上次談到了USMLE的一些基本問題. 這次談談如何面試和成功找到Program.

先澄清兩個誤解:

有的Program要求從醫學院畢業不能超過10年(或者7, 5年). 確實有這種Program. 很多嗎? 我看未必. 別忘了, 美國有幾千個Program, 你可以申請別的Program. 如果你離開醫學院超過10年了, 但是你已經做了很多年內科醫生, 現在要聯繫內科的住院醫生, 這應該是你的長處, 要善加利用. 因為有的專業是可以Waiver掉一年的. 作為有經驗的醫生, 你做住院醫生的主要目的不是training, 而是為了有資格參加specialty board, 以便將來行醫.

沒有綠卡不能做住院醫生? 錯!
我有時候挺佩服印度人的幹勁, 雖然對有些印度人的人品不是很佩服. 他們才不管什麼J visa or waiver 的問題, 先當上醫生再說. 曾經有個印度人跟我說過: 當上了醫生, 什麼樣的好律師請不到, 哪有解決不了的身份. 至於H1B 簽證怎麼辦, 如何通過J visa 辦綠卡,我將在下一貼里詳講.

現在來談談如何申請Program.

1. USMLE score: This is the most important part for general people (I mean most of us have no experience in the US hospital).

2. Personal Statement: The second important part. This is probable the only way to show your written English to the program director. When the Hi-Tech was still hot, there were several pretty good websites run by some MD to present some wonderful sample PS for various specialties. Unfortunately, most of them are closed now. You can search Google to see if something could pop out. I do still have some collections, and would like to post here if anybody shows interests. But keep in mind, just as reference, do not copy them. If you can find them from internet, others can find them as well.

3. Recommendation letters: If you can get a letter from a MD, you may switch this with the 2nd part (PS). Most of us are working in the medical schools. Try to find some collaborators from clinical department. Trust me, most the US doctors are for practice only. They don’t really have any publications. Therefore, if you put his/her name on you paper, or even a conference abstract, they will be really happy.
這時候要封推薦信就是水到渠成的事了. 發揮你的聰明才智, 至少找到一封MD的推薦信．

4. Medical school tranxxxx and dean letter: The least important parts. Regarding the tranxxxx, average is OK. If you can’t get the dean’s letter, don’t even bother. Just tell ERASE you medical school does not provide it.

如果你想聯繫不同的Program，一定要下點功夫寫完全不同的PS．一個專業一般申請20到30個Program應該就夠了. 一般的規律是這樣, 拿到了一個interview就會拿到很多, 拿不到的往往就一個也拿不到.

一般的申請範圍包括: NY, New England area, PA, NJ, MD, TX, FL and CA. In Middle West, you can try IL, MI, WI, and IN. Those states, esp. NY, are called FMG friendly area. Here the “friendly” does not mean they are really nice to FMG. Instead, they need FMG to fill the residency position. Otherwise, they will lose the federal government support (mainly from Medicare financially). Unless you really have some special reasons, don’t bother to apply for the programs in the South.

Call the program before you apply through ERASE. Make a question list before you call, such as:

How many FMG do you have?
What is the minimal USMLE score?
What kind visa do you sponsor (if you have a visa issue)?
Do you have any house allowance (esp in some metropolitan area)?
etc.

現在到了interview的時候了. 一旦有了interview, 你就成功了一大半了. 因為一旦進入了interview, 其他的條件, 包括USMLE scores, PS, Recommendation letters已經變得無所謂了. 這時候 Program director看重的有兩條: Communication ability and personality. Communication refers to your spoken English, and personality refers to how easy you can get along with people.

As for the communication ability, don’t be scared about your accent. As in CS exam of step 2, they know you are a foreigner, and they don’t care your accent. As long as they can understand you, you will be OK. For most of us, having working here for several years either as a student or researcher, this is not a big problem. Just practice some common questions before you go for interview.

Regarding the personality, you have to convince the program director that you are a team worker, instead of trouble maker. How? I guess you can write a book about this issue.

Actually, those two issues should have been addressed in your recommendation letters. All you need to do is just emphasizing those and impress the interviewers.

Sometimes, talking some life topics during the interview may be even better that the medical issues. Based on my personal experience (I had been interviewed and interviewed people), you should try to control the interview, but don’t let the interviewer feel any pressure. Having a casual talk, so people will feel you would be a nice one. Having a sport or music topic, people will feel you would be an interesting one. When you interviewer is a talkative one, your job will be very simple: just listening with a little bit of follow up. If your interviewer is a shy person, you should try to control the speed of the talk so that the interview won’t finish in 10 min while it is supposed to be 30 min. Don’t be too aggressive, because nobody like to be pushed forward.

如果大家有興趣, 我還可以繼續談一些相關的問題.