The Art of Possible- Pre-matched in third try!

​Right after I got the call offering me prematch!

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​I am Ihtesham from Hyderabad, India (Go Sunrisers!!). I grew up in the middle-east, did a majority of my schooling there before going to Hyderabad for my med school. I am a regular guy with normal everyday problems. I get depressed when Virat Kohli loses form and get happy when my gas tank meter mistakenly shows extra petrol in my car. I also make a killer chicken khorma when in good mood.

My USMLE journey started during the end of my internship year. What about electives? Yes, you guessed it- probably too late. I already graduated by the time I could make up my mind about electives. We weren’t well informed about proper USCE and there was a prevailing tradition in my med school- Marry a US citizen and you’ll be fine. Ofcourse that never happened, I fell in love with my childhood friend and got married a year later. I started preparing for my step 1, gave it 3 months and then my first NBME. I scored 218. Quickly lost confidence and then got stuck in the dreaded limbo of being forever unsure if I should give the exam. I started working at a super specialty hospital in my city so I would feel more productive and that’s how I probably wasted a year or so in trying to get the perfect 240 plus score everyone desires. I eventually gave my Step1 much later and I didn’t score any more than if I would’ve given my exam immediately in first place. I realized wasting more time for my CK didn’t make sense and gave CK and CS off as soon as possible so I could be in time for my match season.

So at my first match season I was a 3 year old Grad with average scores and some meaningless observerships at private practices. I got 2 interviews. Step 3 also happened in the middle of my season, cleared that. Come March 15th- I didn’t match. Well, what was I expecting with 2 interviews seriously? I then thought getting some legit externship plus hospital observerships would boost my profile for next year. If I got 2 interviews last year I am definitely on course for atleast 5-6 this time I thought. My second match season resulted in just one interview sadly. I had no clue what went wrong. Come match day, I didn’t even have the courage to check the NRMP email if I matched. My wife checked my email and guess what? Her expression said it all. I didn’t match again. Feeling depressed doesn’t even begin to describe my situation. My situation was the definition of hitting rock bottom.
 
I knew one thing though - NEVER EVER give up. If I decide that I want something I never stop until I freaking get it. People told me research with publications was my last resort. I emailed tons of places and finally got a research fellowship in Cardiology at a pretty decent University- unpaid, but whatever. I worked on a review paper from day 1 and with some pestering got an opportunity to present a poster. My research mentor- the sweetest Chinese lady around was very helpful and wrote me a killer 2 page LOR. Not the generic hardworking, punctual etc  BS that every letter seems to have. It had very specific instances of what I did and how I did. But this being my third time around, I was not all confident about getting interviews. Heck, average scores and a 5 year old grad isn’t exactly what most programs are looking for.

September 15th happened again for the third time. First 2 weeks were quite. Then I was flooded with interviews. I couldn’t believe having 7 interviews in just the first month. I finally could relate with all those people on the forums posting about their interviews who I so wanted to smother badly in their sleep all these years haha. I ofcourse proudly posted my first few interview invites too then stopped because I realized no one is really interested. Attending the interviews and constantly travelling was the best part of this season. I used AirBnb for lodging and that helped me meet some really cool people along the way.  By the end of December I was sitting nice and sweet with 13 interviews, 2 of them being prematch interviews. 13?? Unlucky number? Read ahead and let’s find out.
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Last day to make the ROL was approaching, I made the ROL for my 11 programs. Hardly got any positive responses for the “Thank you” or my “I will rank you high” emails. My attempts at asking for a “second look” were either politely declined or got no response.  Yes, I had the number of interviews to match but also heard plenty of stories of people with those many invites not matching in the previous years. I was anxious as hell. Then on Monday Feb13th (one day before Valentine’s day) I got a phone call that changed my life forever. It was a phone call from Chicago asking if I would like to accept a prematch position for IM at their hospital. HELLL YEAAHHHH!! was my response. I was at my research lab when I received this call. I am glad my camera obsessed lab mate was there to capture this moment of pure ecstasy (SEE POSTED PIC). They apparently really liked my Cardiac stem cell research project that I was involved with and said that they would be glad to have me.  I quickly called my wife to give her the good news. Tears rolled. She wanted me to confirm if it was a prank call. Hmmm, good call!! Why didn’t I think of that? I checked my caller ID number with ERAS to confirm it wasn’t one, Phew!! She said it was the best Valentine’s gift ever. I concurred.
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I have definitely learnt some valuable lessons through this hard-fought journey. Never ever give up. With enough persistence one can always achieve what they desire. I could have easily given up after my second match season and hated myself for dreaming big. My future goals include becoming a cardiologist and hiding my credit cards from my shopaholic wife. Both seem equally hard from this point. But hey, I know I’ll never give up. Good Luck everyone and I hope this story inspires you to be an achiever even in the direst of situations.

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