Faith and Attitude
- US IMG
- Step 1 : 197 [Fourth attempt]
- Step 2CK : 203
- Step 2CS : Pass
- Step 3 : 203
"When I started, they told me I had no chance of getting into the program if that was my goal." => Never underestimate the power of faith and a positive attitude!
Hey Dr. B!!!
First of all, I owe all this success to God!!! I have been inspired by so many of your students success stories that it gave me hope and strength to not give up. So where to start? Growing up, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and found myself jumping from different fields until I found my self in radiology technology school. This is where I found my passion for medicine. I worked as an X-ray tech and CT tech and realized I can do so much more for patient care. I dropped everything and went to med school.
During the first time I was planning on taking Step 1, my grandfather passed and it really messed with me because he played an integral part in me going to med school. I told my parents I wanted to go to med school but they were against it saying I was already in a good field and it was time for me to start a family (culture based). My grandfather stepped in and and persuaded them to let me pursue this. In retrospect I should’ve postponed the exam, but i decided to push through my emotions and take the exam. No surprise, results came back and I failed. I was devastated as you can imagine. After some time, got back up, and tried again. I would do really well on Uworld and NBME so I decided to go for it. During the test, I started panicking because I kept overthinking and running out of time and failed again. Same think happened during the third.
I decided to give up and move on. But I heard about a local small USMLE review course, and my wife pushed me to give it one more shot. At the review course, the professor realized that my problem wasn’t my knowledge, it was my test taking skills. We spent months working on it and i decided to give it one more try. I passed this time but to my dismay, it was a low score. Test anxiety got the better of me.
I passed step 2CK, CS, and Step 3, all on the first try. I knew my road ahead is going to be a very difficult one. I decided to find a research position within a program and found myself in an anesthesia department volunteering with them doing research. When I started, they told me I had no chance of getting into the program if that was my goal. My goal at this point was to get as many publications I could.
During the first year, I stayed in the office working on projects. I had met some of the residents and became friends with them and they talked me into applying that year. I only had one publication at that point and I wasn’t planning on applying at all. But I thought to myself, what do I have to lose. I did get a courtesy interview at that program. But I did not Match. I was sad but not surprised.
Around this time, I heard a saying: “pray as if it depends on God, work as if it depends on you!” This changed my life. I did exactly that. During this time, I put out 12 publications. Needless to say, I impressed a few people. The residents and attendings were supporting me during this process. I got LoRs from staff there. I actually got two interviews this time around. After 6 years of trying, I finally got the news that I had only dreamed about. I Matched into a top anesthesia residency!
You have given me hope through your success stories and I would like to give someone else hope through mine. I truly believe that my Faith first and foremost, and attitude is what got me through. There were so many times that I wanted to give up, and I even had back up plans of going to nursing school, but I kept hearing God telling me to keep going! All Glory and honor to HIM!
P. G. March 24, 2020
Dr. Barone: You got 2 interviews this year.... was one from the program you where working at that said "you had no chance of matching there" and is that the program where you matched?
Yes one of the IV was at the program where I did research and that was where I matched.
Dr. Barone: What did you say during the interview about your scores and attempts?
During the interview I was very honest with them, and told them exactly what happened and explained to them that I had learned from my mistakes and subsequently passed everything else on the first try. I focused on what I was doing now versus the past, and I told them that I was studying everyday and a lot of that showed in my daily dealing with residents and attendings. I reiterated that I wasn’t the same person that took those exams years ago. I was more focused and dedicated than ever.
Dr. Barone: Any other factors that you think may have contributed to your success?
Other than Faith and hard work... perseverance and honestly stubbornness that wouldn’t let me give up. I also was available and helped everyone, anticipated what was needed, had it ready for them without being asked. I showed interest and passion for the field. Family support was also a big factor. If it wasn’t for my wife who continuously pushed me and my parents who supported us through this, I wouldn’t have made it this far.
Photo by Zac Durant (Unsplash.com)