Sunday, July 10, 2011

Scramble & Externship

Time has passed quickly, now as a PGY2 internal medicine resident writing this, still gives me goose bumps.. just thinking about how the days went by with scramble, externship, interviews, match/prematch and residency..
Needless to say, I did not get through the Scramble.. but it certainly gave me an idea about the application process with the ERAS,and gettting my LORS etc ready. I did receive two phone calls on the scramble day, but they were looking for non visa holders so that was it.
It was just begining of the spring by then, I had atleast six months before next season,so I geared up for the externships. I contacted several programs from the Freida online database, few responded but no offers. I contacted my school friends, colleagues and relatives who were doing the residency. My long lost friend from medical school was working in Kentucky,she responded on a sunday afternoon. She was kind and right away offered me to join her and I said YES!
Interestingly, I was watching Kentucky Derby live for the first time at home that day in Pennsylvania.It was like I  began to fall for Kentucky ;-), the beautiful blue grass ,the horses. I also knew, it is the birth place of President Lincoln (my favorite leader) and it is called land of unbridled spirit.I packed my bags and moved to my friends place to apply for six months externship with the University of Kentucky program. Got accepted after the paper work and started going to the hospital first time in the US. It was the favor of God, opened the oppertunity yet another time.
I worked with two internists rotating in the hospital and the clinic.I also had the oppertunity to participate in the daily didactics, luncheons, free clinic and graduation parties. It was a great time of learning and getting the work basics right. It was mostly a culture shock from NHS,UK to the US health system,if you know what I mean!I met many nice people, and made a few great friends especially the Carews who were one of a kind.
Looking back, the program not only gave me excellent LORs, it also helped my buddy later on,to get an externship here and eventually helped her get a residency spot which I am so proud of. :-)

In my next blog will pen down my interview and pre-match experiences until then... Be your best..

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

CK journey

Continued my momentum while awaiting the results of step1 as I wanted to try for the scramble at the least.I stuck to Kaplan and UW. Watched the Videos first, followed it up with Kaplan notes and Q bank. IM is worth watching if you have time.Dr.Fischer's lectures were great.. I liked his style, despite his weirdness!.. OB-GYN lectures were good with good notes and tables.

Simultaneously,I prepared my eras documents,LoRs,MSPE,Personal Statement etc. Strangely enough,It took me a while before I could focus back on ck. My serious prep involved 3months of reading Kaplan notes,Kap Q bank and UW. I gave good 2 readings to CK notes. Scored about 69% on UW first time. Took NBME 3 weeks before - was 95. Practicing Q on UW or kaplan is very essentail for ck too as Q are very long and confusing some times. I revised UW full just for my memory and practice.. also discussed with friends from kaplan on several topics and exchanged ideas.

Exam day:
Had a good night sleep, revised psych and paeds a few topics in the morning. As the summer heat already picked up, mom made me good lassi, coffee and light meals for breaks. Exam started off well,finished all blocks on time, my level of difficulty- felt similar to step1. Questions were longer as expected, reading the last line first helped me, Most of the Q were from IM(60%)-then Paeds,Psy,OBGY,Surgery in that order.. got four media qs but could get the clue from q stem. The most difficult part was concept of understanding what is your next step or mostly likely diagnosis..practicing the qs is the key to this. There was some overlap with step1 especially with pharmac and patho.Psychiatry was my weakest link on NBME, I tried improve by discussing topics with friends, or doing more questions.Last but not least is... prepare for a longer day than step1 as one might feel tired or bored even.

The result took me four weeks..although disappointed for being late for post match, was a pleasant surprise and joy to see 99 again.. Writing in retrospect feels great but this time also there were similar issues or distractions in the family or home but I also learned to trust that God is directing my steps made me more comfortable in my shoes.. There were times I felt sick of mle but endurance is the key here :)Please keep doing your best..will be back with my scramble experience until then best wishes!

Friday, April 10, 2009

step1 experience-against all odds

Looking back, one of the best decisions I took was to join the local Kaplan centre. The blues of leaving NHS and the Britain just began to sink me; I missed the on-calls, the patients and our team… most importantly my "small-world" I got so used to. In addition to my career taking a major shift or going back to basics, our family was recovering from the hard reality of the sudden loss of one of my parents. So joining the Centre Prep helped me immensely to overcome the distractions and to focus.

My Prep involved - Kaplan lectures, notes and the PLS. I followed it up with practicing as many qs I could...UW,Kaplan Q bank mostly then Rapid Review, Student consult, Lippincott’s, and Prep4usmle forum etc. Last but not the least that I got hold of was the Goljan lectures, just one month before the exam. Dr.Goljan integrated the subject very well it was more like Patho- physiology, Biochemistry, Immunology etc combined.I kind of liked it a lot and tried to listen to him as much I could like even during a walk, or while doing chores etc and it was worth it...and Goljan is fun to listen to too.

To Summarize, I gave three readings to Kaplan notes and practiced it with as many qs I could.

The exam day: Amasingly I had good 6 hr sound sleep the night before, woke up fresh in the morning.Prayed once again with family,reached centre on time,went to my seat about half past eight in the morning. The proctor at my desk-top gave a brief orientation to the equipment, started the exam with clock ticking before I sat or settled down... it caused more adrenalin rush but I managed to pace myself. Also the block finished five minutes ahead so I had sufficient time to review first few questions.. I felt the first few and last blocks were easier than the 3rd or 4th block in which I had to rush with time …Overall on an average I felt about 10 qs per block were very difficult and 5-10 q moderate, remaining easy.

Thankfully eight hours passed pretty quickly, having answered all qs returned home relieved. Following days I too began to remember all the wrong answers, felt anxious now and then:) The result was out in exactly three weeks… well it was YES 99 in deed. What a joy it is to share...

hope this helps .. I will be back soon with my step2-ck experience until then... God Bless!

PS:
feel free to comment or give your feed back.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Step-2 CS experience

I took the Step2-CS initially.Having worked in UK helped me great deal for this exam.The study materials I used were First Aid and U.World. I gave a good reading to f.a first and practiced them with my sis (who is also a doc) at home.After finishing the f.a ,I also went through UW..I think it is excellent for cs too. Its videos are helpful,will show how much you actually got to do in the limited time.The reading material is more or less like f.a though. The time management in the clinical encounter particularly did not become a problem for me, although my writing skills needed practice.(There is an option for type writing also).Keeping a check-list,or having a partner helps you in recognising whats going wrong and focus on it.

Although I booked the Phily centre first, postponed in the last min due to personal reasons.I could not get in phily again and had to fly to Atlanta.I managed to get a good deal for my air tickets and motel room online, but the exam centre was about 5-8miles away.There came Atlanta Airport's MARTA's train service to my rescue:) It dropped me at about 10 min distance to my motel.Its worth calling the motel and ask them about how to reach their place and what kinds of transport services available in/out before actually booking the room.

I checked in the motel oneday before,after settling down,once again I went through all of the first aid notes quickly,reharsled all by myself 1-2 cases and went to bed early.

Next day,I took a taxi to the exam centre,as I did not want take any risks particualry in the early morning.I arrived about one hour before near the test centre,warmed up myself with a Macdonald's breakfast and orange juice.Prayed one more time and entered the centre with a smile:). Front desk lady was nice,guided me in to the main hall after verifying the documents. There were about 25 examinees along with me.All were in formals and white coats put on,we briefly exchanged smile or hi before the proctor took us to the orientation room.

After the brief orientation,all our stuff locked in the lockers,they took us to the exam area only with our number stickers on.It is a sound proof hall with cubicles, we could only hear knocking at the door or the voice of the moderator. The exam started fairly quickly, each one of us moved in serial order either from right to left one oneside or left to right on the other.The s.ps acted really well,the cases were similar to the F.A ...getting to the clue to what might be the case or main DDs is the essential part,reading the first aid helped me alot in this.Once I got on track by first few mins, things went smoothly.I think speaking in clear,audible voice is all that matters what ever our accent may be.The other very important being,excellent bed-side manners..is very well explained in f.a.

After about half the session,we had a half hour break for lunch which was provided.It was good with lots of tuna & vegetable sandwiches,chicken-tikka sticks,american version of samosae along with fruits,salad,coffee/tea etc. we had some time to exchange a word or two with the fellow examinees.
The rest of my exam went in the same pace uneventfully,ofcourse with a mini coffee break in between!

My suggetions for future test takers:
I think its a very doable exam for an fmg.
Read well the first aid,watch UW videos.
Practice it with a partner in time mode and assess your self with the check list.
If time permits do the UW notes too.
Try to get invloved with the local community/speak with them.
Practice,practice,practice...Practice it out loud!
Its worth, if could do a clerkship or elective before CS.