Coney Island IM Interview

When I got there, their pre-matches have all been sent. So, if you like this hospital, schedule the interview as early as possible. There is very limited information about this program on the Internet. What I can tell you is that this is a big IM program. The hospital has a new building and the vast majority of the IM wards are in the new building. The facilities are the best among all the hospitals I visited. According to the chief, it's a very busy program but has plenty of opportunities to learn. The case given in the morning report is also interesting and it reflects the complexed diseases the residents here can handle.

The interview itself is quite easy. It's a panel interview. No hard medical questions were asked. In summary, this program is much better than my first impression.

Plan for Interview Preparation

1. Research and summarize the program highlights.
2. Research and summarize the PD and key faculties highlights.
3. Write down the answers for common questions.
4. Make a folder with CV, PS, and publications.
5. Record and practice the answers.
6. Mock interview.
7. One week before the interview, get in touch with the program.
8. Two days before the interview, get everything ready for the interview.
9. One day before the interview, confirm the flight.
10.On the interview day, rock it!

NYMC Richmond IM

发信人: docrockville (docrockville), 信区: MedicalCareer
标 题: NYMC Richmond IM: details
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Sat Jan 17 12:58:07 2009)

NYMCrichmond

New York Medical College (Richmond) Program
Identifier: 140-35-11-303
Specialty: Internal Medicine




Program Director:

Susan D Grossman, MD
Richmond Univ Med Ctr
Dept of Internal Med
355 Bard Ave
Staten Island, NY 10310-1699 Tel: (718) 818-4355
Fax: (718) 818-3225
E-mail: sgrossman@rumcsi.org


Person to contact for more information about the program:

Susan D Grossman, MD
Richmond Univ Med Ctr
Dept of Internal Med
355 Bard Ave
Staten Island, NY 10310-1699 Tel: (718) 818-4355
Fax: (718) 818-3225
E-mail: sgrossman@rumcsi.org






Accredited length 3
Required length 3
Accepting applications for 2009-2010 Yes
Will be accepting applications for 2010-2011 Yes
Program start dates January, July
Participates in ERAS Yes
Affiliated with U.S. government No




Institution list
Sponsor: New York Medical College - Valhalla, NY
Clinical Site: Richmond University Medical Center - Staten Island, NY






Key points:


Staten Island is half ann hour from Manhattan, by free ferry between South
Ferry station and SI. No need to own a car. Mall, museums, parks, and beach
on SI.


No medical questions in interview unless you do not know any other topics...
; interview starts at 10:30, with lunch provided. They will offer second
looks to people they like. No prematch offered.



5 year accreditation

No scut work for residents


Hands-on experience in ICU/CCU (no fellows in ICU/CCU)


Intern carrires 6-10 patients on the floor. You see service patients,
hospitalist patients, and private patients. Low percentage of HIV+ patients.


Excellent salary (55065 for intern, 59780 for pgy2, 65175 for pgy3) in
comparison to other IM programs, plus free parking & cheap onsite housing (
500-590 for studio, 750-860 for 1bedroom, 920-980 for 2BR). A catholic
school on island (200 per month).


Friendly/diverse house staff


Excellent tour of hospital given by Dr. Willam Kolhoff, an U.S. medical
graduate who stayed with the program after finishing his prelim year and
converted to categorical. He is also head of resident housing stuff
committee. His email is wkolhoff@verizon.net


No EMR right now. But they are trying to get one in place.


People called each other by first name in the program.


Intern has no overnight calls.


On call schedule: Q5 (most program Q4).


Outreach to community. One APD does smoking cessation work. They also has a
concer survivor program.


In-house fellowships: cardio 2 spots, GI 1 in every 3 years, renal 1/yr, hem
/onc.


Clinical research. (Department pays for conference attendance; but you have
to do research in your own spare time).


64-slice CT.

CMGs united and help each other. In total 4 Indian residents in this program
(one PGY3, one PGY2, and two PGY1).


No wireless yet.


You need to purchase MKSAP and Up-to-Date your self.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
What do they look for in a candidate and in a resident?


1. High scores. (my scores are early 90s)


2. Do physical exam on patient daily during residency.


3. Curiousity.


4. Good will.


5. Nice personality.


6. Good communication skills


7. Writes in a legible way.


8. Professionalism.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----



500,000 people live on the Staten Island, a diverse population.


Residents in the program need to help out with translation, otherwise they
use a language line.


The hospital has 200 beds and takes 2,500 admissions each year.


The rates of smoking, hypertension, diabetes, CVA, obesity, and CVDs are
high among Staten Island communites.


Common chief complaints for admissions to the hospital include SOB, chest
pain, etc.


Common diseases treated in the internal medicine program include ACS, DM,
DKA, septic shock, GI problems/bleeding, stroke, pneumonia, UTI, asthma, and
COPD.


The house staff on the floor are divided into 3 team color-coded as red,
green, and blue.


Each team includes one PGY3, three PGY2, and five interns.


Most attending physicians are private attendings.


There are 55-60 residents in the program in total, depending on the years.


Sometimes programs in NYC and CA close and some of their residents would
come to join this program, bringing funding.
Therefore it is beneficial to the program, because they help share calls and
also bring funding.


Typically there are 25 PGY1 (made up of 10 prelims and 15 categoricals), 15
PGY2, 15 PGY3, and 1 PGY4 (chief resident).


Typical schedule is


7am show up at the hospital (the latest 7:15am), and take a peek at your
patients and new admissions.


7:30am morning report (resident presentation using PowerPoint, monthly renal
journal club, grand round on every other Wednesday given by outside expert).


10am-11:20am teaching round.


11:30am-12:30pm noon conference given by attending (free lunch provided;
monthly medical discipline lectures with a quiz at the end of each month;
end of life issues; near miss cases; M&M; medical humanity issue; cultural
diversity issue; resident fatigue issue; nutrition)


4pm leave hospital if your work is done.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----



Call schedule:


Q5 (short call) on the floor, and Q4 (24 hour call) in ICU or in CCU. There
is nightfloat for PGY1-3.


No overnight calls for PGY1.


When on call on the floor, you come to work at 7am like regular days till
4pm, and then you start admiting patients from 4pm till 9 pm.


When on call in ICU or CCU, you come to work at 7am like regular days till
4pm, and then you start admiting patients from 4pm till 7am the next day.
You leave hospital at 7am (the latest 10am).


The PD is known to be very serious about reducing resident fatigue. She
would yell at attendings who tend to keep residents too long post call.


You do 2 night float blocks each year, with 2-3 weeks in each block. During
nightfloat, you work two nights (9pm-7am) consecutively, and the third night
you get off. During the days you sleep at home without hosptial duties. You
cover about 70-75 patients when on nightfloat.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----


Residents (categotical) have two half-day clinics seeing patients on campus
in continuity clinics. No clinics during your vacation or ICU/CCU blocks.
One of the two clinics is a preceptorship hosted by a private attending,
during which you learn outpatient medicine and also the real business stuff
like how to bill for services.


Electives: PGY1 gets one month elective in house (no outside elective
allowed for PGY1), PGY2 and PGY3 get to do outside electives anywhere you
want and will get paid during the electives.


ER rotation: 2-4 weeks blocks, you work on shifts.They have 3 kinds of
shifts in ER: 7am-7pm; 11:30am-10pm; 3pm-midnight.


You get 4 weeks of vacation each year, divided into 2 blocks.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

Every year there is a one-week spring review course hosted by the program,
joined by physicians from all over the island. Residents get to attend
lectures on recent advances in medicine. However, as an intern, you still
need to work first and foremost, only to be able to catch one or two
lectures per day.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

The hospital is a Level I trauma center, and has a stroke center. There is a
radiology residency program in the hospital, providing timely radiology
reading support for internal medicine program.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----



Quality improvement efforts in the program and the hospital:


1. Chart review / note review: to help interns improve their medical writing
skills.


2. Patient statisfaction survey: inpatient ward only.


3. Dictation required for PGY2 and 3 residents.


4. Documentation periodically reviewed by hospital experts in documentation
issues: this way the hospital gets appropriate reimbursement. Also it is
important for medical/legal reasons


5. Pharmacists are very helpful and also they will timely notify residents
to correct the dosing and usage of medications.


6. Patient complaints are taken seriously.


7. Monthly quality department meetings



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Evaluation of residents are based on:


1. Monthly quiz (more difficult than ACP board exam): quiz content based on
the monthly medical discipline lectures and the online self-education
modules for residents.


2. ACP annual in-service exam


3. meeting with PD twice a year


4. monthly evaluation by peers, staff, and attendings.


Resident performance is evaluated using 6 core measures: knowledge,
professionalism, patient care, system-based learning, communication skills.
(I am not sure why they only talked about 5 measures in the presentation.)



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Program helps residents prepare for their future careers:


1. Seminars on life after residency.


2. One of the two clinics is a preceptorship hosted by a private attending,
during which you learn outpatient medicine and also the real business stuff
like how to bill for services.


3. Residents allowed to take 2 board review courses, and are free of
hospital duties during the courses.


4. Seminar on getting fellowships takes place in each October.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
They have a nice library with journals I like to read and several computers.
They let you use your book allowance to puchase books through the libary,
saving 10% of book cost and the shipping cost.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----



Fellowship placement:


The hospital used to be part of St. Vincent Hospital (which has a Staten
Island campus, and a Manhattan campus). Later, the SI campus joined NY
Medical College and therefore was renamed Richmond University Medical Center
.


Howver, the close tie still exist between St. Vincent Hospital in Manhattan
and Richmond University Medical Center. Fellowships in St. Vincent Hospital
in Manhattan tend to take residents from the Richmond University Medical
Center. This way , you can say that the NYMC (Richmond) has in-house
fellowships.


In fact the 2 cardiology fellowship spots in the St. Vincent Hospital in
Manhattan were both taken by NYMC (Richmond) IM residents.


Richmond University Medical Cente also has nephrology fellowship.


2008, 75% graduates went to fellowship. The rest either did not want to
apply for fellowship or did not try hard enough.

Dr. Gu is PGY4 chief and he will go to NYU for Hem-Onc. Chief resident's
email is chiefrumc@yahoo.com
Dr. Song is PGY3 co-chief and he will go to SUNY downstate for GI.
Dr. Havill is another PGY3 co-chief and he will go to JH for Nephrology.

All Chinese residents (total 8) got fellowship in recent 3 years, including
GI 1, Cardiology 3, Hem-Onc 3, and Endo 1.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

Where did the residents match for fellowship 2009?

Cardiology - St. Vincent's Hospital, New York, NY

Endocrinology - University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY

Gastroenterology - SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY

Hematology-Oncology - National Institutes Of Health, Bethesda, MD
- New York University, New York, NY

Infectious Diseases - Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC

Nephrology - Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD


Recent Graduates - Where Did They Go?


Cardiology Fellowship - Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
- University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
- St. Vincent's Hospital, New York, NY

Critical Care Fellowship - Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY

Endocrinology Fellowship - University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY

Gastroenterology Fellowship - SUNY Downstate Medical Center
- St. Vincent's Hospital, New York
, NY

Hematology-Oncology Fellowship - New York University, NY, NY
- National Institutes Of
Health, Bethesda, MD
- New York Medical College,
Westchester Medical Center, Valhalla, NY

Infectious Diseases Fellowship - University of Missouri
- Wake Forest Baptist Medical
Center, NC
- New York Medical College,
Brooklyn, Queens, NY

Nephrology Fellowship - Johns Hopkins Hospital
- New York Medical College, Richmond
University Medical Center, Staten Island, NY

Pulmonary Fellowship - University of Stony Brook , Long Island, NY


Rheumatology Fellowship - Robert Wood Johnson , New Jersey
- University of Oregon

Hospitalist Program - Richmond University Medical Center, Staten Island, NY

Private Practice - Staten Island, Brooklyn, Long Island, New York, New
Jersey
- North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, San
Francisco

A nice sample personal statement for ER

One of the most powerful moments of my life occurred in a crematorium. The shantytowns around Caracas, Venezuela had been decimated by mudslides; I was working for the Venezuelan Red Cross, seeing patients from the tailgate of a four-wheel drive pick-up truck. After a grueling day of shoveling in the morning and seeing over thirty patients in the afternoon, my last patient invited me to his home for soup. This patient, I remember, had severe hypertension I had spent some time with him teaching him how to take, and about the importance of taking, his medication. As we walked up a grassy hillside, above the twenty feet of mud that had buried the village, I saw that the home he was referring to was a crematorium - it looked like an old railway car with a chimney on top. Of course he, like most of the villagers, had lost his home. As I stooped through a square metal portal, our shuffling footsteps echoed off the charred iron walls. He offered me a seat on a mattress where four children already sat, sipping cups of soup. Then he offered me a white ball of dough. "Arepa," he said. I repeated, "arepa."
"You see?" he said, "we teach each other."
That afternoon I learned that his wife and his wife's family had been killed in the mudslides. A few weeks later, I returned to California and started a clerkship in emergency medicine. I quickly realized that the feelings I experienced in the crematorium returned on some level with each patient interaction. Almost always there was a sense of being "let in" to a stranger's life, a brief interaction in a stressful environment, one person needing help, the other hoping to be able to give it, but all the while a sense of a shared experience a bond supported by the acuity of the circumstances. I am aware that I have as much to learn from my patients as they from me, and I think this awareness strengthens my interactions. This isnt to say that every interaction is joyful or even necessarily positive; certainly, in the emergency department we do not always get to see people at their best. What it does mean is that, no matter what the situation or conflict, I try to always leave each patient with his or her dignity intact. I have, in essence, entered that person's crematorium - it falls upon me to walk carefully, to be respectful, and to help in whatever way I can.
I first discovered my affinity for acute care one summer when I was head coach of a large community swim team, and a beehive plagued the pool grounds. I turned the lifeguard office into a sting clinic (complete with tweezers and topical anesthetic), and derived great satisfaction from comforting stung kids. When I realized that I really liked helping people in distress, I started volunteering at night in a nearby county emergency department. There, I discovered that I enjoyed the pace as well as helping those who had no other place to go for help. My father, a police officer, is well known for insisting that everyone should be treated with the same respect, regardless of what crime they may have committed. Though I learned from him early in life the importance of leaving people with their dignity intact, this philosophy was reaffirmed by those early experiences in the emergency department; since then it has underscored my professional and personal lives, and I think it will help me excel as a leader in the field of emergency medicine.
In my second year of medical school, I experienced another powerful incident that shaped my life. I had been taking an emergency medicine procedures course a popular course for its clinical exposure in an otherwise book-heavy year. It was my first day in the emergency department, six months before I would even start clinical rotations, when paramedics rolled in an eight-month old MVA victim. Though the paramedics said he had been restrained in a safety seat, he did not survive. His neck had broken, unable to support the weight of his head against the frontal impact. His car seat, I learned, had been facing forward. Moved by this experience, I educated myself about child passenger safety. I began to understand that some simple messages about child safety seats could save many lives. To this end, I formed "One Childs Life", a registered student organization to promote child passenger safety among parents and health care providers; we give seminars for pediatric residents, assist police with safety seat inspection events, and speak at PTA meetings. Often, parents ask why I spend so much time teaching about child passenger safety. I usually respond by saying that it eases the sense of injustice one feels when trying to resuscitate an accident victim to know that one has done something to try to prevent it.
During my third year of medical school, I was forced to make a decision that would affect me personally and professionally. Because of the emergency department research I had done on sexual assault and an essay I published based on that work, in addition to my contribution as Arts Editor of the UCSF student newspaper, I was offered a job as an editor of msJAMA. I chose instead, however, to work in malaria and leprosy clinics in Peru and with the Venezuelan Red Cross in Caracas. I do not regret this decision because I feel I learned some things about acute care that I could not have learned any other way. I learned, for example, how to diagnose malaria without a microscope by carefully observing fever patterns. I learned how to put in an IV without a plastic cannula. And of course, I was enriched by the many sad and extraordinary stories of my patients. I look forward to a career in emergency medicine as a life-long exercise in learning from people who are sometimes very different from myself. We truly do, as the Venezuelan man said, teach each other.

Sample Personal Statement

Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
Sample 4
Sample 5
Sample 6
Sample 7

Writing a Personal Statement

Writing a Personal Statement
From: http://www.thedoctorjob.com/careercorner/view_article.php?id_article=14


The drafting of your personal statement is probably something that you’re dreading, especially if writing is not your strong suit. Even if you are a skilled writer, it can be hard to choose a topic and to write about yourself in a way that resonates with others.

Writing a personal statement does not have to be a painful process. Look at the bright side—the personal statement is the one opportunity you have to sell yourself in your application that is unfettered by cold hard facts and figures. Your personal statement gives you an opportunity to make yourself more real to the people making hiring decisions.

Plus, by hiring the experts at The Doctor Job to help you, you can rest assured that what you are presenting is a polished finished product that has already been given a stamp of approval by an experienced writer who has edited hundreds of personal statements.

Here are three things to keep in mind when drafting a personal statement.

1) The ideal personal statement will give the directors of residency and clerkship programs a sense of who you are and highlight some unique and impressive facts about you that will make you stand out in his/her mind. It will also convince the reader of your commitment to your chosen specialty area, as well as your ability to perform well in that specialty area.

2) While it is not necessary to be a stellar writer in the medical profession, good writing in general conveys your intelligence and your ability to articulate your thoughts in a clear, concise, and professional manner. To that end, it is important to ensure that your personal statement flows well and doesn’t break any major grammatical rules.

3) Some might argue that in writing a personal statement it is more important to not turn someone off than it is to win someone over. In following with this thought, when developing ideas for your personal statement, you want to err on the conservative side, especially if you’re using the same statement or a version of the same statement when applying to a number of residencies. Even if you think it’s a little bit bland, it’s better to have a statement that appeals to the masses than one that might strike a chord with one person and strike out with everyone else.

Choosing a topic

“I entered the medical profession because I want to help people.”

When you wrote your admissions essays for medical school, you were probably advised against this standard answer to the inevitable “Why do you want to become a doctor” question. The same applies now. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with wanting to help people, it’s just that it’s become such a cliché answer that it’s almost lost its meaning.

Certainly at its core, being a doctor is about helping people. But when brainstorming a topic for your personal statement, you need to think beyond that. For instance, if you have chosen a certain specialty, what are the reasons for your choice? Perhaps you entered the medical profession from a prior career. Why did you make that decision? What happened in your life to lead you to that decision?

Show, don’t tell.

Anecdotes are very effective tools in a personal statement. When you tell a brief story about something that happened to you, your experience is made more real to the reader. Use this technique when drafting your personal statement. Telling someone that you like something or that you’re good at something is less effective than describing to him/her the events in your life that illustrate those points. Take these two examples:

1) When I think of something that weighs two pounds, I think of a book, a full mug of coffee, a bunch of grapes. I don’t think of a person. Yet that’s how much my sister weighed when she was born prematurely. I can still remember the way the doctor’s hands looked enormous next to her tiny body, and the way my parents and I felt knowing that those hands bore the responsibility for her life. Watching the physician work around the clock to ensure my sister’s health, I realized that I wanted to be part of something so important.

2) I have a younger sister who was born premature. As a result, I am interested in helping children like her by becoming a neonatologist.

Anecdotes are particularly effective when used as a hook at the beginning of your statement. Given the limited amount of time that will be allotted to reading each personal statement, the sooner you can pique their interest, the better.

Setting yourself apart

If two people eat at the same restaurant on the same night, each will have completely different experiences based on the food they ordered, the people they ate with, and the conversations they had. Likewise, even if you attended the same school and earned the same grades as one of your peers, each of you will have unique areas in which you excelled and unique circumstances that helped to shape who you are.

In addition to using anecdotes in your personal statement, you can stand out from the masses by including a lot of details in your writing. One of the biggest criticisms of personal statements is that they are too vague. When describing your experiences, be specific. If you held a leadership role, how many people did you lead? What was improved as a result of your leadership? If you volunteered for a particular organization, did you work two hours a month or fifteen hours a week?

The more specific you are with regard to your goals, experiences, interests, and strengths, the more you will differentiate yourself from others.

It’s not easy.

Crafting an effective personal statement is a difficult task, because it means creating a delicate balance between a compelling story and a selling document. This is not something you should take lightly - many directors find that this small amount of insight into your mind and motivation will effectively determine your ability to practice medicine and contribute to the residency, fellowship or clerkship. The Doctor Job has certified professional writers on staff whose sole job is to craft winning personal statements based on your goals and your insight. We give a solid structure and cohesion to your perspective and personality.

An example of different types of recommendation letters

Sample Recommendation Letter

MyERAS Login

MyERAS Login

clamchowder <改编> Gira555: 做好准备，成功Match

发信人: clamchowder (DDD), 信区: MedicalCareer
标 题: <改编> Gira555: 做好准备，成功Match
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Wed Jun 17 17:01:39 2009, 美东)

PS 首先感谢很多前辈的努力，尤其是gira的帖子。我未经同意擅自改编，在此叩谢。
我觉得这么多申请贴，她写的是最全的。今天有个朋友在问我，好像精华区里找不到了
。我dig了一下，找出来，加了一些自己的体会，大部分用括号或者ps标记，如果想看
原贴，请用以下link, 其中还有很多别人的经验。同志们认真体会把。

http://www.mitbbs.com/pc/pccon.php?id=2289&nid=47175

****
一路摸索着做完了住院医申请的程序，觉得很多问题都是理所当然的，大家都应该知道
了。但是仍看见论坛上有人问相关问题，也有人发私人信件问，索性一起系统的写一下
申请需要做的准备工作。另外也希望如果问的不是私人问题的话，最好是发到公共论坛
上问，这样会有更多的人回答，也减少点我觉得要一个个回答问题和回答错误会误导别
人的压力。另外，这里写的是针对大部分住院医位置，是通过ERAS申请，NRMP Match.
另外的眼科，神经外科等科是参加San Francisco (SF) Match。 这个我不太懂，版上
的KGMOM是刚刚在这里成功Match上的。

重要日期：9月一日。这一天，是所有的科室开始接收申请的一天。会有大量的IMG在当
夜就把申请发出去。我当时跑出去玩了，还受到了Jimmy的责备，听了他的话回来后就
急急忙忙准备材料，要推荐信，9月中递出申请，9月底申请材料全的。如果我9月1号就
递出的话到底会不会增加机会我不知道，但是确实申请以后一周就开始收到邀请了。因
此对于申请发出比较早的科室，越到后面机会会越少一些。我有个同学各方面条件和我
基本是一样的，前年10月中以后递的申请，面试就很少。我个人的意见是不见得非要紧
紧张张的赶头一天，但是最好应该在9月的头几天内把申请递出去。最晚最晚不要超过9
月，不然面试机会会大少。

具体ERAS申请的程序，我以前已经另外写过。大概就是，需要寄去被扫描的材料，最好
在8月1号寄到，给他们4个星期的扫描时间材料才会入你的档案。（我9月中寄到的推荐
信，那时候扫描时间减到两周。）需要寄的材料包括3-4封推荐信，以及医学院的成绩
单，和MSPE。（MSPE我没有准备，用的是ERAS自动生成的。如果打算自动生成，在填写
ERAS申请时要选择一个选项是本人不会提供MSPE.）

****
PS 请仔细阅读 http://ecfmg.org/eras/index.html 今年 token request 在6－23 号，然后去 https://services.aamc.org/eras/myeras2009/ 注册。不过上交文件和request token 要丛你自己oasis里面左下方的 ERAS® Support Services。
****

电子版可以解决的材料，只要在9月1号前准备好即可。这些包括：

1）CAF， 是你自己在网站上填的简历，一旦确定送出，再也不能更改。我在这上犯了
个大错误，没有把病理见习填在上面，使我整个简历上看不到和病理相关的任何东西。
我认为这一点有可能使我损失了几个面试。

2）Personal Statement，这个发出去以后还可以更改。我9月中递出申请后，又找个同
事看了我的陈诉，改了几个语法错误。9月26号把所有的陈诉换成新的了，但是有些早
已下载我的材料的院系可能看到的还是老的陈诉。请不要发信索我的个人陈诉，我没打
算公开这个。有关如何写个人陈诉，还有不少说法。很多IMG认为应该通过这个增强人
家对你的看法。我更倾向听一些AMG的说法，陈诉写的不要哗众取宠，不要显得你比较
怪就好了。我本身不觉得陈诉写得好会增加面试机会。这点和申请医学院会有不同。因
为越到后来，看重的就更是你都做了什么，以及推荐人如何看你。PS 样本在这里有一
些：http://www.usmleweb.com/sample_personal_statements.html
我个人感觉这里的大部分写得有点花哨了。我自己的比这些要朴实的多，也没有给人讲
印象深刻的故事。

****
PS. 另外，uw现在也提供ps的服务。不过用的人太多，据说现在要打电话给他们排队，
而且只给你一稿（原来是改到你满意为止）。我还用过essay edge的服务，不过他们只
是给你润色ps,并没有改结构。
****

3）照片，照个精神点的吧，我们都会或多或少以貌取人。

****
PS. 我是自己照的，背景就是床单。不过后期狠很的ps了一把。
****

4）ECFMG certificate. 要拿到这个，需要通过 step1, step2 CK和step2 CS的考试并
拿到成绩。Step1和step2 CK大约4个星期出成绩，所以要在4周以前考完。 Step2CS出
成绩的时间如下：http://usmle.org/Examinations/step2/step2cs_reporting.html

****
PS 所有成绩出来后还要大概2周才能拿到。在之前medical school credential
verfication也要完成。到时候你会收到fedex的一封email,告诉你寄出，应该是
overnite service.

09年最晚要在7月18号以前考完。
****

另外，需要格外强调CS因为考场位置紧，时常几个月甚至大半年的位置都被报满了。所
以一定要提前报名，越早越好！报名可以有1年的有效期。定好了自己的日期如果以后
看到还有别的空的日期还可以再换，但是这个坑赶紧先占一个再说。

以上是需要准备的申请材料，然而还有其他的一些工作要做：

1）Ptal,又叫california letter. 如果要申请加州的学校，需要这个文件。这个也是
越早开始申请越好。办理需要花3-6月的时间，拿到以后据说有效期一年。最好3月份以
前递出申请。 申请的网站在这里http://medbd.ca.gov/
更多的解释在这里: http://www.usmletomd.com/tips4match/2007/09/california-letter-ptal-basics.html
办理手续很繁杂，包括从加州机构索要手印卡然后到警察局按手印，交$515 (ps 这个
是旧的价钱，具体多少要查一下)左右的手续费等等。这些过程我都作了，然后还需要
两个表寄回到原来的医学院填写。我办理以后一两个月收到封信让补这个医学院的表，
当时他们说收到学校寄回的材料以后，大概还需要两个月的时间办理。另外还需要
ECFMG直接把证书传给他们。那时我觉得又要麻烦同学去找教务处老师，不太好意思。
就一直拖下来没寄，丧失了申请加州学校的机会。这个回想起来现在还是有些遗憾的。
申请的时候听到的多是负面信息，觉得加州的好学校就那么几所，不会看上我的。现在
信心长了一些，觉得总应该试一试。还有对于打水漂的500多块钱也很肉痛。

****
PS PTAL 要至少3－4个月才能批准，认真看ptal 申请表的解释，非常详细 (The forms
and instructions can be found at http://www.medbd.ca.gov/applicant/additional_info.html and download the international medical school one. You’re applying for PTAL (ca letter) and check corresponding instructions (page 5).
)。同时要打电话给他们要fingerfprint card,各地的警察局都可以做。如果在houston
(http://www.houstontx.gov/police/identification.htm, 713-308-3000).
****

2）申请见习或实习。美国的临床经验，对于外国人申请来说至关重要。4-7月左右是做
这个的好时机。那些提前把式都靠好的，在这上面算是占了先机。这个不光可以放在简
历上，而且可以帮你赚到临床医生的推荐信，并评估你的临床能力。在面试中，这个经
历也常常会被问道。不同的人通过不同的途径找到见习实习的机会。有关系的靠关系，
也有收费的机构提供实习。什么都没有的，可以参见wangking的故事。作见习的话，最
好去你想要申请的科。比如我申请病理的话，如果去内科见习，病理的人会认为我实际
上是想申请内科，拿病理做保底的。所以准备多科同时申请的就有更多的工作要做。我
自己的见习做的不是太多，7月份开始每天一个多小时去看人出报告，不太耽误工作。8
月份花了更多的时间轮转，不过因为一周转一个地方，并没有要推荐信。内科一类的见
习可能要花的经历要更多些，同时上班的人确实需要老板的体谅。一般我觉得在一个地
方能做上一个月，就应该可以要推荐信了。

3）要推荐信。这个单独拿出来说，因为推荐信应该是8/1号寄到。应该提前2-3周，也
就是7月上旬的时候去和推荐人要。最好的推荐信是临床医生写你的临床能力。我只有
一封这样的信。要推荐信的时候最好在没有离开轮转的时候就要，在走以前最好可以给
你写好，如果走了以后推荐信还需要催的，就不太容易是很好的推荐信了。自己老板的
信也非常重要。我老板虽也作临床，但是没怎么见过我做临床的东西，写的全是我的科
研和个性。这封信写了将近3页，是在面试中最常被提起的一封信。我认为，这封信给
我拿到面试起了很大帮助。推荐信之所以重要，是因为这是唯一的一个领域，你可以被
无限的夸奖。相反自我陈诉不是应该无限自夸的地方。

****
PS 推荐信的好坏，长度是一个标准，>2页肯定错不了。有时候找轮转医生写，半页多
，而且很generic,其实用处不大。什么叫generic/personalized，就是说如果把你的名
字换成别人的名字这封信还能不能用，这就是标准。
****

4）调查要申请的院系。这个也是个比较大的工程。招收住院医的地方，可以在freida
网页上调查搜索。有一些地方的网页，还会加上毕业年限，考试成绩等等的限制。如果
不想扔钱撒大网的话，这些都应该看看。还有可以和院系的program Coordinator联系
问他们有什么特殊要求，这个4月份就可以开始问了。我是9月份给8个要求毕业年限的
地方发了信，有两个地方回信说他们可以通融。这两个地方我都拿到了面试，所以限制
也不是绝对的。另外的几个回答爱申不申的，都没给我面试。申请以前，应该对自己有
个大概评估。申请时60-70%左右应该申请和自己水平比较相当的。剩下15-20%用来申请
好学校碰碰运气，其他的申请差点的地方用来保底。单纯的撒大网但申请的地方不对并
不会增加太多机会。

****
ps 对于很多小科，其实一共都没有多少pg,挑一挑地域，（比如我不想去nyc，etc）最
后也剩不下多少了，就全申了把。其实也没有多少钱。我一直在劝同学们，这个过程不
是省钱的时候。100 is a magic number. ☺
****

5）需要H1签证的同学，还需要了解这个院系是不是支持H1, 同时还还需要考过step3。
step3最晚什么时候需要通过，不同的学校好像要求不太一样。

6）NRMP是和ERAS不同的一个机构，不要忘记在11/1之前在那里注册。不过如果要
prematch的话，就不需要通过NRMP了。

绞尽脑汁先想了这些。另外，我还听说有不少有内线的人通过内线增加了面试机会。还
有wangking这样另准备一份书面申请的我是这头一回听说，看来也有效果。总体感觉，
就是八仙过海，各显神通。我在开始申请的时候，也有过不少顾虑。那时候听说的是好
学校的位置大部分都被内线占去了。我觉得内线确实也比较重要，比如我自己的学校，
给了我和另一个在这做过见习的罗马尼亚人面试。没听说别的IMG来面试了。但是其他
的地方，我也是没有任何内线，最后拿到了1/3申请地方的面试，去了我很喜欢的地方
。同时我还自我感觉良好的认为自己在其他的几个去面试的学校也有很大的机会可以
match上。我的一般看法，可能比不少版上的人都更乐观些。这可能是因为我认识的所
有朋友，全都match上了。其中有几个还去了好大学的内科。我认识的已经作了主治医
生的CMG，只有一个朋友的朋友是开普内科诊所的，需要考虑当地中国人口的多少。其
他的有在私立医院里有做眼科的，心脏科的和肾科的，有的已经是partner了，没听说
有病源问题。还有在医院里做hospitalist的，好像也是不错的行业。以前没听说这个
，现在看起来，也是个收入可以，工作不累的职业。我希望大家CMG都能在自己奋斗的
路上取得成功，就像我的许多其他朋友们一样。

PS:推荐digitalDoc的博克， 有些对于考试Match都可以借鉴的文章， 这里转的是他写
的2009match的时间表：
http://www.usmletomd.com/tips4match/2007/12/planning-for-2009-nrmp-residency-
match.html

****
PPS: 最后推荐jimmy前辈的一句话，没有疲软的市场，只有疲软的产品。虽然讲的比较
绝对, 但我在一定程度上同意。nothing is impossible. 但请注意我并不是让你
arrogant. 老刀经常讲知己知彼，其实这个最难了。怎么知己，就看你拿到什么
interview,那你就会知道where you stand.

最最后，我衷心的祝愿同志们心想事成，越来越多的中国人进入到这个领域。不过，
usmle大老教育我们 “执着和固执，往往仅一步之遥”。确实是这样。这条路并不一定
是大力丸和万灵丹, 也并不一定适合每一个人，每一个家庭。不要期望一夜之间就会穷
人咋富，一夜之间就会改变你或者你的家庭。付出多少努力，承受多少压力，谁疼谁知
道。

我的意思是，如果实在是条件不允许，退一步海阔天空，可能塞翁失马也保不齐。 走
这条路是一个非常personal的决定，没有人能够替你作决定，愿赌服输。不希望看到这
里变成大炼钢铁，不希望这里变成新东方，希望这里只是一个提供大家freely交换信息
的地方。
****

2008 advanced residency match data

Click Here!

Interview clips

A good site for CS and Match

http://usmlein.com/usmle/