Hello,
My name is Rakesh and I am a doctor from India. I graduated from rank 3 medical school in India and being top of my class. i talked to my professor about good place to do neurosurgery and he recommended USA. We have some of our alumni students in general surgery and even neurosurgery in america. One went to Univ of Washington in Seattle, One is at Wanye State University in Detroit, one is at University of Pittsburg's medical hospital.
I have some training in india in family practice and rural practice. I take USMLE 1st Step this summer and got 95th percentile and 256 out of 280.
My step 2 written exam is in 2 weeks. How can I be a very strong candidate for my residency in america.

please guide me. I would like advice.


Thank you very much

Jai shree krishna and god bless all my friends here

-Rakesh

Can anyone who has interviewed/spent time at Duke recently please shed some light on the program? I'm trying to plan my Sub Is for this summer and it would be a great location for my family. I've heard really mixed things though - some people say it's on a great trajectory with really strong research and receptive faculty. Some other people say it's pretty malignant (supposedly they fired one of their PGY-4s a few years back for no reason and he had to finish at another program?) Really hard to separate the truth from the rumors.

Which programs out there would people say are pretty bro? And when I say bro, I don’t necessarily mean all dudes. I mean somewhat laid back with cool residents that are collegial, get out together, aren’t super nerdy, like sports, etc. Just looking for a really chill group.

I would like to know the impressions of applicants this cycle. Mine from last cycle:

-Best organized: Minnesota, Iowa and Louisvelle
 
-Worst organzied: Rutgers, Illinois-Chicago, Emory and Yale-The WORST

-Best Dinner: Medical College of Wisconsin, Rutgers, Mississippi and South Carolina

-Worst Dinner: Lousiville and Arkansas

-Best group of residents: Mississippi, Medical College of Wisconsin and MGH

-Worst group of residents: UVA, Minnesota, Rutgers, and Emory

Is there any data out there about where in their rank list people tend to match? I'm getting the feeling that putting a place lower than 1st (and therefore not being able to tell them they are first) kind of kills your chances there but i'm not sure if that's real.

My impression of tiers based on nebulous stuff like resident opinions and on interview invites this season:

1. UCSF, Barrow, Pitt, UCLA, MGH, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Penn, Duke, NYU, Brigham, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Cornell, Stanford, Michigan, UVA

2. Northwestern, Emory, Jefferson, UT Southwestern, Vanderbilt, Utah, UC Irvine, Tufts, Utah, Carolinas, Baylor, USC, Miami, Rush, Wisconsin, Florida, Indiana, U Wash, OHSU

3. Rochester, Dartmouth, Brown, VCU, UNC, Beth Israel, Mayo Jacksonville, Mount Sinai, U Chicago, Buffalo, Minnesota, Georgetown, Yale, Penn State, Maryland, NIH, Wake Forest, Washington St. Louis

4. Albany, Kentucky, Inova, UT Houston, UCSD, Tenessee, UI Chicago, USF, Vermont, Rutgers, Hofstra, LSU, Henry Ford, Iowa, MUSC, Kentucky, George Washington


5. Temple, Nebraska, SUNY Upstate, Oklahoma, Einstein, Alabama, Mississippi, UI Peoria, Allegheny, New Mexico, Geisinger, West Virignia, Wayne State, Houston Methodist, St. Louis, NYMC Westchester

6. Tulane, Medical College of Wisconsin, LSU Shreveport, Scott and White, UT Galveston, Louisville, Arizona, Missouri, Cincinnati, Medical College of Georgia, Puerto Rico

I would be interested in hearing what other people think. Good luck on the rest of your interviews everyone.

So it looks like they are saying 298 applications this year.  Last year there was 278.  As expected more people put out more applications this year also.  212  of those 278 last year ranked NSG programs contingently, and 183 matched for a match rate of 86%.  

My question is, can we generally expect the same trend this year?

Just curious what the demographics are here!

I thought we'd share interesting interview questions as they come.

Mine:

PD: Tell me a joke
Me: Your volume
PD: ...
Me: ...
PD: True

Naa but really. A question:


Who is your favorite philosopher and why?

a few people have talked about chairman speak for letters: "will do great at your program" vs "we will try to keep them"

anyone have examples on chairman speak for post-interview interactions, specifically responses to thank yous/application updates?