Category: Blog

The time of residency application is near, and this is one of the most commonly asked questions by IMGs “Will I match this year?” Considering the confusion and stress associated with this match, I have decided to write this blog to guide you on how to increase your chances of Residency Match this year.

This year’s deadline for residency application is October 21st, 2020. By the time many of you will read this blog, October 21st will be over, and the interview season will begin. Now if you are an IMG, you don’t have enough time left to make drastic changes at this moment. What you can do are the following strategies that will increase your chances of matching.

THE TRIANGLE OF RESIDENCY:

I have discussed this again and again and will emphasize it one more time. To make sure you have completed of what I call as your “triangle of residency”. What is the triangle of residency? A triangle as we all know has three corners. This triangle of residency is not too different, it also has the three corners. The first corner is your USMLEs, the step exams. The second triangle is your US clinical experience, while the third triangle is your research experience or publications. Therefore, make sure that you have these three things taken care of.

US CLINICAL EXPERIENCE:

If you already have some US clinical experience, then it is wonderful. However, if you don’t have it yet, and you are applying for the US residency match, then you should start some kind of US clinical experience now. How can you do it? Call nearby hospitals, or non-profit treatment facilities or rehabilitation centers. Non-profit organizations are always looking for volunteers. This approach can give you an opportunity of volunteering as well as some clinical experience. If you are more inclined towards psychiatry residency then contact non-profit drug addiction treatment facilities, they are always looking for volunteers. They will teach you counseling and will also provide you with ample clinical experience. This counseling as a volunteer under a supervisor will be counted as a clinical experience.

Call as many hospitals as possible near you and just tell them your situation what you want and why you want it. They will provide you with the opportunity.

Now, I know some self-proclaimed experts will start criticizing this blog and me by saying that the US clinical experience in a non-residency program doesn’t help much. This is not true, it helps tremendously. The real thing is the knowledge and experience. You can get knowledge and experience anywhere. The knowledge and experience will help your application. Remember, it is true that clinical experience at a residency program really is the best thing you can get, but something is always better than nothing. Many residency directors know that it is not easy to find such opportunities therefore, they will appreciate your efforts and will see you with respect and consider you for interview because of your learning attitude. Of course, not every residency program will like you, and you are also not there to be accepted by all the programs. You just need one yes. Remember, you just need one yes. Therefore, your efforts of volunteering and finding clinical experience opportunities will help your application even at this stage.

Moreover, if you cannot afford to travel and still want US clinical experience then there are Tele-rotation (Telemedicine) opportunities. These are useful rotations that you can enjoy sitting home and get some contacts as well.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE AND PUBLICATIONS:

Now if you already have publications as first author, then I congratulate you. You are in a very good position to apply for the residency match this year. However, if you don’t have publications then you can start working on remote research projects and online training programs like the one we offer “CiBNP Research Training Program” and learn to write and write an article side by side and eventually get it published. Yes, you can become a published author sitting home. In these opportunities you usually get a chance to write a systematic reviews, which can be an outstanding addition to your CV because systematic reviews are the strongest research evidence in the world according to the Evidence Pyramid of Research. The residency directors will appreciate your hard work and your article.

There are certain points you need to be careful about, however. The first thing is, there is a lot publication related fraud now a days, some people charge you and add your name in a publication without you working hard. This is like buying or purchasing your name in a publication. It is not ethical and not moral. This is a serious offense and can be a career ending offense if discovered. Remember, these kinds of actions are not remained hidden, these things are exposed. An experienced residency director can easily tell if you purchased the paper or you really worked hard on it. Therefore, purchasing publication can harm your career. Remember, just ask yourself before engaging in anything, “Is it a right thing to do?” If the answer is “No”, then don’t do it.

You have another option to get some research experience. You can join any lab even right now. It is not too late yet. You can show some kind of research experience on your CV in this way. However, getting a publication in a few months is not always possible. You can start contacting university labs near you to let you volunteer. It is far easier to find a volunteer job, then finding a paid job. Don’t run after a paid job right now, focus on improving your CV even if it is an unpaid position.

USMLES:

If you have not taken STEP 3 yet and you feel you can do it and are already ECFMG certified, then go ahead and take STEP 3 as soon as possible. If you can get STEP 3 done by November or by December, you will be in a very strong position to impress the residency directors and who knows this also gets you some more interviews, just by word of mouth. You never know.

BONUS TIP:

• Take some certificate courses and add them on your CV
• Prepare for Interviews with friends and family and do a mock interview
• Write blogs online on your specialty- a short blog on Congestive Heart Failure can impress the residency directors- we will publish that on our website for free.

CONCLUSION:

It is not too late yet. You can still make improvements in your CV and increase your chances of matching. Remember, it’s never too late. What is the worse? you don’t match this year, right? Remember, life is not over, you can come back strong next year. I wish you best of luck for your residency match.

Dr. Hassaan Tohid

Senior Editor of the Book by

Springer

International Medical Graduates in the United States: A Complete Guide to Challenges and Solutions

It is a common observation that when things go wrong, we tend to blame ourselves and put ourselves down. It is not unusual to see people putting themselves down by saying “I can’t do anything properly” or “I am not a good person”, “I always mess things up”, “how come I always make mistakes.” These statements seem harmless however, they can have a profound effect on our personality and our lives.

These kinds of statements can totally shelter our self-esteem and confidence. Eventually we start to believe in these lies and soon these statements become a lifelong self-fulfilling prophecy.

The same holds true for positive statements. If we say positive things to ourselves our mind will one day start to believe that it is true. This will remarkably increase our self-esteem and confidence. In this blog I will mention some key statements that you can repeat or you can call it as the secret mantras that can dramatically increase your self-esteem.

MANTRA ONE:

“I LIKE MYSELF”

My most favorite statement to repeatedly chant is “I like myself”. The more you say I like myself the more you will literally start to like yourself. Initially, it is difficult to say this especially when we all have made mistakes in our lives. We never actually have forgiven ourselves for the past mistakes. However, the more frequently you say it, the easier it is to say this. Eventually your mind starts to believe in this statement, and you start to really like yourself. It is impossible to be unhappy and like yourself at the same time. Therefore, when you consistently say I like myself, you tend to be happier, healthier, and content.

MANTRA 2

“I RESPECT MYSELF”

The next powerful statement that can have a profound impact on your life is “I respect myself”. We human beings tend to lose respect for our own-selves due to two main reasons. For example, we may lose respect for our ow selves when we commit a sin or anything wrong that goes against our values. We may also lose respect for ourselves when someone else disrespects ourselves and puts us down. Both of these issues can be resolved. The first issue can be resolved by totally forgiving yourself of all the mistakes you did in the past and compensate it. Seek apology from the ones you have hurt or harm intentionally or unintentionally. They forgive you or not, it’s none of your business. You just seek forgiveness for your own conscience. Then forgive your own self, this is extremely important to forgive yourself to make peace with your past. No one is perfect we all have said things to people we should not have said, we all hurt people intentionally or unintentionally, or have committed mistakes we shouldn’t have committed. That is why it is imperative to forgive ourselves. Fully forgive yourself to regain your lost self-respect. Once that is done, start the mantra everyday “I respect myself”. Say it a hundred times every day and feel it. Now this may sound a little crazy, but it works. Close your eyes and say it our a loud” I respect myself”, “I respect myself”, “I respect myself”. The more you say it the more respect you will earn for yourself.

Remember it is important to start this process after the process of forgiving your own self otherwise your conscious mind will, and your conscience will make it difficult for your unconscious mind to believe it. Another exercise you can do is of writing the same statement down every day after you are done saying it. When you write you involve your sense of touch and sense of vision which makes it easier for your mind to believe that you respect yourself.

MANTRA 3:

“I AM ONE OF THE BESTS”

The third statement that can help you tremendously is “I am one of the bests”. When you say it, you raise your self-confidence. The intention is not to be arrogant and start seeing others as inferior. The intention is to see yourself as one of the bests. When you say it out loud, you start to see yourself as a different and a better person. This mantra makes you believe that if someone else is the best, I can also be the best. Therefore, it is important to not confuse it with arrogance and seeing others as inferior. In fact, it’s just the opposite. You see yourself and others as the best, you feel that if someone is best in my field, I can also be the best. There can be two best people. Why can’t there be two best people? Of course, there can be. So, don’t wait and start saying yes, I am one of the best people in my field. Repeat it almost every day.

SUMMARY

These three powerful mantras mentioned in this blog are extremely valuable statements that can have a profound impact on your future. Repeat them as much as you can. You can find time to repeat them when you are taking shower, or jogging, or exercising, or when you are at a grocery store in a waiting line or at a barbershop or when you are driving. For my driving or jogging is the best time to repeat these mantras. The key is to not waste time and utilize these times to repeat these mantras as much as you can. For how long you have to say this? Now the answer to this question is “For the Rest of Your Life.” The reason is if we don’t repeat it again and again for the rest of our lives, the negativity around us will catch us and we will start to feel bad about ourselves. The negativity can be powerful and contagious; therefore, you have to deliberately repeat it to make your unconscious mind believe it and keep believing it.

Thank you

Dr. Hassaan Tohid

In the story Alice in Wonderland, Alice asks Cheshire cat, “which path should I take?” The cat replies, “depends where you want to go?” Alice responds by saying, “I don’t know.” The cat replies, “then it doesn’t matter which path you take.”

The same it true with our lives. If we don’t know where are we heading, we live a purposeless life with no aim to hit. Imagine a football game with no goal post. How would the game be? Will there be any end to the game? Similarly, if we don’t have a goal to hit, what will be the end of our lives? What will we have achieved at the end of our lives?

Have you ever wondered, why some people have almost everything in their lives, while some struggle to get what they want? The difference is of “goals”. People who have everything in their life, they have goals. It is that simple. They just know where they are going, while the people with no goals don’t know where they are going. Goal less people are like drivers who are driving car on a road with no destination. Imagine what will happen to such driver? He will end his journey by running out of gas or will get lost somewhere in the middle.

If we ask most people what they want to do in their lives, only few people have an answer. Most people especially if they are students in their teens or early twenties will tell us that I want to be a doctor, or engineer, or will mention some kind of profession. However, if we ask most people around the world what their goals are, either they won’t be able to tell us their goals or they will just give a vague answer like I wanna be rich, I wanna be wealthy, etc etc. Little do they know that they can actually design their whole life by simply learning the skill of goal setting.

I learned this skill of goal setting a decade ago and since then my life has never been the same. I almost achieved anything I desired for myself. The same thing will happen to you if you just learn to set goals and strive to achieve them. It is rightly said that “a life without goals is like a ship without a rudder”, therefore, setting goals is a must requirement of living a happy and healthy life. People without goals life a purposeless life and get bored and lose hope and passion for life. While the people with goals enjoy the life and live a purposeful life and remain happy in their lives. In this blog, I will discuss you how to set goals and how achieve them. Your life will never be the same after reading this blog, if you apply the principles mentioned in this blog.

HOW TO SET GOALS?

DECIDE  WHAT YOU WANT?

The first step is always to decide what do you want. It is important to know exactly what you want. The reason is that we all will have to leave this world some day, so tge death is an ultimate destiny that cannot be avoided and with passage of time we all arrive at some destination of our lives. Today if you are 20 year old, you will be 25 one day whether you like it or not, if you are 30 today, you will be 31 next year whether you like it or not. If you try to stop the time you cannot do it. Therefore, we cannot stop time, whether we like it or not. Thus, you should decide what you will achieve by that time. We all should have a clear picture in mind.

People who don’t achieve anything in life, they really never decided to change their lives, they never took a serious decision of success. Napoleon Hill in his book Think and Grow Rich said that successful people make decisions faster. Therefore, you should take fast decisions to achieve your targets and goals. People who don’t achieve any goals, they just keep thinking but never achieve anything because they are slow decision makers. Almost everyone has some dreams to achieve but people never really take decision with sincerity to achieve those dreams. It is also imperative to write this decision down, the decision written becomes your goal. Many people believe that we can achieve our goals easily because it is in our mind, that is absolutely fine, but the chances of achieving your goal increase tremendously the moment you write them down. Just write your goals down in a journal and keep that journal as one of the most valuable possessions of your life with yourself. You will later agree with me regarding this concept once your goals are achieved.

DETERMINE THE PRICE:

Once you have decided what you want. You now know what your “GOAL” is. Now, it is time to determine the price you have to pay in order to achieve that goal. Nothing in life is free. Everything has a cost, whether you buy anything from the market, or you want to bring your dream to reality. You should determine how much time and effort you will need to put in order to get what you want.

The price could be your efforts, your time that you need to invest, your money ot resources that you have, or sacrifices that you need to make. Therefore, don’t just consider the price as just a monetary price in currency. Are you willing to pay the price?

Remember, the price will not be easy to pay. The bigger the goal, the bigger the price. A big goal almost always come with big obstacles and challenges along the way. Just don’t get disheartened and disappointed with some failures during this journey. Never imagine that there will be no obstacles. Be already ready to handle some enemies during this journey. No successful person ever achieved anything without paying this price.

PLAN:

Once you have determined the price. Now it is time to plan how to achieve it. Without a proper written plan, it becomes extremely difficult to achieve any goal. The written plan also brings clarity to your goals and mission.

Your written plan should have steps needed to achieve your goals. Moreover, a specific deadline is also a must. A goal without a deadline is vague and can be halted by procrastination. A deadline alone is not helpful without a daily set schedule to achieve that goal. All of these things will be mentioned in your written plan. Now the key to achieving this goal is to keep looking at your plan again and again to ensure you are not distracted from your goal. You can also ask a sincere friend or family member to hold you accountable in order to keep you on track. Just ensure you do at least something every single day to achieve your goal. You don’t need to do a lot of things each day. Just make sure you do a little work related to your goal each day. Eventually you will find yourself surprisingly achieving your goal in no time.

CONCLUSION:

To get what you want in life it is essential to set goals. Goal setting is a learned skill and anyone can learn it. You just need to learn it and apply it. It will change everything in your life.

Dr. Hassaan Tohid