A Radiology Residency Application with no Plan B as an IMG? Dr. Maham Siddique Shares her Winning Strategy! (IMG Roadmap Series #98)
Is applying to various specialties despite your dream of landing a residency in a particular field always the best idea? Radiology resident Dr. Maham Siddique is here today to share her story of determination and not taking no for an answer!
Here are some of the highlights of her journey:
Dr. Maham was born and raised in Pakistan, where she attended the Aga Khan University and discovered her love for Radiology before her graduation in 2016.
While in medical school, she was given the option to pursue clinical rotations in the US. By completing her electives in the US, she was able to see how Radiology was conducted there, and realized the need for research items when applying into residency in this field.
As such, she moved to NYC 4 years ago on a J1 research visa, where she engaged in lung and breast cancer research in Radiology for 3 years.She then applied to Radiology residency in 2020 after attaining her green card, thereby classifying her as a US IMG.
How was Dr. Maham able to find research opportunities?
She was deliberate and transparent with her research program coordinators about wanting to get into Radiology residency.
She was determined, focused on her goals and would not settle for any other field.
She built connections and strengthened her network through demonstrable seriousness about the field.
Eventually she was able to land a Radiology residency position at her top ranked institution in NYC.
These are her tips for applying into Radiology residency:
Ask yourself whether you like the field enough to practice it for the rest of your life. Are you ok with never seeing a patient ever again?
Look at the official statistics released by organizations such as the NRMP and ensure that your step scores (above 245 for Radiology), number and quality of LORs, and research items correspond with those of the successful candidates in the years prior.
Ensure that you analyze the structure of the Radiology residency:
Take into account that it is advanced, meaning that it starts at the PGY2 level, and, the candidate is expected to find their own intern year.
Dr. Maham herself completed her intern year in Internal Medicine, applied with 3 LORs, two of which were from Medicine and one from Radiology.
She then applied into Radiology with 4 Radiology LORs and 1 Internal Medicine LOR.
Your personal statement is the one document that is 100% in your control - make it count!
How can we maneuver the challenges we face as IMGs?
Your step score is just one important part of the application. There are other parts that you can work on to compensate for it.
Commit fully to the dream and put in the necessary work, time and effort investments to achieve it.
Don’t listen to everybody’s opinion–take the time to form your own ideas
Only consider a plan B after analyzing all other options–don’t give up!
You can reach out to Dr. Maham via email maham_siddique@hotmail.com and her Instagram @maham_s_rana.
You can also listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts & Spotify.