Networking to Match in Radiology
Here’s the success story of a untraditional, non-US IMG student, who recently had a child, and wanted to reach her dreams of combining radiology and global health:
- Non-US IMG, GC holder
- Step 1 242
- Step 2 CK 249
- Step 2 CS passed (all first attempts)
- YOG: MD (2010) and MSc in Global Health Science (2014)
I graduated in 2010 and have been working in global health area since then (with national and international organizations). I had a very established career in global health before I decided to go back to clinical practice. It was not easy to get out of your comfort zone. I knew that I've always wanted to do residency but I wanted to find my niche in medicine, which is global health. When I was working in Indonesia, I managed a pilot project to improve primary healthcare in remote areas. One of the interventions we did was providing basic imaging (mainly ultrasound) services to improve maternal care - this is when my interest in radiology grew. I was genuinely impressed by the potential of basic imaging in increasing healthcare utilization and reducing maternal morbidity and mortality through screening and early diagnosis and treatment.
I still want to practice global health in the future and I want this experience to be my strongest point in my residency application. Thus I had to find something to link my experience and future aspiration as a radiologist, and that's when I volunteer for a US-based non-governmental organization working in global health radiology. I was recruited to be part of their management team. I use this opportunity to learn about radiology in global health and also to network. I attended their conference, which was attended by hundreds of radiology professionals, and I represented their booth at the biggest radiology conference: RSNA.
My USMLE journey began in late 2015 when I joined Kaplan live online lectures. My husband and I moved a lot. I attended my class from another country, where lectures started at 3am (not to mention unreliable internet access). Then I got pregnant!!! I sat my Step 1 exam when I was 33 weeks pregnant and had to fly to another country to do it. I gave my Step 2 CS and 2 CK in 2017. I prepared Step 1 for about 9 months, Step 2 CS for about 1.5 months, and Step 2 CK for about 9 months. I did USCE and radiology observership in 2017/2018.
I applied to around 250 programs in total (for prelim/TY and radiology). I got 13 interviews in total. In general, never compromise your USMLE scores. My scores are average for radiology - I may have had more interviews if I got above 250. But again, average score is not the end of the world. Use every single means available to secure interviews: connections, emails, phone calls, even knock on their doors if you live nearby. My global health experience always thought me that networking is GOLD: it's important to know people who know other people who know other people ...
Applying to diagnostic radiology is not easy. The hardest part is facing the "stigma", that it is SUPER competitive and not an IMG friendly specialty, and also it's a male-dominated field - which all are somewhat true. Many people told me that it's (almost) impossible for IMG and I should look for an alternative. In early 2017, I met an astronaut who fixed the Hubble telescope - from whom my 2.5yo son got his name "Story" from. He is an MD (with at least five other degrees) and was doing his surgery residency before NASA recruited him. He told me that the biggest competition is myself. His words still echo until now. During the interview season, often times, I was the only IMG, the only old IMG, and the only old female IMG. But I have my own story and I'm proud of it - and so should you with your story!
Good Luck!
C. U. March 18, 2019
Dr. Barone : "Wow! This is an amazing story! What do you think was the most important thing that got you matched at that program?"
So the PD of the program had attended our booth at RSNA conference. During the interview, when he saw that I was with the RAD-AID International organization, he pulled out the brochure. “Is this your organization?” He said he’d love to have this in our program. RAD-AID has chapters all over the country, and I said I’d be interested in exploring options with them. Then I had an interview with the chief resident, he said he has been thinking of starting a chapter a while ago. So I think that was may be one of the reasons :) I was happy that my global health experience contributed to my application.
Dr. Barone : "You are proof that networking really pays off!!! :) Congratulations!!! "