Using a Preliminary Position as a Stepping Stone
- US IMG
- Step 1: 225
- Step 2: 231
Here's an inspirational story about an IMG who SOAPed her way to a preliminary position that she used as a stepping stone to her goal!
Just a quick story about my journey: I am a international medical graduate. Last year in the match I applied for OBGYN and I didn't have the outcome I expected. I got that dreaded email "we are sorry, you did not match." I got myself together with the help of multiple friends and ended up SOAPing into a preliminary general surgery position. I worked extremely hard this year and reapplied to OBGYN. This time around I may have been a lot more limited with who would interview me, but I ended up matching in my number 1 OBGYN program and I could not be happier. I just want anyone out there that didn't match the first time to know it's not over and there is still a chance.
M.C. March 20, 2020
Dr. Barone: What did you do to be successful in the SOAP?
For the SOAP, I had about 5 of my friends on different computers researching the open programs and seeing which ones were IMG friendly. Then, also, I focused on rewriting my personal statements and my friends helped with editing them.
Dr. Barone: Why did you choose a Surgery Preliminary position?
I applied to surgery in the SOAP one because I knew i wouldn’t get rusty in the OR and it would prepare me well for OBGYN and two that general surgery gets 5 years of federal funding. With the 5 years, I knew I would not be limited by lack of funding for my future residency.
Dr. Barone: What did you do during your prelim year to improve your chances of switching fields and getting matched at your number 1 choice?
During my prelim, I made sure reach out to as many friends in the field to guide me. I had some friends that I worked with in my clinical years that really pulled for me in their programs. I also knew there was an OBGYN program at the same place as my prelim surgery program and made sure to reach out to the program director as soon as I started my residency. I ended up falling in love with that program and matched there. I definitely think that having my fellow surgery residents backing me up to the OBGYN program helped as well. I worked very hard and showed that I had what it takes.
Of course the second time around I had gotten a lot less interviews. The first time I had 12 OBGYN interviews and applied solely to OBGYN. This time around I applied to OBGYN, family, and surgery and ended up with 15 interviews (5 OBGYN, 9 family, and 1 surgery). I knew it was a long shot with only having 5 interviews so I made to see reach out to each of them after my interview and then again closer to rank. It seemed to work for so I hope it works for others!
Photo by Jordan Whitt (unsplash.com)