USMLE Guidance

Salam everyone. Here are my experience and insight into the programs I interviewed at. I took the program location, program environment, and halal food places into prime consideration while ranking. My interview calls were: Internal Medicine Rank-ables: 1-UCONN Farmington- I loved the program. A lot of desi residents. a huge sized program, approx 45 residents per year, . J1 visa. But the program does offer J1 Waiver. Some good restaurants around. You can always travel to NYC which is about 2 hours drive. 2-Allegheny General Pittsburgh- Very nice PD. Good research opportunities esp in Rheumatology. J1 Visa. IV is laid back. 3- UPMC Mckeesport Pittsburgh. The program gave me a homely feeling from the very first moment. Everyone was super nice, especially PC Angela. University-affiliated Community Hospital. Many Kemcolians in the program, Easily accessible desi groceries and restaurants in the neighborhood, H1b Visa. I missed my flight the night before the interview. Had to travel on greyhound the entire night. Heard a similar story from another resident there. So if you have a mishap in travel before that IV, Consider it a good sign, you might end up matching there.😉　 4- UPMC Pinnacle Harrisburgh- H1b Visa. A quickly evolving program, they said that they are starting Sports medicine and Hematology fellowships in a couple of years. Amazing architecture of the capital, however, I got a gloomy feeling from the area. Maybe because I lost my checked-in luggage on the greyhound. I m mentioning this for all those who are in a struggling phase. It's ok to mess up so don't be hard on yourself. Hang in there and have deep faith in Allah that He will give you whatever is best for you. 5- Northshore Medical Center - Salem. Got a good feeling from the program, very professional and innovative environment. Small Hospital. H1 Visa. Research opportunities with partners health physicians, Neuro rotations at Mass-General Hospital. Salem itself is a small town, but its 30-40 mins from Boston, Some residents live in Boston. 6- Mercy Health St Vincent Toledo. Part of Mercy health system, Most residents go on to become hospitalists, 24-hour call system, Few Pakistanis, lots of Indians, IV involved medical questions. Toledo was a silent/lonely city so I ranked it lower than Salem (closer to Boston) 7- Orange Park Med Center - FL Rapidly evolving program, have cardio fellowship, said they ll start hem-onc in a couple of years. J1 visa, lots of Pakistani residents. I really liked my interaction with the PD. Jax itself is a small town, some desi groceries, and halal restaurants. Amazing weather. 8- Lincoln Medical Center - NYC. A large sized program, J1 visa, like all NYC programs, huge pt turnover. many desi residents. I felt the environment to be a little less professional. However, I ranked it highest among my all NYC programs. 9-St Mary Mercy Hospital Livonia MI. J1 visa. A pure community program serves retirement population mainly. very nice environment, PD, and faculty was very welcoming. Cafe serves halal meat, the hospital has a mosque as well. 20 mins from Detroit. 10-Woodhull medical center-NYC. Primary care program has a GI fellowship affiliation with some university (don't remember the name) 11-Bassett Medical Center- Cooperstown NY. Nice program environment, serves rural population. Good fellowship match rates with H1b visa but I ranked it low because of the rural location. Nearest halal groceries and masjid are in Albany, 2 hours drive. No uber and 911. 12- Wyckoff Heights Medical Center-NYC. J1 visa. Low board pass rates. favors Caribbean grads. Didn't like program environment. It was my last choice. Internal Medicine Pre-Match were: 1-Bronxcare NYC 2-Interfaith NYC 3- Weiss Memorial Chicago. Didn't get any prematch offer. Med-Peds were: 1-Western Michigan University -Kalamazoo J1 visa, I utterly loved the program leadership and environment. It gave me a feeling that they really take care of their residents. global health program, Osteopathic courses to MD residents as well. But ranked it a bit lower because of med-peds. 2-Hurley Medical Center Flint. Program environment was good, many Arabs, Had 5 rapid fire interviews of 10 min each (if I remember correctly), some involved situational patient-based questions. Gave me a feeling like I m taking CS all over again. ranked it lower because of Flint area 3-Marshfield Clinic. A very good H1b program in the middle of no-where. loved the hospital but ranked it lower because of location, nearest masjid, and halal groceries are about 2 hours away. Not much to do in the town. No uber.
Things I did wrong: 1- Don't schedule more than 2 interviews in 1 week. My November interviews were so closely packed that I was constantly traveling and burnt out near the end of the month. If you have a similar profile as me, then you might get just oct-nov dates while scheduling. I was in Pakistan during October so my major chunk of IVs had to be done in Nov. I suggest traveling back to the US by mid-Oct. Some people suggest taking interviews during Dec-Jan so that the program remembers you. I think it doesn't have much to do with ranking. I interviewed in the last days of Oct at the program where I matched.
2- Always stay at a walking distance from the hospital. I stayed at 30 mins drive from Allegheny General and was stuck in the snow the morning of IV. Got late, was super anxious all day. Messed up during my panel Interview.