There's No Going Back

When you “can’t go back”…. you need to put all your energy towards Goal!

US IMG
Step 1 : 243
Step 2CK : 258
YOG: 2019 (~3 years)

Here's the success story of an IMG who gave up a residency spot in her country to pursue the dream of matching in Diagnostic Radiology in the US:

Hi John,

Thank you for your kind words! I’m so happy and relieved. I matched into Diagnostic Radiology!! What a journey. Yes, absolutely I’d be glad to give out some tips...

I graduated from medical school in France giving up my residency spot. I called the French secretary of medicine and she said “once you leave there is no coming back, are you sure of your plan?”. It was a tough decision but I took it and didn’t look back. It helps not to have a safety back up plan, so you really have to put all of your energy towards your main goal.

I arrived in the US early 2020, I was at Kaplan, covid hit, couldn’t go back home at all. So I decided to stay and achieve one thing: step 1. I took my time honestly, it took me 9 months, but I didn’t care, I wanted a high score.

[One piece of advice is: don’t worry about the time, what the others are doing etc.. just focus on one task only, and achieve it well. Then you are able to move to the next one.]

Took step 1, was very happy, then decided to focus entirely on step 2, took me 4 months. Once I was done it was July 2021, literally 2 months before ERAS opened. I hustled like never before, I contacted every person I knew, organized myself three rotations (2 in radio, 1 in IM). Worked on my OET, my pathway 6, personal statement and other application details. That period was way harder than passing the steps honestly.

When September came in, I had everything ready to go, submitted my application and received an interview invitation later in November.

Another advice: work on your application like you are preparing for a board exam. It has to be perfect. Be prepared to talk about everything from your resume with details. Radiology interviews are super nice and friendly. They like asking about “why radiology” (of course) but also other things like your hobbies +++ I had interesting hobbies listed like completing the Chicago 2021 triathlon, taking mandarin lessons etc.. they want to know that you are someone nice and friendly, able to sit next to them 10h per day!

Do some radio rotations yes, but not only, you need to have clinical skills too, so don’t pass on doing an IM rotation and get that LOR.

For radiology, the two main pillars are:

Board exams
Personality/ rotations completed

For the rotations:

I was a volunteer at a University Hospital for about a year and went up to the radiology department chair’s secretary, gave her my resume and cover letter, asking for a rotation and I got one!!! :)
I asked a friend who contacted another friend to get another Radiology rotation.
I used Medclerkships (pricy but good) to find a pediatric cardiology in Orlando, FL

For the interview prep:

List all of the potential interview questions and practice answering them. Know all of your answers by heart. Read them prior to your interview. Do not act robotic, act natural and smile. Your application will grant you the interview but your interview performance will rank you.
I did mock Interviews with friends and family
I also used Elite medical prep (Anup was awesome! He’s a PGY4 radiologist)

Dr. Barone, thanks for being such an IMG advocate, you inspired me back then! Best of luck to all future applicants,

N. W. B. March 31, 2022

Links to other success stories for IMGs matching in Radiology: