ustmd2006
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jfc, good luck on step 1...just study hard and you should do well...now, i didn't get a great score (on either steps, unfortunately), but i passed both on first attempts...plus i didn't study for as long as i would have liked to get everything done in time for this match...
hmmm...i'm not sure we've met...sec c seems to be the section that i know the least people in...altough there were a few who were friends from med. tech...ome and skye...
anyway, hi hecmd23! i have a cousin from '04 who's applying this year as well...fm and im. i see you're set on surgery...and if i understand it correctly, did you apply last year?
well, hopefully things start rolling soon...it's getting old always opening up my email and eras and finding nothing! i know it's still early, but the anxiety is killing me. by the way, i'm real annoyed with ecfmg too...my lors have been sent weeks ago and there's no record of them even receiving it yet...i mean come on, letters sent from the u.s. arrive at the most 3 days later...and i'm sure my letter writer didn't make a mistake...it sucks!
any other thomasians here? and is anyone else going for path like me? 
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| ustmd2006
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hey deoriverajr, i hope you still check this forum...i just discovered it a few days ago so this response is a little late.
first with regards to the MSPE/dean's letter, it depends on your school. i have a friends from u.e. who just went to the dean, requested an mspe, paid for it and got it. as for as thomasians, it is a lot different. you have to WRITE your own mspe...don't feel guilty about it, some american schools do this too...then you can ask someone who's in the philippines to save it on a diskette and bring that, along with a printed copy, to the dean's office. it'll take about a month before they actually get to your letter...but they will read through it and make minimal edits...it'll be printed out on official paper and signed by the dean as per ECFMG's guideline. then you can have your friend mail it to you so you can mail it to ecfmg with the documents submission letter (which requires your signature).
second, as far as i know, the more recent the letters of recommendation, the better. and i think i've read somewhere (either a program's website or something like that) that they can't be more than a year old. if you're planning on im, make sure you get dr. go (if he was your im program director during clerkship) to write you an lor as well. some programs require that one lor is from the im director where you did your clinicals. he's real cool to talk to (so i've heard), just provide him a copy of your transcript and class rank so he can "personalize" it better. oh yeah, i suggest giving all your letter writers a copy of your cv and personal statement so everything they say jives with what you wrote.
as for step 3, i haven't taken it yet...nor do i think i've qualified yet. i haven't really gone into it, but as far as i understand you have to be ecfmg certified. (i'm still awaiting cs results). other than that, some recommend taking step 3 prior to residency (especially since you'll have the luxury of studying intensely for it...no other distractions). and yes, passing step 3 is a prerequisite for an h1 visa. hmmm, you already have a greencard, so i don't think you'd need a visa in the first place! if your going into a clinical field (im or fm), it may be advantageous to wait after first year residency to take step 3, as i hear you apply what you learn on that test. so, it's up to you when you want to take it.
guess that's already a lot for one post...i hope it helped...
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| jfcdomingo
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mmm, are you ian? (pardon the namedropping) this is bubbles, i think we met during your psych elective.
Edited by jfcdomingo on 09/11/07 - 06:39 PM
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| kaikangaru
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hey hecmd23 and ustmd2006. yup, this definitely is match syndrome. i'm struggling with my original plan to apply to no more than 70 programs (IM and peds), what with all these people on the forums getting interviews from places that i dropped from my list. feels like i should decide soon, i know the applications are streaming in with each minute that passes... pardon the drama. haha.
i really do hate waking up early to check my email. maybe i should start sending spam to myself. 
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| ustmd2006
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hey jfc, hmmm...bubbles...name doesn't really sound familiar...although i did do a psych elective and i was with ian (ayan)...he's a clerkship groupmate and a batchmate from med tech...basically a friend of mine, but no, i'm not ayan. but if you know him, it seems that we might have met...
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| ustmd2006
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kaikangaru, i hate this "match syndrome." i'm not even nervous anymore...it's more of impatience...i know i know it's still early...besides, my app still lacks 2 lors and my cs score is still on its way...arg! also, my scores aren't the greatest so i'm not surprised that i'm not getting early invites. so i'm actually having 2nd thoughts about applying early...if it isn't complete, i don't know if it really makes that much of a difference, so if you're gonna add more programs, just make sure you meet the programs' deadlines. i've personally applied to 30...with the intent to add more by mid/late oct if i don't hear from enough programs.
anyway, god bless us all!
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| lilacmd
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hello to everyone.im new to this forum and im really glad that iv found ds site.. im planning to take my ck early next yr and i wanna ask if u could help me guys look for crush step2 by adam brochert. i heard it's really helpful and im finding it difficult to look for one here in the Philippines.Hope u could help me guys..and if u have any tips to share,im all ears! tnx!..also im planning to enter an externship/observership program after my ck, if u know any pedia programs..tnx again!
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| hecmd23
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ustmd2006, yep, applying for surgery and yep, went through the match last year. Got only 1 interview for surgerythen, hopefully things will be different this time. Well, still taking my chances in surgery coz it's my first love. having some backups in anes and fm this time around though (applied to 120 total-ouch!), coz not matching is no longer an option. good luck to you and your CS result.
And yep, its really really early. The BETTER programs send out their invitations on the third week of sept to october. The invites you've been reading across the forums are from the insecure programs....yes, they were the first ones to send invites also last year. Heck, all my surgery applications haven't been downloaded yet (except for four i guess- out of 60).
lilacmd, you can buy from amazon.com. I got my books there when I was still in the philippines coz its really hard to look for the usmle reviewers. takes a couple of weeks to arrive, and around 40 bucks each book.
good luck everyone!
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"I'm still the best there is at what i do best" -James Howlett
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| magic
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Hello guys! I'm new in this forum and i would really appreciate it if anyone could answer my query - do you need to buy the eras token every time you participate in the match or is it just a one time thing? Does your aamc id change every time you participate in the match? Thanks a lot and good luck to all of you participating in the match
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| hecmd23
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AAMC ID stays the same everytime you participate through the match, if you previously failed to match into a program. However, the eras token is always required once per match season.
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"I'm still the best there is at what i do best" -James Howlett
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| magic
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Thank you very much for the quick reply hecmd23. i really appreciate it
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| ustmd2006
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hey hec...it's great that you've stuck with the field you really love...i hope things work better this year. as for the programs sending out early invites, i wouldn't say they were mediocre. not in path anyway. so far, i've heard university of new mexico (which is on most people's top ten lists), beth israel deaconess (a harvard facility) and thomas jefferson (haven't read up on this program, but it's probably a good one too). but like you said, it's still early. i'm sure the people you received these invites are stellar candidates.
good news though, i just saw that ecfmg has received my 2nd lor (finally...after 2 weeks!). hopefully it'll be available on eras soon. as for the 3rd, that's still being written...but i'm not in a hurry. i'd rather have the doctor write a good one (as she says she is trying to do).
well, guess that's it for now.
oh yeah, lilac, i bought my books at ebay.com. compare the prices with amazon, but i'm sure they're not too different. for ck i stuck with first aid...thought it was great. however, i did read the surgery chapters from crush. still like the first aid format better, but hey, to each his own.
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| hecmd23
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Well, i think you misunderstood me when I used the term "insecure" or probably I used the wrong term, hehe. What I meant was, these early invites came from those programs who would really want to have their hands on those applicants with 99/99 scores. Well, who wouldn't want to, right? The thing is, scores don't determine how successful of a doctor you'll be, and if these programs can't look beyond an applicant's score, i think they're very shallow, no matter how top notch they may be.
I'd like to quote the PD from where I interviewed for surgery last year "....we stopped looking at scores, we now review each aspect of the application. We had a resident before who matched with excellent scores, but he turned out to be a disaster when handling our patients, we also had a resident who had below average scores, and yet, he became chief during his senior year." And that was a university program.
My point is, how come some programs take thier time in downloading/reviewing applications while others use each second or moment to invite/reject applicants-some even received rejections the next day even without downloading the LORS. Do I want to work there? I'd rather not. This was what I learned last match, there are programs like these, and there are other programs who take their time to review your whole application - probably the better programs, in my point of view. But again, that's just me, and I'm not generalizing.
And I guess its different for each specialty.
And yep, on a different topic, Im also waiting for my 6th LOR, though I got 5 uploaded already, I think this 6th (possibly my strongest one) will make a difference. It was received early last week, so hopefully it will be uploaded by the end of next week. I just hope eras can reduce a bit of their lag time for scanning, and not increase the delay in the next days to come.
Good luck!
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"I'm still the best there is at what i do best" -James Howlett
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| ustmd2006
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oh i see...you made a great point hec. i do hope that most programs look at the application as a whole...if they only looked at scores, i'm afraid i'd be screwed! to add to your great insight, i think the interviews come into play a great deal for the programs...where they evaluate if your a good person and someone they'd like to work with.
well, i'm just waiting...a little impatiently...but what else can i do!
by the way, what school did you graduate from?
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| hecmd23
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I'm a fellow thomasian, batch 2004, hehe. took my internship at another hospital, and took all the steps afterwards, took me a year to finish all, that's why its only now that I'm able to apply with a complete application.
Yep, its always the wait that's frustrating. hopefully, by the end of the month, things will start to look up for all of us.
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"I'm still the best there is at what i do best" -James Howlett
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| rightsaidfred
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to lilacmd:
i used crush step 2 for CK and found it really helpful. mine was the pirated version though (150 bucks...can't beat that) which i got from melonie. you can contact her via celfone and she delivers wherever for free. the photocopy quality is pretty good. aside from that, the requisite FA and kaplan notes. I also found goljan step 2 audio very useful. for self-assessment, i used usmleworld and kaplan simulated exam. it worked fine for me.
good luck on your CK next year!
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| lilacmd
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hello guys..thanks hecmd23 and ustmd2006 for the quick reply! hope i can still ask for your help the next time..god bless with the match..hope it would all work out for the best! btw, im also graduated from UST.it's glad to know that u can rely on ur fellow thomasian..
hello rightsaidfred, m really interested with the pirated version of crush(hahaha) since m not bringing it to the US naman.can u tell me the contact number of melonie? also about the goljan audio files? thanks so much! god bless!
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| deoriverajr
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JUST WANT TO THANK YOU USTMED2006!!!GL HOPE EVERY PINOY MD WILL BE MATCHED!!!
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| hecmd23
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hehe, I guess usmle materials are still being pirated back there, I think I got my step 1 and 2 cds back then for 2 thou per set, hehe nothing ever changes.
you're welcome lilac. well, that's why we're all here, to keep each other's lives a bit easier.If you have any other questions, just shoot away.
To deoriverajr, about the step 3 stuff and if you're planning to take it in the near future, you can read through my experience about it, I posted it here in this thread, its probably 4-5 pages back, just browse through it if you want a "feel" of how the exam is like. ustmd2006 is right, step 3 deals more about stuff learned during residency (something I found out the hard way, haha!), its very different from CK which usually asks only about the correct management... step 3 is more of the correct management, at a specific point in time during the course of the illness/disease. So if you don't need the visa, its better to take it during your residency so you'll fare better, unless you want to get it over with - that's how I felt about it and was just lucky enough I won't be facing another computer screen again.
good luck y'all
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"I'm still the best there is at what i do best" -James Howlett
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| maveric24
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ustmd2006
i exactly know how you feel! i'm also trying for the match this year. I'm starting to get tired of checking on ERAS every day and seeing no reply. At this point, I haven't receive any rejections or invitations. Just like what they say... patience is a virtue. A lot of my friends are telling me that it's still way to early to receive interviews. Hopefully they are right. i know our time will come. Let's just pray very hard and hope for the best! GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!!
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| kaikangaru
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hey everyone! got my first IM interview today, so there's hope. =) i'm sure these invites will trickle in for all of us soon enough.
lilacmd, i bought my crush step 2 through amazon too. had a tita in the US buy it and bring it over when she came home for vacay, so natipid ang shipping. by the way, if you know anyone who's interested in buying an original, barely used (no marks at all) FA for step 2 ck 6th edition, my friend is selling hers for 1500. they only have 5th ed in goodwill, i think (not sure what the diff is though) and if i remember right, i bought mine there for 1800 or 1900 a few mos ago.
good luck everybody, let's update each other on this hard and ardous journey! hahaha.
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| maveric24
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kaikangaru... which hospital did you get your interview. congrats and good luck!
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| lilacmd
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Posts: 12
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il do that..thanks again hecmd23..and goodluck!
congratulations kaikangaru and goodluck! actually that's my original plan,but il wait for the reply of rightsaidfred first for the pirated version..(hahaha)thanks!
btw, if anyone knows a good externship/observership program for pediatrics, please let me know..i heard its hard to look for one and u really have to apply early because the slots are few..thanks!
godbless everyone!
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| rightsaidfred
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hello lilacmd! melonie's number is 0918-2101610. i just downloaded my goljan audio step 2 from another forum (usmleforum.com). just check out the site, it's very user friendly naman. good luck in your CK.
to kakaingaru: the 6th ed of FA for step 2 ck (2007 version) is available at goodwill. i bought mine there in march for P995. your sale prices sound pretty steep...
good luck to everyone in the match
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| rightsaidfred
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to lilacmd: here are the links for golajn step 2 audio. hopefully they still work. enjoy!
GOLJAN AUDIO Step 2 - Part 1 of 4
www.megaupload.com/?d=LQ7YNJRQ
GOLJAN AUDIO Step 2 - Part 2 of 4
www.megaupload.com/?d=QF3VLAIV
GOLJAN AUDIO Step 2 - Part 3 of 4
www.megaupload.com/?d=RCGHM9M4
GOLJAN AUDIO Step 2 - Part 4 of 4
www.megaupload.com/?d=09KX7WR4
ks for goljan step 2 ck audio. enjoy! hopefully they still work.
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