21 Residency interviews?! Psychiatrist Dr. Sarah Pospos reveals her secrets for success! (IMG Roadmap Series #99)
Scoring a whopping 21 residency interviews out of 150 applications, Dr. Sarah Pospos is here to prove that anything is possible with determination, strategic thinking and hardwork. Keep listening to hear the compelling story of how she landed her psychiatry residency!
What makes Dr. Pospos an IMG?
She was born and raised in Indonesia where she went to the Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya Fakultas Kedoketan Medical school until her graduation in 2013.
After graduating from medical school, she unfortunately felt herself drifting away from the desire to serve in the medical field. This inspired her to pursue a masters in Psychopharmacology and Applied Psychology and then to dabble a bit in business consultancy in the US.
Eventually, she began missing the magic of medicine and thus, pivoted back into her original journey where she immediately continued pursuit of a residency in psychiatry.
She applied as a US IMG since she already had permanent residency, and applied only to psychiatry positions. Eventually, she was selected as a chief resident and currently practices as a psychiatrist for high performers in sports and within the field of perinatal psychiatry.
What was her medical residency journey like?
Since she applied for residency 4 years after graduation, she was technically considered as an “Old IMG.” In spite of this, she went on to receive 21 interviews from institutions including Yale and Duke out of only 150 applications.
When she gained her residency spot, she completed her general psychiatry requirements in addition to perinatal psychiatry training which required her to pass the certification in perinatal mental health (PMHC exam) and to attain certifications from the International Society of Sports and Psychiatry (ISSP). What made her residency application stand out?
Dr. Pospos states that she defined her goal and then worked backwards. She asked herself the question of what an ideal psychiatry residency candidate looked like. As such, she went on to acquire US Clinical experience, relevant letters of recommendation from well-known experts in the field, all within a short amount of time. She goes on to reveal that she created a detailed spreadsheet where she listed all possible programs, program directors, their research opportunities and contact information. From this compiled list, she was able to draft several personalized, strategic emails which were specific, concise and which included numbers and statistics to back them up.
She also worked simultaneously at multiple places to get her US clinical experience, instead of engaging in short stints one after the other. Some of these opportunities took place at UCLA, and UCSD. Overall, she was able to participate in 14 publications, 7 of which were authored, and 5 total research opportunities.
What about letters of recommendation (LORs)?
Dr. Pospos was able to secure 4 LORs from relevant professionals in the field. She postulates that US LORs are better since the program directors of your target institution will probably be familiar with US doctors within the same specialty. LORs from within your target field and similar specialties are recommended.
Here are Dr. Pospos’ recommendations for future applicants into psychiatry residency:
Be strategic and objective instead of subjective
It’s all about how you present yourself
Personal statements are key
Don’t be too generic, but stay professional
Use concrete examples with numbers and statistics as proof.
Her general tips are as follows:
Self-care is important in the IMG journey:
Exercise - some is better than none
Nutrition - whole foods, less processed the better
Quality sleep - avoid too much screen time and caffeine before bed.
If you want to give up and you feel depressed or anxious:
Recognize when you need help
Does it interfere with your daily functioning?
Psychiatrists are trained to help you create long term strategies to combat these phenomena.
Studying:
Focus on one thing a time
20-80 principle - not every task is created equally, some are higher yield than others
Use the Pomodoro technique.
Mantras for success:
Take it one task at a time
Consider this: what if you could never feel lost or overwhelmed? What if you had a clear way forward without fear and success was guaranteed? What if it all worked out? You have what it takes to make it!
You can connect with Dr. Pospos on her website lifestyletelepsychiatry.com and her instagram @lifestyletelepsychiatry.
You can also listen to all full episodes of the podcast on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts and Spotify.