MLMW:My thoughts on iv process

As I have promised. I will start to write before I start my slavery soon.

Here are some personal understanding of the interview process (same logic
for the pre-meds), logistics and other stuff I consider critical for your
survival and success.

First, try to understand the interviewers. It is a TOUGH JOB FOR THEM TOO.
Think about this, they have to select the supposedly the right person for
their program from just the paper works and 15 minutes interview. If it were
you, how you gonna approach and achieve the best results? Okay, now:

What qualities programs look for?
• Personality qualities: if you fit in the team or not. Different
specialty has different characters or stereotypes. Do you really look like
them? Are you able to survive the hard works: physical and mental. They love
workaholics. Do all these qualities shown in the papers and a brief period
of interview.
• Persistence: How persistence you are in the pursuit of your
career. It is in our own story: what you have done, what you have achieved,
why you think that you are qualified? Show me the money.
• A little bit OCPD.
• Integrity: SO, SO, SO important. There is a thing called honor
code in med school and integrity is uttermost important for a health care
professional in the future career. I will talk more about this later.
• Multitasking, hardworking and keeping sanity under considerable
stress, some special qualities of the subspecialites: like motor skills in
surgery esp. ortho.
• Physicians look the same and they think the same:
a. Evidence based: concrete numbers are important but not all: yes, you
are a good test taker, so what? However, it is a cutoff to weed the large
pool of applicants. You need to gain the ticket to show yourself first.
b. L.O.R. from RELIABLE sources: the letter writers are the ones they
know, they trust and they can confirm with. So, get a letter from the U.S.at
least and someone really knows you and even better if they are big shots.
However, avoid those big shots who would not write you a decent letters. A
wonderful letter from someone less known is still much better than a
mediocre letter from someone well known.
c. Making a judgement in a short time is difficult but that is what
physicians good at (at least we/they think we/they are good at: pattern
recognition)
d. Internal logics of your story: so be you own TRUE story in your
personal statement.

Never lie to yourself and the others.
• For the career changers: include those from totally irrelevant
major or different specialties which requires very different personalities:
Watch the pitfalls before you apply:
Ask yourself: why I want to do this?
Is that really what I want?
Can you do this pretty much the rest of your life?

Programs want folks who really love that field and will survive at least the
whole process of the training and will success in that field after training
.

Finally, be yourself. Easy say than done. But it is a key for choosing your
career path and being happy and sane.

Overall, it is kinda silly but it depends on how you look overall. Look like
a duck, talk like a duck, you must be a duck.

Again, think about how difficult it is for the interviewers and understand
them first. They will be bored to death if they are seeing the same type of
L.O.Rs and and same high scores, overachievers again and again. Are they
able to remember me in a month or even a week? You will be a very successful
happy camper if they would say that: Wow, that is the guy we are looking
for.