One of my dreams during MBBS(Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) was to run away from all the craziness of the doctor world, and traveling served this purpose. To treat myself after my final year exams, I planned to go on a long Europe backpacking tour. However, my roller coaster ride began in the first few days of the final year of MBBS. My brother was interning in Prague and invited me to go along with him on a West Europe trip for two weeks. Although I was worried if I could pass the final year exam by going out for two weeks, I still was excited about the trip and agreed to go. After the tour, I had no other goal but to prepare for USMLE, and that is how my journey began!
I started researching clinical electives and found a few classmates interested in pursuing it during the holidays following final year exams. Since I had some issues with getting all the paperwork on time, I was able to fetch only a research elective at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Pulmonary and Critical Care dept.
February 2016 – April 2016 – Research elective
While I was doing my elective, my preceptor heard my plan for the future and suggested that I write my step 1 in the next six months and apply a year earlier. He is an American, and I wondered if he understood my Indian medical school situation. So I cross-checked with my senior, who me told that although it is risky to do, it is still doable. Quickly I had to change my gears and come up with a new plan.
I returned to India and joined my internship meanwhile, also preparing for step 1. Due to unexpected health issues, I was physically sick and pushed into a rehabilitation kind of situation after a month of returning to India. When I was in the hospital, I got my scheduling permit, and without thinking twice, I booked my exam date for September 14th, 2016.
September 14th, 2016, Step 1 Exam: – 242 score
With my step 1 score of 242, I was able to apply to only Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cleveland Clinic, and University of North Carolina Medical School for clinical electives for April – June 2017. Here again, I was late to apply because of delayed paperwork. Although I heard back positively only from three places, Harvard, Mayo Clinic(Rochester), and Hopkins for April, May, and June 2017 respectively, I considered myself extremely lucky.
April 2017: Massachusetts General Hospital PICU rotation
May 2017: Mayo Clinic Rochester Pulmonary Medicine Inpatient Rotation
June 2017: Johns Hopkins Hospital Pulmonary HTN & Lung transplant rotation
I had booked my step 2 CS date in July, and my center was in Philadelphia, PA. Since all my rotations were inpatient, I had good enough practice to improve my interpersonal and note typing skills. On the weekends, I practiced my ICE skills. With this background, I finished my 2CS and went back to India to give my step 2CK.
July 5th, 2017, Step 2 CS exam: – PASS
Since I wished to apply for the Match 2018, I had to complete my step 2 CK in the first week of August so that I could receive my exam score in time to apply. Hence, I had only a month to prepare. I did that as well and resumed my internship to complete my extension.
August 7th, 2017, Step 2 CK exam: – 243 score (that 1 point is crucial!)
While I was completing my extension, I gathered my letters of recommendation, finalized my personal statement, researched International Medical Graduate(IMG) friendly Internal medicine programs and applied for the Match. By the time I completed my Internship in November, I had most of my interviews in hand.
In Summary, my timeline was something like this:
Research elective – February 2016 to April 2016
Step 1 Exam – September 2016 – 242
3 clinical electives – April to June 2017
Step 2 CS – July 2017
Step 2 CK – August 2017
Applied to 221 Internal medicine programs on September 15th
Had 9 interviews towards the end of November 2017
Mid-January 2018 – Done with interviews.
And the routine happened, on March 12th, opened my ‘Did I match?’ email to see
and on March 16th opened my ‘Where did I match?’ email to see
