Our entire experience with SGU has been characterized by waves of helpfulness coming from all sides! Needless to say, in our close-knit community we talk about every step of our journey – the good, the bad and the ugly.
I had thought about doing a blog post with all the things we have learned through the process of applying for residency. However, I stumbled across these videos that do a tremendous job of saying all the things I would have. Each is about an hour, so they require a little bit of time. But I promise, every piece of advice is worth it!
While I want to be helpful to those coming after, I do need to add a disclaimer right off the bat. In something as important as residency I would hate to lead anyone astray, so please do your own research too. This is just our experience. Being an IMG is rough these days, and it is getting rougher as U.S. Med School enrollment is hitting new all-time highs. Hopefully being prepared with as much information as possible can help increase your competitive edge.
Below the videos are a few things to think about that we’ve learned along the way plus a little explanation about the California Letter. Enjoy!
- Most residency interviews are really two days – a dinner the evening before and the interview the day after.
- The West Coast is much more spread out, sometimes requiring a whole additional day just for travel. More West Coast interviews = you need more time off from rotations. Something to consider if you want to stay on the West Coast.
- California has a licensing requirement you must complete before even applying to CA programs (The PTAL or California Letter). It’s really not as big and scary as people make it out to be. You can get started on it 9 months before you graduate. I would suggest starting 9 months out. It takes a while.
- U.S. Medical Graduates are encouraged to rank at least 10 programs. (Per DIT and NRMP Data) So how many should IMGs rank …
- In order to rank a program, you have to interview there.
Link to the California Letter post is coming soon. Ran into a little hiccup with the State’s website and I’d like to clarify that big question mark before publishing any information. Check back soon!
Hope this helps! Happy doctoring!
