DIP Episode 266 - ERAS 2020 Advice and Upcoming Step 3 Course (11/13-14) + ERAS 1 on 1 help

Okay, welcome. My name is Divine. This is not a, this is just an announcement podcast. Along with some recommendations, I have for the ERAS process. And I guess the first analysis I will return to making podcasts very soon. I just had a take a break from making like podcasts for like the last few days. But you know, hopefully by October 1st, October 2nd, I should be back in the podcast making a business. Because I love making podcasts, educational podcasts first and foremost. But essentially the two things I want to announce now, I guess let me maybe give my recommendations first. So the key recommendation I would say is for those of you that are planning to submit your ERAS application this year, I would encourage you again, yes, the ERAS deadline is October 21st, right? I mean, the first day to submit is October 21st. But almost every year, right? ERAS always has some kind of snuffle with the website is crashing this and that blah, blah, blah, blah. So usually the smart protein thing to do is to try to get in your application like at least like two days ahead of time, like somebody like October 19th. So that you know you've said it, you've forgotten it, right? You don't have to worry about like, oh, ERAS crashed. So processing my application was delayed and all that stuff, right? And then even if you don't have all your recommendation letters in, just get everything in as quickly as you can. That's usually the smart thing to do.

I would also encourage you if you don't have scores from a particular exam, it still makes sense to putting your entire application on the first day, right? Putting your entire application on the first day because again, that thing can get you like programs get and see just as you're getting excited, submitting, they're getting excited to just go ahead and study evaluating applicants, right? So to at least get yourself considered, get your application in the first day, you can always update your application when your scores from your exams are come back. And then another thing I would say is, for this application cycle, it makes sense to apply to more programs than you would usually apply to, right? So even if you're the high scoring person, it still makes sense to apply to a decent number of programs, this cycle, because the thing is, this is essentially zoom cycle, right? This is a zoom cycle. It'd be shocked and appalled actually if a program elected to perform a in-person interviews, that'd be ridiculous, right? So one thing I would say is, you know, strongly consider, strongly consider applying to decent number of programs compared to what you'd normally apply for. Because again, there's almost no consequence, right? So applying to a ton of programs, I mean, to do a ton of interviews this cycle, I mean, like, it would reasonably band out like five or six interviews in a single day, right?

So since that's the case, just apply to a decent number of programs so that you don't get blindsided with the NRMP algorithm, right? So, you know, ordinary programs that people would say, oh, I'm not going to interview with this program, they'll be like, it's what? Like just an extra like 15 or 1,000 to me, and it's just a zoom call. I just need to dress up. I don't need to go for any applicant dinner. I don't have to take any flight. I don't have to try to impress anyone in person. Don't have to hang around the residence or anything like that, right? So what I would just say is, apply to a decent number of programs, right? Don't apply to, oh, my scores are crazy high. Let me just apply to five programs. You know, that's not smart. That's also not prudent. And then another thing I would also say with this cycle is just so this is for this is for people that already have low scores. Let's say you're an international medical graduate and you have low scores and you're graduated from med school. So let's say you have step one scores, step two CK scores, you're very graduated from med school. I would encourage you to consider taking the USM list of three exam before you turn your own lists and have those scores in hand before you turn your own list. Let me explain why. The thing is when you have very low scores, right? Or let's say you already have a failure on your USMLE transcript. You're a mixed program director is a little bit worried that, huh?

Well, this person have problems passing exams. Well, this person be able to become both certified, right? Because they have some residency programs that would not let you move on to your next year of residency, like your second year, whatever, if you don't have a passing score on step three, right? So the thing you can do in that case is you can alleviate many of those fears that a program director would have if you have a step three score, at least the program director will know that for sure, for sure, this person is going to get board certified, right? And I mean, this person is going to get certified as a physician in some state in the US, right? So that's always helpful. And there are people that I have worked with where it is that step three score that got them around to my program or got them an interview at a program, right? So just something to just something to consider. And then another thing I would say on that front is for the international medical graduates that are studying for the OET exam, I will strongly encourage you, right? Really, really, really, really consider studying for that thing, right? It's just one of those, it's just one of those things you don't want to take and you don't want to take and not do a lot, right? Because it's a relatively easy exam, right? So you know, kind of take it seriously, do a lot on it. You don't want to, you just want to pass that thing, right? It's a pretty easy exam. There's free prep online.

They have awesome, excellent You Tube videos. So you know, study for that, right? Study for that and you being good shape. Then the next thing I would say, concerns in preparing for interviews, right? One good mind of information that I feel like for whatever bizarre is a met silence ignore from year to year are the Reddit spreadsheets that exist, you know, some of them have garbage information, but most of them are actually pretty good, right? If you're interviewing on a given program, it makes perfect sense, right? To spend some time looking through the spreadsheet, like they give good information, like, oh, this is what the programs hours are like. These are some useful things I learned from the interview. Just do a Google search, oh, 19, 20, 20, 20 interviews season impressions, right? And then you'll see different things. You can even see some ready threads on like name and shame, you know, programs that did applicants dirty. You can look at all those things, right? Again, those things are very good. I'm not saying you should be the entire decision on those things, right? But at least they can give you some hints, real world information, not stuff you look up on some website. Again, there are some of these resources that are out there that are not particularly helpful, but many people in like med school administration for some bizarre reason, a widely recommend, right? So just something to kind of keep out the back of your mind with the season.

And again, I'll encourage you try to do like, at least one or two more interviews, right? And there's not one thing I love, right? Especially with exam prep or interview prep is to try to do it as closely as possible to the real world conditions you know you're going to face, right? So I'll encourage you if you're preparing. Don't do, I mean, you should maybe do like one or two in-person practice interviews, but if you try to do your in-person practice interviews via Zoom, right? Because just this way you're going to be doing your interviews via Zoom, right? And dress up. Those practice interviews you're doing just dress up for them. Even if you know you're bored up, your bottoms are a lot great, but you know try to look professional at the top. The more you begin to psych your mind into that, the better you'll do. You'll do with that interview, right? And you know, make sure you know your application well. You don't want them to ask you questions and you're like, I don't know what's going on here, right? And then another thing you also want to do is, you know, after you attend an interview, it behooves you right to send a thank you letter, right? Just send a thank you not mail letter, just an email would do, right? Again, programs are inundated with tons of mail. So just send a simple short email, but in that email, don't you say, oh thank you, I love your institution, juices, see you later. No, that's not smart, that's not a product, right?

So the thing you don't want to do in that circumstance is to, you know, really strongly consider, you know, say like one or two high your things, oh, I love to this about your program, I love XYZ about your program and all that stuff, right? You do that again, you can put yourself in the good graces of of that program. Again, especially if you had like a really good, really decent experience, experience with them. And then, one other thing I would also say is, when, you know, December, January comes, you've gone through all your interviews, you know, you see this one program that you really love, right? You can send them that I love you email, you know, I love this program, I really love to be a member of this program, stuff like that, right? Crafts that email carefully, right? Express your intentions, don't, there are some things I'm not going to say because these are public podcasts, but express your intentions very clearly. Don't try to give them mixed messages, right? Like wait, what is what is a really synch on that institution? Does this person really want to come here or not, right? No mixed messages, be very clear, would be very respectful, right? And again, don't do that with multiple programs. That's not a good thing to do, it's not a very honest thing to do. So, and I guess since it kind of gave a bunch of tips, I've just made this episode 266, but the announcements I wanted to give, right? So, one concerns the USML is step three exam.

So, many people have requested and I've mentioned in the past that I'll be making a post soon on the up on my upcoming USML is step three course. The course is going to be coming in November, is going to be coming on the, it's going to be coming in mid-November on the 13th and on the 14th of November. Essentially, what it's going to be is it's going to be for a total of 12 hours and it's going to be in three, four hour chunks, right? The first four hour chunk will be on the Friday, right? So, Friday the 13th of November, right? So, hold that from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, right? That's going to be the goal. So, 2 to 6 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Friday the 13th. And then on Saturday the 14th, we would have the second four hour block from 7 a.m. Pacific Standard Time to 11 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, right? So, that'll be the second four hour block, right? And then the third four hour block will also still be on that Saturday, right? So, take a 12 break from 11 to 1 p.m. Pacific Standard Time and then we'll go from 1 to 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time for the third four hour block, right? So, it's a total of 12 hours. Four hours will be on the 13th from, you know, fours on the 13th and then we'll have fours on the 14th in the morning and fours on the 14th in the afternoon, right? We'll take a 12 break between those two four hour blocks, right? So, if you're interested, should we email through the contact me option on the website and I'll start registering you?

Once the registration is full, then I will stop and then in row people in the next class, I plan to hold the class probably like once a month or once every six weeks roughly. So, you know, kind of depending on what my schedule looks like. And then the second announcement is I've also clicked time out in my schedule to work with people on ERAS applications, right? So, yeah, my schedule has been extremely busy this last few weeks, right? So, I've not necessarily had time to offer many of those services, but if you're interested, between, I guess, now and when ERAS hits, just again, reach out to me through the contact button, right? So, like, you need help with your personal statements, you need help with recommendation letters, you need help with MSP Es, you need help with North Worthy characteristics for your MSP Es, you need help with mock interviews, you need help with editing your ERAS application, like describing your experiences, your research and all that stuff, just reach out to me. I do this in one of two ways. I can either meet you one on one, which very heavily depends on my availability, which is, which will be limited, right? Or you will give me some information I need, and then I'll make edits based on that on my own time. So, if you're interested in any of those things again, just reach out to me through the website, just hit the contact me button, just shoot me an email there, I usually respond to people pretty, pretty quickly.

So, yeah, that's something you're interested in, just reach out to me, I'll give you some more information on my reads, and then we will go from there. And then, please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, right? Divine Intervention, US Mly Podcasts and Videos. I also have, it's a You Tube channel, right? And then I also have podcasts on Apple podcasts and Spotify on Google Play, you know, please subscribe to those. And then, I also, again, hope to start making You Tube videos again in the month of October. And then, if you want to get an alert whenever I make a podcast, consider subscribing to the website itself, the Word Press website, right? It's divineintervention.com. And then, finally, one other thing I would also say is, more from a life less in perspective, right? So, the thing is, I will just see this now, and there's no really, it's kind of a life lesson, but it's kind of like a reality of life. The fact that you feel the US Mly exam does not mean that you cannot match, okay? And I'm not saying this to make the listeners of this podcast feel better. No, that's not my go. I have worked with people that have failed step one, that have failed the US Mly exam, and then these people ultimately ended up matching inter-residency, right? Many of these people are now successful match residents, right? So, again, the fact that you feel the US Mly exam, it doesn't mean that the end is, that it's over for you. No, it's not, right?

You just need to come back from that and just do a solid job, right? The one thing I would say is, you don't feel a US Mly exam, and immediately rushing to taking a US Mly exam again. That's not smart, that's not prudent, right? But if you come back and say, okay, you don't want to fail this US Mly exam, let me see what I did wrong, let me make a solid plan, and let me go for it again, right? Don't let that discourage you. You can do very well. I've seen people that have failed, and then at least I've worked with people, they failed, and then they came back and they did like 30 points better, 40 points better, right? So, just going to keep that at the back of your mind, right? So, don't let your background make your right yourself off, right? I mean, there's a part in the book of, it's in the Bible, it's like John, I believe it's John 1, right? And they talk about how, is it a John 1 or Luke 1, it's one of those two? Where they talk about how can anything good come from Nazareth, right? Basically saying that, people that are from Nazareth, what big thing can come from there, right? But that's literally where Jesus Christ was born, that's where Jesus Christ came, well at least not born, it was born in Bethlehem, but he came, literally came from there, right? So, don't let your background right, I mean, there is this famous Nigerian musician that has this saying that don't let your background keep your back to the ground, right?

So, don't let your background right, the fact that you have a background that is not great, it's not the most ideal, like the home you came from, or the place you came from, your locality, or just the fact that you don't have the, oh, I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, oh, my parents were this, this, this and that, oh, my parents and my siblings went to Ivy League colleges, no, the fact that you don't have all those things doesn't mean anything, right? And guess what the fact that you have those things also doesn't mean anything, the fact that you went to an Ivy League college, it can set you up well for life if you play your cards right, but it can also, going to an Ivy League college does not mean you'd be successful, you can also be a failure doing that, right? But also coming from like a non-neme place, non-neme institution, non-neme part of the country doesn't mean you cannot be successful, or even if you come from a family that has a lot of like, no mental health problems, no, no, no, no, no, no, don't let that define you, right? You can make a decision, take prudence steps, and make something great of your life, or make many great things of your life, right? Again, there are many stories of people out there that came from less than ideal backgrounds that have really changed the face of humanity, right?

So just going to keep that at the back of your mind, don't let your background write you off, don't write yourself off, and let me tell you this, even if other people write you off, don't write to your own self off, because the thing is, many of these things in life are all based on fighting and winning that battle in your mind. If in your mind you're proposing your heart that you're a great person, and you can do great things in this world, you will do great things in this world, right? So don't knock yourself down, right? Even if more of the person believes in you, believing yourself, right? Believe in yourself, and you may not be feeling it now, or start taking prudent action, right? Don't wait until you feel great to take action now, start taking action, after a while you'll start feeling great, right? So act your way into feeling, don't feel your way into action, right? I think it's a thing I'm saying by John Maxwell, if I'm not mistaken, right? So just be mindful of those things, don't let your background write you off, you're a great person, right? The fact that you're alive means that they are great plants in stuff for you, they are great plants for your life. So no, no, no, no, no, don't write yourself off.

Trust me, I've seen people from just awful, awful, awful backgrounds, but those people are people that they've done amazing things, and this is not just medical students, this is not just physicians, but from all walks of life, so again, just be mindful of that, don't write yourself off, believe in yourself, take prudent action, trust God, and you'll end up in a good spot. So until next time, God bless you, I'll see you again.

Submit it as early as possible, ideally two days ahead of the official deadline (e.g., October 19th), to avoid technical issues.

A passing Step 3 score alleviates program director concerns by providing concrete evidence that the applicant is capable of achieving board certification.

Strongly study for the OET, as it is considered a relatively easy exam with ample free online prep resources.

Only late in the process (December/January), after all interviews are complete, and only to one specific program where they genuinely wish to practice clear intent.

Do not overstate your feelings or write overly complimentary statements about the institution; keep it simple and professional.

Do not panic or immediately retake the exam; instead, take time to analyze what went wrong and create a solid plan before reattempting.

Submit early (e.g., 2 days ahead of deadline) to mitigate technical/website crashes.

A passing USMLE Step 3 score.

Practice interviews via Zoom and dress professionally (at least on top) to psych yourself into the real-world condition.

Overly complimentary statements or declarations of intense love/admiration for the program ("I love XYZ about your program").

Do not let your background (locality, family status, etc.) define you; focus on taking prudent action and believing in yourself.

The email must be very clear about their intentions, avoiding any mixed messages or ambiguity.

Submit early (e.g., 2 days ahead of deadline) to mitigate technical/website crashes.

A passing USMLE Step 3 score.

Practice interviews via Zoom and dress professionally (at least on top) to psych yourself into the real-world condition.

Overly complimentary statements or declarations of intense love/admiration for the program ("I love XYZ about your program").

Do not let your background (locality, family status, etc.) define you; focus on taking prudent action and believing in yourself.

The email must be very clear about their intentions, avoiding any mixed messages or ambiguity.