A Mother's Match Story - Dr. Sana Irfan Khan
Do you consider yourself an “old” grad? Are you a mother? Or do you think that your scores are too average to stand out? Keep reading Dr. Sana Irfan Khan’s medical success story which is a testimony to how your perceived limitations can turn out to be your strengths!
Dr. Khan graduated medical school in Nigeria in 2010 and decided to move to India in hopes of landing residency in Pediatrics. This was even more of a challenge since Dr. Khan was pregnant with her first child throughout this process! Though it wasn’t easy, she eventually landed residency in the field of Pharmacology, leaving her dream of specializing in Pediatrics still unfulfilled.
In 2017, motivated by her spouse’s move to New York, Dr. Khan began gradual preparation for the USMLE Step One exam all while completing her final year of residency and taking care of her baby.
Her intensive preparation began a year later in 2018 when she was done with residency. Faced with the challenges of a new country, new environment, no relatives and having to raise a four year old, Dr. Khan had to be smart about her study methods. She used Skype and WhatsApp to study with her peers and revise first aid. While doing this, Dr. Khan had no choice but to pay expensive childcare costs and this only further motivated her to do well.
She took her Step 1 CS exam in September and then delved immediately into preparation for the Step 2. In January of the following year, she took the Step 2 exam, pregnant with her second child! She recounts, “I took Step 2 CS with my second pregnancy and first trimester vomiting symptoms. I took an antiemetic 30 mins before the exam, thinking I wouldn’t make it, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.”
She scored 231 and 226 on her Steps 1 and 2 CK respectively.
From February to May of 2019, she prepared for her Step 2 CK exam and eventually took it despite her second trimester symptoms. After this, she got ECFMG certified and started looking for opportunities to gain US clinical experience (USCE). But, how was she supposed to gain USCE with no contacts, or networks? The answer was just to go out of her comfort zone, put herself out there and connect with the right people to help her achieve her goal.
As Dr. Khan passionately related, “I walked to the neighborhood called Jackson Heights and started knocking on the doors of doctors’ clinics. I would just walk in 7 months pregnant and request for shadowing. Many refused, but I would cry and keep going the next day.” It was through this persistence and refusal to give up that she met the most kind-hearted internist who would change the course of her medical journey forever.
Through working with this physician, she got her breakthrough into the US clinical system where she gained priceless experience. Dr. Khan continues, “I helped in everything--I helped the medical assistants, participated in procedures and no work was beneath me. I was preparing for step 3 too and was due for delivery in less than 8 weeks.”
After having worked at this internist’s clinic for a month, Dr. Khan, who would need two more letters of recommendation apart from the one she would obtain from this opportunity, set her sights elsewhere. Fortunately, the internist’s wife was also a family physician who gladly allowed her to shadow at her clinic and write Dr. Khan her second letter of recommendation.
With the ERAS deadline of September 15th quickly approaching, Dr. Khan felt that she had no more time to get the final letter of recommendation. In an unexpected turn of events, a nursing assistant, with whom Dr. Khan had been personable and friendly, informed her of a neurologist who practiced across the road. Fortunately, this neurologist agreed to Dr. Khan’s request to shadow and finally wrote her the third letter of recommendation!
This was what she had been waiting for--she was finally able to complete her application and gave birth to her baby the day after completing her rotations! Though she had failed her step 3 assessment on UWorld, she did not have the luxury of postponing. She proceeded to take her Step 3 exam with a 2 week old baby, utterly exhausted and emotional due to the challenges of taking care of a newborn.
As fate would have it, she passed this exam with a score of 217.
With her exam passes in tow, Dr. Khan looked towards landing her residency interviews. From October 2019 to March 2020, she received 6 interviews, none of which yielded results. She decided to go through the application cycle a second time, this time having consulted with friends, family and experts she had met through networking on LinkedIn and through other avenues. Throughout this process, location was a key factor since she did not want to accept an opportunity that was too far away from her husband and small children.
Dr. Khan details, “Despite my failure to match, I brushed it off and started reaching out to my friends who had already made it. They were so few, but some Facebook groups were amazing. I read stories and reached out. I made amazing friends.” Dr. Khan even found herself helping others while seeking help herself. She sentimentally continues, “I was on Step 3 forums guiding people and someone reached out for Step 3 advice. I advised out of good will, not knowing he himself was almost an attending physician! I told him my ‘un-match story’ and he guided me so much through interview practice.”
Through this connection and other invaluable interactions, Dr. Khan was able to garner feedback which helped her to outline her application’s weaknesses. She realized that she did not have enough research experience in the field and so, made moves to gain some.
In September of 2020, she applied again with an improved application package to various specialties, but with a focus on pediatrics which was still her dream. Though she was accepted in more than one place, she opted to choose the pediatric residency in the area closest to her family home--just as she had prayed for!
After much strife, Dr. Khan’s story had a happy ending. She landed a residency in her dream field, in her dream location close to her friends and family. Here are some key pieces of advice and lessons that she would like to share:
Believe you can and you will.
Step out of your comfort zone.
Never underestimate the power of friendliness, and networking.
The human brain’s capacity is more than you could imagine, but if you are a person of faith, don’t forget to pray!
Expect failures in life but don’t allow them to change you for the worse.
Remember that when you help people, it comes back to you in the most unexpected ways!
Feedback is a lifesaver.
Do not internalize the negative criticism from others--learn from it.
For “old” grads, research is a must. Get as much USCE and research in your field as you can.
Every specialty is worthy. Every doctor can save lives!
Dr. Khan is eager to help others along their medical journeys. You can reach out to her through Instagram @doctor.s.i.k.