Ava Favor--- MATCH 2019

This group has been a blessing to me so I would like to give back and hopefully encourage someone. This is my story.
Step 1 - 193
Step 2 CK - 236
Step 2 CS - passed
No attempts
YOG: 2017
Need Visa

First match season: I applied to 290 programs. 190 IM and 100 FM. I chose the programs based on frieda's recommendations of those offering visa. I had IM letters FM letters and 2 years USCE. I received 3 FM interviews. 2 of them sent love letters during ranking season. They both sent twice. I felt confident then got shattered on monday.

What I think I did wrong: I did not write letter of intent. I did not prepare for interview questions; I have always been a good interviewer so I figured that would be enough. I had ACP membership listed on my CV so programs assumed FM was my second choice. I did not emphasize specialty on any of my letters because I wanted to have the option of using them for any specialty. Some of the programs I applied to were not accepting and/did not have visa residents. So, I wasted money on a bunch of applications.

Step 3 - 216

Second Match season: Step 3 was done. I updated the date(when LOR was written) on all the letters I planned to use to the current year and asked the writers to emphasize my interest in FM in the closing statement. I went to FM AAFP national conference with a notepad. Prior to this conference, I had researched my list of programs from Frieda and their website. During the conference fair, I went to programs on my list told them my creds, asked them my chances, and asked them if there was anything that could help me avoid getting screened out. Any programs that said I had zero chance, I crossed them off my list. Any programs that said I had chance, I asked them what improvements they would like to see and made a note of it beside their name. I also collected contact info of residents, PCs and PDs. I confirmed that they actually accepted visas by asking if they would be accepting visas this year. I also asked about foreigners in their programs and if they accepted carib grads. If they had foreigners, I asked if they were non canadian foreigners. Some programs say they accept visas but have never matched a visa candidate or have not in the last 5 years, so I crossed them off my list. Some programs say they have foreigners but they are all Canadians and have been so for years; I crossed them of my list too. I am an African. There will be hundreds of programs and you just have a couple days, so you want to get through your list as much as possible. Don't write essays beside each programs name, just brief hints that would explain your decision to keep or remove them from your list later. For programs that did not have answers to some of my questions, I noted that so that I could contact the PCs later to ask. Some programs sent residents or faculty that don't know these information. Now, some programs like to chat as if they are interviewing you...try to find a way to close out the conversation once you get the answers you need. After the conference, I called programs that did not come to the fair or that I still had questions for to get my answers. Then, I wrote letter of intent emphasizing what I like about the program and the city and about my interaction with them at the conference(if they were there) and that I passed step 3. I sent my first letter over email as soon as the season began. Then I sent my second letter via mail mid-October. I confirmed their addresses with at least two of website/eras/frieda/acgme.

I applied to 90+ FM programs. I say 90+ because some programs responded to my LOI saying they were not accepting visa candidates this year after I had already applied. So, I took them off my list and don't remember how many. I also applied to 10 IM programs where I either knew someone or knew someone that knew someone in the program. I got 7 FM and 1 IM interview. 4 university and 4 community. One of the FM iv was through contact and so was the IM I believe. Another of the FM iv was a program that already interviewed me last year.

What I think I did right: I updated the dates on my letters and emphasized FM interest. I got one more strong letter. I wrote LOIs. I went to conference and did all that☝ I put my AAFP membership on my CV. I called programs to emphasize interest, regardless of the fact that I sent LOIs. I prepared for interview questions. I still didn't practice interviewing because I did not want or sound rehearsed. I attended college in the US and have spent time with many US patients with lots of compliments, so I was not concerned about my accent. But, I shared some of my answers with a physician and my resident friend to confirm if they were good answers to give. Preparing the answers helped me to not give a mediocre ones or mis-speak during the interview. I shared my PS with lost of people, both physicians and non to make sure it not only expressed my sincere interest but it was also compelling. I sent thank you letters after my interviews to everybody I directly interacted with, mentioning at least one thing we discussed during the IV. I made notes after each IV beside each interviewer's name. Except for one program late in the season where they didn't give contact info and said we should send all emails to the PC. I sent her one for her and one for the PD. I had sent all faculty thank you emails to the PC for my interview before this one and did not feel the inspiration to diversify emails for everybody again knowing that they would compare what I wrote. Basically, I was tired. Lol. Most of my IVs were scheduled in January. I did not write ranking letters. I did last year and they did not matter. I ranked according to preference not love letters or reputation. I used NRMP Prism app and rated each program after each interview. The way my ratings ranked them is they way I ranked them on NRMP. I did not change my ratings after the week of each interview. My contact recommended invites actually ended up lowest on my list. I prayed a lot; more than I ever have in any other season of my life.

Yesterday, I matched at an FM program where I had no contacts. It is also not the same one that interviewed me last year. The PD did mention how compelling my letter was during our interview, so there's that.

PS: Every interviewer asked what I had been doing since graduation. I was able to explain it and relate it to FM. It is very important to have current clinical activity even if it is volunteer like me.

NB: I did not write about my emotional struggles because it would turn into a book. But after nursing my sorrows and despair, I resolved to fight for my dream. Failing once made me put so much more effort the second time around. This is my only career dream and I did not dare give up. Not to mention family and friends that were waiting for me to succeed. I am a first born from a strict African home, so just imagine the expectations. I thank God it ended in celebration.

PPS: If you have questions, please ask in comments instead of inbox. Thank you and best of luck to everyone preparing for next season.

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FM programs I applied to. This list is of programs that as of 2018 sponsored J1 or J1/H1B visa. Any program that sponsored only H1B was removed because I am on J1. Any program that won't consider low scores was also removed. Any program that says they sponsor visa but has no current residents on visa was removed. Any program that won't consider carib grad or non-canadian img was removed too. Use as a reference because things like whether they accept visa or not and score consideration would change again next season for some programs.

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If you can't contact the letter writer to update date. It is not a huge deal. The huge deal is making sure that the letter is specific for FM, even if the letter writer is from a different specialty. Some letter writers are even happy to write you letters specific for different specialties. All they are editing is the last sentence. Just make sure you label them accordingly on eras so you don't make mistakes during application. If you submit the wrong letter, you cannot withdraw it.