USMLE Residency Match: ERAS Application, Interview Tips – Visa Seeking Old Graduates

   The Success Story Of Dr. Vaishnavi Theegala

​I Matched in Internal Medicine, left my home country resident midway, overcame lots of challenges while planning for Match.
I graduated in the year 2016 from Hyderabad, India, my home country. I moved to the US after marriage. After moving to the US I started my USMLE journey in 2018 . It was a tough thing to plan everything at that point of time so I prolonged my preparations to one more year and focused on cracking 2020 – 2021 Match. Eventually one by one I completed my USMLE Step exams.
 
CHALLENGES
The challenges that I faced initially was to complete my USMLE Step 2 CS which got cancelled due to COVID – 19 and then USMLE Step 2 CK as well was postponed to May '20  Gradually my rotations also got cancelled due to the same reason. Nothing went by as per what I planned.

This is when I came across USMLE Sarthi. I was anyways in touch with Dr. Pawan Khera since the end of 2018. He used to guide me with many valuable tips, like he always emphasized on USMLE scores and I too agreed with him and took his advice very seriously and focused on scoring well.

I was about to give up in 2020 as I was not having my CS and I was a 2016 graduate. Considering both these facts I thought that my ECFMG certification will surely get affected after all. And when I shared my doubts with Dr. Khera, he reassured me that I was not alone in this situation and there are many others like me going through the same phase. He pushed me to try my luck in ECFMG certification. His suggestion came to me as a blessing in disguise.
I eventually did my rotations – onsite and tele.  In the process I learned that telerotations are equally useful these days as most of the Doctors are giving online consultations to the patients. By gaining experience through telerotations you at least get an idea of how to deal with the patients on call.
 
TIPS FOR RESIDENCY INTERVIEW OUTREACH
If you ask about how to increase your interview outreach, here I will strongly recommend to follow suggestions and tips by Sarthi on interview outreach unambiguously. I had literally no clue of what I was getting into when I joined Sarthi. I blindly followed each and every step they asked me to do regarding the interview outreach, about starting to work on my Personal Statement & ERAS CV on time. It is really important  because you need to build up your CV and you must realize that it's not a one day or two days process. You cannot work on it overnight and expect it to be as good and a strong CV.
Preparing for an interview is also very important and even this is not a single day job. One needs to prepare for it   for a month or two at least to gain that confidence in the interview. For me I matched into the third interview program and if it was not for the Sarthi team’s guidance and training, I am sure I wouldn’t have cracked the program interviews.
 
ADVICE FOR IMG APPLICANTS
My suggestion would be that wherever you are based, join any hospital and get as much experience as you can. The US experience does count but the experience of working in your home country equally adds value, specially during the times of COVID – 19. Working and gaining experience in your home country counts in case you are unable to bag any opportunity of working in the US. Put your genuine experiences in your ERAS CV because whatever you will mention in your CV, the residency Program Directors are sure shot going to highlight it and ask you questions based on your experience in the interview. You cannot afford to blabber just anything infront of the Program Directors. They will ask things in detail and in case your answer is not convincing enough, it definitely is a RED FLAG then.
In my case another disadvantage was that I didn’t take Step 3. Along with other backlogs, not taking Step 3 and not having enough research experience, there were few other drawbacks that I had in my CV.
Step 3 scores are not as imperative as compared to the scores of other Steps in the USMLE process, yet completing Step 3 is equally important and adds weightage to your ECFMG application. My advice would be to go for Step 3 irrespective of whether you are a recent graduate or an old graduate.
 
INTERVIEW PREPARATION
Preparing for the interviews was totally new to me because in India we only have theoretical exams. So the USMLE interview was the interview I ever faced for the first time in my life. At this point of time in my USMLE journey I completely got dependent on the Sarthi team and also my husband who helped me frame my answers for the interview questions. Apparently, the Sarthi team did not spoon feed me like a child but helped me prepare the idea of answering in brief with clarity to the interview questions, and earlier my answers used to be very lengthy and descriptive which had full chances of making the Program Directors lose interest during the interview. The Sarthi team coached me to come to the point where I became confident to give clear and to the point answers.
 
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE PEER GROUP FOR STUDENTS WHILE PREPARING FOR THE USMLE?
It is very important to have a peer group or to stay connected with the people who are as well like you preparing for the USMLE. For instance, the Sarthi telegram group was quite helpful. Whenever I had a doubt, I used to post it in the telegram group and I used to receive replies immediately, either from any of the mentors or other students. The group interaction as well revealed the level of preparation I was required to do because when you are in a group you start comparing your preparation with others and that gives you a push to work more hard and level up with others in case you are lagging behind.
 
IMPORTANCE OF HOME COUNTRY WORK EXPERIENCE

My home country experience, which was in India, proved to be intensely useful. It provided me with confidence in the medical domain. My efforts in my home country experience was clearly visible in my CV & PS and which was counted during the time of interview by the Program Directors.
 
MORE TIPS FOR RESIDENCY MATCH
Few important suggestion which one should never ignore if you are determined to Match, from my side are :

• Make a framework of your preparation plan.
• Have timelines set according to your prep plan.
• Make your residency Personal Statement very much relevant, convincing, honest and in alignment with your experience gained as in the interview the Program Directors are definitely going to ask about your PS.