Applications for Residency

It's been a while since I updated and I have fair reasons.  I am currently focusing on Step 3 and working on programs to look into.  It's imperative that from now till application season, you do all you can to rev up your applications.  You need to stand out and try to look at your self from a residency program director's point of view.  I have been in contact with residents, residency faculty, and other fully licensed doctors on what to do and what not to do.  Here is the list:

• Do not wait! Apply to all the programs you will ever apply to on the first day.
• Try to meet the chief residents and program directors in any way possible
• Do clerkships in the hospitals you want to get into
• Try not to apply to too many different specialities, if you want Internal Medicine (IM), then stay with Internal Medicine.  Stick with 2 or 3 different specialties so it'll be easy to focus on them.
• Get PERSONAL letters of recommendations from your attending doctors, and waive your right to see them.
• Be ECFMG certified before applications are sent if you can.
• If you graduated very early then get USMLE Step 3 out of the way.
• If you graduated very early then work at a clinic, programs are looking for experience.
• Start writing your personal statements very early and make sure they are free from any errors. Get your friends, family, even other medical students to read them.  Also, personalize each personal statements to the state.  Find a connection to the residency programs such as if you did rotations there, or you worked there, or went to undergrad there, etc.

I hope this helps.  I'm extremely busy at the moment running around doing many things so I'm not blogging as much.