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How to Survive your 4 th Year of Medical School

How to Survive your 4 th Year of Medical School. By Erik Paulson. Obstacles. Selecting a Specialty Audition Rotations Board Exams ERAS Interviews The Match Expenses. Waiver of Liability.

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How to Survive your 4 th Year of Medical School

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  1. How to Survive your 4th Year of Medical School By Erik Paulson

  2. Obstacles • Selecting a Specialty • Audition Rotations • Board Exams • ERAS • Interviews • The Match • Expenses

  3. Waiver of Liability • All dates in this presentation are for 2009. Since you will be applying for residencies in a different year, the dates may change.

  4. Selecting a Specialty • Interest, Lifestyle, Compensation, Personality, Competition. • Resources • Iserson’s Guide to Getting a Residency • Aptitude Test can be found at: • http://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/specialties/

  5. Setting up Audition Rotations • What is an audition rotation? • A rotation in the specialty that you plan to do a residency in, at a place where you would like to do a residency. • How many audition rotations should I do? • As many as your school will let you! • As many as you can fit in before December (that is when interviews normally begin)! • 24 weeks of core rotations • 16 weeks of electives (4 months of audition rotations)

  6. Setting up Audition Rotations • When should I do audition rotations? • Start of 4th year • July, August, September, October, November • How do I schedule audition rotations? • Find programs you may be interested in • http://opportunities.osteopathic.org/search • Call them now and ask if you can schedule a rotation. If they say it is too early, ask them when they begin scheduling rotations. • If they are full, you can still rotate in another field at the same hospital and get to know people.

  7. Setting up Audition Rotations • Housing • Ask the person that set up your rotation if they provide student housing or have resources for available student housing. • If not, go to www.Craigslist.org and click on the city and then temporary housing tab. • Drive if possible • You will have transportation to and from the rotation and you can easily take a months worth of supplies. Fly your significant other out for a long weekend after 2 weeks.

  8. Audition Rotations • Work hard, you are in a competition! • Be early for everything! • Better to over-dress than under-dress • Politics, Politics, Politics!

  9. Board Exams • When should I take the written portion of Step 2? • If your step 1 scores are good- • Take the written part of step 2 in December or January (if your school will let you) of your 4th year. That way nobody will see them until your interviews are over • If your step 1 scores are bad- • Take the written part of step 2 in August or September. This way, the people interviewing you will see them.

  10. Board Exams • How should I study for the written portion of Step 2? • Crush USMLE for either COMLEX or USMLE • First Aid for USMLE Step 2 CK for either COMLEX or USMLE • Savarese for OMT questions • www.combank.com for COMLEX • Promotion code for 15% off • CRUSHCOMLEX • www.usmleworld.com for USMLE • How long should I study for the written portion of Step 2? • 2 weeks • Email me if you want my 2 week study schedule for COMLEX! • 9am-5pm with an hour lunch break on weekdays • 9am-noon on the weekends

  11. Board Exams • When should I take the physical exam portion of Step 2? • Anytime before November. • That way, if you fail, you can retake it and still graduate on time.

  12. Board Exams • How should I study for the physical exam portion of Step 2? • Fly to Philadelphia • Eat a cheese steak and drink a beer • If you insist, First Aid for USMLE Step 2 PE • How long should I study for the physical exam portion of Step 2? • A couple of days

  13. ERAS • What is ERAS? • Electronic Residency Application Service • This is how you send your application to both D.O. and M.D. residency programs. • Cost of ERAS? • $60 for up to 10 programs • $8 each for 11-20 programs • $15 each for 21-30 programs • $25 each for any additional programs over 30

  14. ERAS • ERAS timeline • In May, you will receive your “token” from your medical school. This allows you to register. • In July, you can complete your application online and apply to Osteopathic programs. • In September, you can apply to MD programs. • In November, your school will upload your Dean’s Letter/ MSPE.

  15. ERAS • What do I need to complete my application? • You will enter information online such as name, address, email, schools attended, research experience etc. • You will select “release board scores” on the ERAS website. Then the NBOME will upload them automatically. • You will compose a personal statement basically explaining why you want to go into a certain field. • If you are applying for multiple different specialties, you can compose multiple personal statements.

  16. ERAS • What do I need to complete my application? Continued… • Letters of recommendation • You will need 3+ letters of recommendation. • You can choose different letters for each program. • These should be sent to your school as you receive them. • Then, you will add the physician’s name and specialty on ERAS. Example Dr. Smith- Radiology. • Then you will certify it meaning it gets sent to your school • Last, your school will upload them onto ERAS.

  17. ERAS • What do I need to complete my application? Continued… • Dean’s Letter/ MSRP will be uploaded by your school in early November. • Transcripts will be uploaded by your school. • Photograph will also be uploaded by your school to the ERAS website. Your school may ask you to provide them with a passport photo. Take a good photo because this may be the first impression a program gets of you.

  18. ERAS • How to apply to programs • Click on either search Osteopathic or search Allopathic programs on the ERAS website. • Select a program • Categorical • Start PGY-1 • Advanced • Start PGY-2 so you will need to apply separately for a preliminary year. • Select which letters of recommendation & which personal statement you would like sent to them. • Select other miscellaneous things you would like sent such as photo etc. • Send that S#@%!

  19. Interviews • You will start getting rejection letters and interview invites in October. • Hopefully more of the latter • Book your flights & hotel early to save $$ • Wear a nice suit • Some say black but I went with beige. If you do everything else right, you can wear a pink suit and still get the position. • Fellas… • Cut your dang hair! • Have a clean shave! • Everyone… • Take out any piercings! • Cover any tattoos • Whether it is fair or not, the majority of programs are run by older folks that are usually old fashion.

  20. Interviews • The night before your interview • Don’t eat or drink anything crazy! • The last thing you want is to have food poisoning! • Go to bed early • Wake up a few hours before you interview to drink your coffee. This way, you will be awake and won’t be running to pee every 10 minutes!

  21. Interviews • Common questions: • Tell me about yourself? • Why do you want to be a ________? • What are you strengths and weaknesses? • Why do you want to do your residency here? • What do you do in your spare time? • Why should we pick you? • For more questions, see Iserson’s Guide to Getting a Residency.

  22. Interviews • Thank them for inviting you for an interview. • Always pretend like they are your top choice even if you don’t know. • Send a thank you letter promptly. Not an email, an actual letter. • Don’t make it a freaking essay, one paragraph will do!

  23. Interviews • Often, they will invite you to dinner or a party with the residents and/or program directors. • Tip #1- Go to it! • Tip #2- Don’t get too drunk and have a dance off! Even if it was their idea!

  24. The Match • You will need to apply separately for the different matches. • M.D. Match • National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) • www.nrmp.org • D.O. Match • National Matching Service (NMS) • www.natmatch.com • Military Match • San Francisco Match (Plastic surgery, Opthalmology, & Pediatric Neurology) • American Urological Association

  25. The Match • D.O. Match Timeline • October- Mail in registration form with $$. • January 7th- Open to submit rank order lists. • January 23rd- Deadline for submitting rank order list. • February 9th- Match Day & Scramble Day.

  26. The Match • M.D. Match Timeline • August 15th- Register for NRMP online • November 30th- Last day to register for NRMP match without a $50 late fee. • January 15th- Open to submit rank order list. • February 25th- Deadline to submit rank order list. • March 16th- Matched or Unmatched • March 17th- Scramble if unmatched • March 18th- Match Day

  27. The Match • Military Match Timeline • I guess it is classified because I can’t find much. • Results are given in mid December.

  28. Expenses • Away rotations • Rent ($400-$800/ month) • Gas money or plane ticket ($300) • Board Exams (Approximately $2000) • Step 2 written exam • $550 • Step 2 physical exam • $1000 • Plane ticket to Conshohocken, PA $350 • Hotel $100 • Rental Car $50

  29. Expenses • ERAS (about $150) • The Match ($40 for M.D., $60 for D.O.) • Interviews (about $500 each) • $300 plane ticket • $50 rental car for 2 days • $150 for hotel • This means that if you do 5 interviews, you will spend around $2500! • Moving Expenses ($500- $5000)

  30. Expenses • So how can I afford all of this if I have already maxed out on my student loans? • Medcap Xtra Loan from Wells Fargo • Will provide $5,000 for interviews and $10,000 for residency relocation. • 8% interest • Can be deferred until after your residency. • Credit Cards can help if used correctly. • Apply for a credit card that has 12 months or more of no interest and use it. • Just make sure to pay it off before the 12 months are over! Otherwise, you will be stuck with all of the interest from the previous 12 months!

  31. Contact me if you have any questions • Email erik_paulson@yahoo.com • Phone 720-937-6863

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