How to Survive your 4th
Year of Medical School
By Erik Paulson
Obstacles
Selecting a Specialty
 Audition Rotations
 Board Exams
 ERAS
 Interviews
 The Match
 Expenses

Waiver of Liability

All dates in this presentation are for
2009. Since you will be applying for
residencies in a different year, the
dates may change.
Selecting a Specialty
Interest, Lifestyle, Compensation,
Personality, Competition.
 Resources

Iserson’s Guide to Getting a Residency
 Aptitude Test can be found at:

 http://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/specialties/
Setting up Audition Rotations

What is an audition rotation?


A rotation in the specialty that you plan to do a
residency in, at a place where you would like to
do a residency.
How many audition rotations should I do?




As many as your school will let you!
As many as you can fit in before December
(that is when interviews normally begin)!
24 weeks of core rotations
16 weeks of electives (4 months of audition
rotations)
Setting up Audition Rotations

When should I do audition rotations?

Start of 4th year


July, August, September, October, November
How do I schedule audition rotations?

Find programs you may be interested in



http://opportunities.osteopathic.org/search
Call them now and ask if you can schedule a
rotation. If they say it is too early, ask them
when they begin scheduling rotations.
If they are full, you can still rotate in another
field at the same hospital and get to know
people.
Setting up Audition Rotations

Housing



Ask the person that set up your rotation if they
provide student housing or have resources for
available student housing.
If not, go to www.Craigslist.org and click on the
city and then temporary housing tab.
Drive if possible

You will have transportation to and from the
rotation and you can easily take a months
worth of supplies. Fly your significant other out
for a long weekend after 2 weeks.
Audition Rotations
Work hard, you are in a competition!
 Be early for everything!
 Better to over-dress than under-dress
 Politics, Politics, Politics!

Board Exams

When should I take the written
portion of Step 2?

If your step 1 scores are good Take
the written part of step 2 in December
or January (if your school will let you) of
your 4th year. That way nobody will see
them until your interviews are over

If your step 1 scores are bad Take
the written part of step 2 in August or
September. This way, the people
interviewing you will see them.
Board Exams

How should I study for the written portion of Step 2?




Crush USMLE for either COMLEX or USMLE
First Aid for USMLE Step 2 CK for either COMLEX or USMLE
Savarese for OMT questions
www.combank.com for COMLEX




Promotion code for 15% off
CRUSHCOMLEX
www.usmleworld.com for USMLE
How long should I study for the written portion of
Step 2?


2 weeks
Email me if you want my 2 week study schedule for COMLEX!


9am-5pm with an hour lunch break on weekdays
9am-noon on the weekends
Board Exams

When should I take the physical exam
portion of Step 2?
Anytime before November.
 That way, if you fail, you can retake it
and still graduate on time.

Crush
Savarese
First Aid
Miscellaneo
us
Date
COMBANK
Tuesday, 9/2
59
Chapters 1,2,3,4
Wednesday, 9/3
69
Chapters 5,6,7
Thursday, 9/4
42
1-20
Chapter 8
Friday, 9/5
41
21-55
Chapters 9,10,11
Saturday, 9/6
76
56-78
Chapters 12,13
Sunday, 9/7
59
79-100
Chapters 14
Monday, 9/8
65
101-140
Chapters 15,16,17
Tuesday, 9/9
59
hangover
hangover
Wednesday, 9/10
56
141-180
Chapters 18
Thursday, 9/11
69
181-219
Appendix A,B
Friday, 9/12
60
220-268
Saturday, 9/13
115
269-297
Sunday, 9/14
162
Review charts
Review autonomics &
Chapman points
Rapid Review
Monday, 9/15
82
Review charts
Review autonomics &
Chapman points
Rapid Review
NBOME Practice
Exam
Tuesday, 9/16
EXAM DAY
EXAM DAY
EXAM DAY
EXAM DAY
EXAM DAY
Board Exams

How should I study for the physical
exam portion of Step 2?
Fly to Philadelphia
 Eat a cheese steak and drink a beer
 If you insist, First Aid for USMLE Step 2
PE


How long should I study for the
physical exam portion of Step 2?

A couple of days
ERAS

What is ERAS?
Electronic Residency Application Service
 This is how you send your application to
both D.O. and M.D. residency programs.


Cost of ERAS?
$60 for up to 10 programs
 $8 each for 11-20 programs
 $15 each for 21-30 programs
 $25 each for any additional programs
over 30

ERAS

ERAS timeline
In May, you will receive your “token”
from your medical school. This allows
you to register.
 In July, you can complete your
application online and apply to
Osteopathic programs.
 In September, you can apply to MD
programs.
 In November, your school will upload
your Dean’s Letter/ MSPE.

ERAS

What do I need to complete my
application?



You will enter information online such as name,
address, email, schools attended, research
experience etc.
You will select “release board scores” on the
ERAS website. Then the NBOME will upload
them automatically.
You will compose a personal statement
basically explaining why you want to go into a
certain field.

If you are applying for multiple different specialties,
you can compose multiple personal statements.
ERAS

What do I need to complete my
application? Continued…

Letters of recommendation






You will need 3+ letters of recommendation.
You can choose different letters for each program.
These should be sent to your school as you receive
them.
Then, you will add the physician’s name and specialty
on ERAS. Example Dr. Smith- Radiology.
Then you will certify it meaning it gets sent to your
school
Last, your school will upload them onto ERAS.
ERAS

What do I need to complete my
application? Continued…
Dean’s Letter/ MSRP will be uploaded by
your school in early November.
 Transcripts will be uploaded by your
school.
 Photograph will also be uploaded by
your school to the ERAS website. Your
school may ask you to provide them with
a passport photo. Take a good photo
because this may be the first impression
a program gets of you.

ERAS

How to apply to programs


Click on either search Osteopathic or search Allopathic
programs on the ERAS website.
Select a program

Categorical


Advanced




Start PGY-1
Start PGY-2 so you will need to apply separately for a
preliminary year.
Select which letters of recommendation & which personal
statement you would like sent to them.
Select other miscellaneous things you would like sent
such as photo etc.
Send that S#@%!
Interviews

You will start getting rejection letters and interview invites in
October.



Book your flights & hotel early to save $$
Wear a nice suit


Some say black but I went with beige. If you do everything
else right, you can wear a pink suit and still get the position.
Fellas…



Hopefully more of the latter
Cut your dang hair!
Have a clean shave!
Everyone…



Take out any piercings!
Cover any tattoos
Whether it is fair or not, the majority of programs are run by
older folks that are usually old fashion.
Interviews

The night before your interview

Don’t eat or drink anything crazy!
 The
last thing you want is to have food
poisoning!
Go to bed early
 Wake up a few hours before you
interview to drink your coffee. This way,
you will be awake and won’t be running
to pee every 10 minutes!

Interviews

Common questions:
Tell me about yourself?
 Why do you want to be a ________?
 What are you strengths and
weaknesses?
 Why do you want to do your residency
here?
 What do you do in your spare time?
 Why should we pick you?


For more questions, see Iserson’s
Guide to Getting a Residency.
Interviews
Thank them for inviting you for an
interview.
 Always pretend like they are your top
choice even if you don’t know.
 Send a thank you letter promptly.
Not an email, an actual letter.


Don’t make it a freaking essay, one
paragraph will do!
Interviews

Often, they will invite you to dinner or
a party with the residents and/or
program directors.
Tip #1- Go to it!
 Tip #2- Don’t get too drunk and have a
dance off! Even if it was their idea!

The Match

You will need to apply separately for the
different matches.

M.D. Match



D.O. Match





National Residency Matching Program (NRMP)
www.nrmp.org
National Matching Service (NMS)
www.natmatch.com
Military Match
San Francisco Match (Plastic surgery,
Opthalmology, & Pediatric Neurology)
American Urological Association
The Match

D.O. Match Timeline
October- Mail in registration form with
$$.
 January 7th- Open to submit rank order
lists.
 January 23rd- Deadline for submitting
rank order list.
 February 9th- Match Day & Scramble
Day.

The Match

M.D. Match Timeline







August 15th- Register for NRMP online
November 30th- Last day to register for NRMP
match without a $50 late fee.
January 15th- Open to submit rank order list.
February 25th- Deadline to submit rank order
list.
March 16th- Matched or Unmatched
March 17th- Scramble if unmatched
March 18th- Match Day
The Match

Military Match Timeline
I guess it is classified because I can’t
find much.
 Results are given in mid December.

Expenses

Away rotations



Rent ($400-$800/ month)
Gas money or plane ticket ($300)
Board Exams (Approximately $2000)

Step 2 written exam


$550
Step 2 physical exam




$1000
Plane ticket to Conshohocken, PA $350
Hotel $100
Rental Car $50
Expenses



ERAS (about $150)
The Match ($40 for M.D., $60 for D.O.)
Interviews (about $500 each)





$300 plane ticket
$50 rental car for 2 days
$150 for hotel
This means that if you do 5 interviews, you will
spend around $2500!
Moving Expenses ($500- $5000)
Expenses

So how can I afford all of this if I have
already maxed out on my student loans?

Medcap Xtra Loan from Wells Fargo




Will provide $5,000 for interviews and $10,000 for
residency relocation.
8% interest
Can be deferred until after your residency.
Credit Cards can help if used correctly.


Apply for a credit card that has 12 months or more of
no interest and use it.
Just make sure to pay it off before the 12 months are
over! Otherwise, you will be stuck with all of the
interest from the previous 12 months!
Contact me if you have any
questions
Email erik_paulson@yahoo.com
 Phone 720-937-6863
