She went from 0 publications to 15 peer reviewed publications over 2 years ? Nephrologist and researcher Dr. Jia Ng tells us how she did it! (IMG Roadmap #103)
Do you have questions as to how to complete clinical research to boost your application into residency as an IMG? Dr. Jia Ng is here to save the day! Keep listening to find out all about her intriguing medical and professional journeys.
Board certified Nephrologist, assistant professor at Zucker School of medicine, and founder of Published Md, Dr. Ng coaches clinicians on how to build their authority and achieve academic goals.
What makes Dr. Ng an IMG?
Malaysian-born, Dr. Ng completed her medical studies through a training program, half of it being held at the Royal College of Surgery in Ireland and the other half being at the Penang College in Malaysia.
She initially did her clinical year in Malaysia before deciding to that she wanted to move elsewhere to practice medicine.
Her top options were Australia and Singapore, while the US was at the bottom of the list.
Eventually she decided on the US and made the necessarily financial investments in order to complete her exams, and to gain US clinical experience through observerships.
What was Dr. Ng’s Pre-residency journey like?
She graduated in 2008 and applied for residency in 2010
Scrambled through the application since her certification wasn’t ready
Got a low USMLE Step 1 Score of 208 since she had only seen the US as a backup plan.
Earned a great Step 2 score
Attempted a match for a second year with an improved personal statement and strengthened application
Scored a pre-match which simplified the entire process, including the obtaining of her H1B visa.
What made Dr. Ng the resilient person she is?
She asked herself the question: what is she doing to make the best out of her failures and setbacks?
Shifted her focus to just getting her foot in the door and moving forward.
Was awarded resident of the year every year throughout her 3 year journey, before being appointed chief resident
Despite her step one score, was able to match into top fellowship program at the University of Pennsylvania
As an attending, she looks for resilience despite challenges, and people who take the past as a lesson to propel the forward.
As a visa applicant, how was she able to land such a fellowship opportunity?
She changed status from H1 visa to Green Card right before scoring her fellowship.
Came to US on the J1 visa while her spouse came with H4 visa
Both of them lived off of one salary until he found another job in IT which permitted him to get his own H1 visa
Before long, his boss helped him to get a Green Card which allowed Dr. Ng to achieve the same.
Having permanent residence helped Dr. Ng to score a fellowship position since many of these programs depend on NIH funding which is often only accessible to citizens and Green Card holders.
How did Dr. Ng get her start in the research field?
She completed research during her residency through a quality control project which was released two times a year.
She would submit these works of research to conferences and through other media.
Even a small work of research can have a big impact – that’s how she grew passionate about the topic.
What advice does Dr. Ng give to people who may be in a similar position to her during her first application?
You need to be so organized and plan your own milestones
Understand that research is different when compared to your pre-structured medical school experience
Act like adult – reverse engineer your goals and get it done.
How can IMGs make themselves more competitive?
Taking a year off just to do medical research may not always be the best idea.
Observerships hold more value to show that the student is adapted to medical practice in the US.
Case reports are good – you are seeing a lot of patients and you could publish a paper. It’s a nice middle point – you already know medicine, just frame the skill based on your needs.
Know that literature reviews are usually done by invitation. Contact the editor of the journal first to get an private invitation so that way you don’t waste your time.
Letters of recommendation are key. Are they raving about how good you are? Do you take initiative? Do you ask questions? These letters make a difference.
What has Dr. Ng’s career as a physician been like?
After the first year, she was not very successful because she did not know that data is nothing without story-telling.
She went from the clinical field to research where you need to be proactive to plan your own research and create your own pipeline.
She wanted to prove her employers and philanthropic donators right and give them a return on their investment.
She went from completing her research fellowship and Masters of Science in clinical epidemiology, and coming out with 0 publications to publishing 15 peer-reviewed papers within 2 years.
Dr. Ng’s general advice to IMGs:
Understand that research skills are different than medicine skills. You may feel frustrated because you are not as experienced or knowledgeable but don’t give up. Be patient!
Build a strong foundation with your study methods and skills in order to not write a paper that gets rejected.
Find a mentor – Dr. Ng’s youtube channel and courses on platforms such as her website and Coursera can help to prepare you.
You never know what your failures might bring – they could be a blessing in disguise, a seed for something bigger.
Never waste an opportunity. When you get a second chance, make it worthwhile.
You can reach out to Dr. Ng via:
@jiahweing on Twitter
@publishmd on Youtube
@publishedmd on Instagram
And through her website publishedmd.com
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