! It’s in a desirable location and with my visa concerns I’d be happy to prematch there.

 

[Alezam]

Thanks, you too! It’s in a desirable location and with my visa concerns I’d be happy to prematch there.

To be honest, I would be

The aphasia question was to prove a point about a hypothetical scenario question involving speech pathologist (he actually looked surprised I knew there were 6).

To be honest I would be impressed too lol...I didn't remember there were 6. You got this Dr. Keep us posted.