Residency Interview and Match

After years of medical training, series of United States Medical Licensing Examination, time away from your family and friends, you have entered a critical juncture of your career transition. Sure, how you performed in your medical school, how your scores are, and how well rounded and confident you are in your communication and interpersonal skills will determine whether you can get into the residency of your choice. Nevertheless, with a dramatic increase in the volume of applicants and widening gap between the applicants and matched candidates year by year, it is becoming increasingly important that your application should be extremely well prepared. A great residency application package includes a carefully written and goal-directed personal statement; strong and highly supportive letters of recommendation; and a clean, coherent, and consistent common application form. Once you are invited for the interview, it is equally important to understand what it means to be interviewed by the programs and what valuable information your potential residency programs are trying to extract from you. It is not all about how you dress, how you talk, and how you have scored in your USMLE. They are looking for a reliable trainee, a passionate teacher, and a dependable colleague. Your search for residency is not over even after you have completed your interviews. It is important that you appreciate what they have done for you thus far, and also, any further communication with the program directors (PDs) should not go shoddy. Residency Interview and Match: Real-Life Examples Tailored to Your Success is a succinct but complete guide to help you chart through this process. The main purpose of this book is to provide you ample examples, complete with explanations, so that you actually understand what should be done and why it is done this way. Each of these examples are matched to your real-life stories so that you will quickly figure out which cohort you belong to and what it means to you to prepare for this application. Finally, what you do as a medical student transitioning to become a physician makes me very proud. I have spoken to several of you in the classroom, in the wards, in the cafeteria, and occasionally in the pubs. The journey you have ventured earns great respect and does not deserve a tearful approach to prepare for your residency application. I hope this book will help you shape your application in a different and distinct way. Enjoy reading this book, and I wish you success in getting into the residency of your choice.