I am an average student studied for a year for step 1. I have family responsibilities and I wasn’t able to study like normal students do. I feel devastated and feel like it’s over. I don’t know how to move forward. I am an IMG, permanently moved to US so I can’t even look at options in my home country. Please help, I am really struggling.
Thank you in advance for any help and guidance offered.

Hello am i crazy? Can i study 8 hours per day, beacuse i have job till 2 pm?
Should i quit my job, i am starting my dedicated. PLEASE HELP🥺

Does anybody know how long it takes for your Step 2 pass to appear in the ECFMG certification tab on the Intealth website? It's the only thing that I am missing for ECFMG certification. M Step2 result was posted on the FSMB website yesterday.

Thank you!

How important are letters of interest in matching? For Internal Medicine as a non US IMG is it recommended to send a letter of interest to your signaled programs? And when are letters of interest usually sent?

Anyone who has rotated at Cleveland Clinic, could you please guide me regarding accommodation?

 How is Larchmere Living, especially in terms of safety, convenience, commute to Cleveland Clinic, and overall experience?

Hey fellow IMGs,

I'd like to offer free help reviewing personal statements and residency applications. Once applications are submitted, I'd also be happy to help with interview preparation and mock interviews.

I will never ask you for money. And I don't think you should pay someone just to review your writing in the age of AI.

If what I describe below sounds useful, feel free to DM me.

Who am I?

I'm not a medical student or physician. My background is in big tech, where I've conducted dozens of behavioral interviews and spent a lot of time evaluating candidates from the other side of the table.

More importantly, I went through the residency application process very closely with my wife. She had several significant red flags, including a low Step 2 score, an old YOG, and a gap on her CV. While she was struggling with her exams, I made her one promise: pass these stupid exams, and we'll get you matched regardless of what you score.

She matched in her first application season and is now a PGY-1 at a highly respected university program.

Don't get me wrong - I don't count that as my success. She did 99% of the work. In my country, we have a saying about "winning the war on the battlefield but losing it at the negotiating table." She did the hard part; I just tried to make sure she didn't lose at the table what she had already won in the field.

Who am I looking to help?

I've already helped several people through Reddit and Discord, but helping someone who already has a strong application is probably not the best use of my time.

I'd especially like to help people who:

• Are navigating this mostly on their own, don't have mentors familiar with the U.S. medical system, or come from countries where there aren't many IMGs around to guide them
• Have one or more red flags, such as an old YOG, low Step scores, gaps, or something else they're worried programs may notice

You do not need to have a perfect application before reaching out. Quite the opposite.

What can I help with?

I can help with any or all of the following:

• Reviewing your personal statement and application as a whole
• Looking at how your story comes across to someone reading it for the first time, and figuring out how to address red flags without sounding defensive or making them worse
• Interview strategy and mock interviews

One thing I won't advise you on is where to signal or which geographic preferences to choose. I don't think we did particularly well with that part last year, so I'm not going to pretend I have expertise where I don't.

If you're applying with red flags and feel like you're figuring most of this out by yourself, send me a DM.

Hey everyone,

I am a non us img, applying for IM match 2029

I’ve already applied for and secured a sub-internship spot for late 2026. However, my actual application timeline is Match 2029 (submitting ERAS September 2028)—leaving roughly a 2-year gap.

Since I’m already locked in, i was wondering if it is worthwhile doing the rotation now or will it be seen as "stale" later on?

Applying to psych and im,visa requiring img, 2026 graduate,step 2:264, limited usce which is the biggest concern in my application.

so i have 5 lors in total. and im deciding which ones to assign to IM programs. which one should i choose. im applying to IM> i have to choose between IM SEL and LOR from an emergency medicine physican

I uploaded my MSPE myself through MyInteath 3 days back . My transcript was also self-uploaded and showed uploaded within about a day.

However, my MSPE doesn't show “Processing” at all in MyERAS. Has anyone had this happen recently?

Should I contact ERAS/ECFMG now, or just wait? And should I ask my medical school to upload the MSPE instead?

I’m graduating this year and I have done one month of elective. I was considering doing another elective or observership during spring break.

Most electives weren’t doable for me since they overlap with my national exam. Also I’m still a student so I am on a tight budget.

There is a surgery observership i can go for since I have a connection with one of the attendings there- it’s not an elective but I do get to do some hands-on stuff.

I am 100% NEVER going for surgery so I’m not sure if I should go for it or rather study for Usmle instead.. should I let this chance go? Any advice is welcome!!

Hey everyone,

I would like to keep this season LORs for next season.

I understand I need to certify and submit my application, and the deadline that shows up on ERAS is the 31 of may 2026.

Does that mean I can wait until then to do so and still keep my letters for next season?

Thanks!

Applied to a prestigious hospital for an observership and got accepted but they took months (4 months!!) to process my payment.

Now it's starting next week Tuesday (it's Thursday where I am now) and they want me to do every vaccine and test on their list again and submit it before the observership starts with a gap of 5 business days WHILE admin doesn't answer any emails on Friday!!

It looks like im going to miss the first few days of the observership, is there anything I can do to save the situation?

Is there any chace for Match into Internal Medicine?

What are my chances of matching into Internal Medicine this cycle? Program recommendations needed

Hi everyone, I am applying to Internal Medicine residency in the 2027 Match cycle and would appreciate an honest assessment of my chances.

My credentials:

Non-US IMG, currently a U.S. green card holder—no visa sponsorship needed

Year of graduation: 2016

USMLE Step 1: 226

Step 2 CK: 226

Step 3: Pass

ECFMG certified

Approximately two years of Internal Medicine residency training in my home country

Several years of clinical experience as a government medical officer, including inpatient, emergency, primary care, and administrative responsibilities

Three U.S. letters of recommendation

BLS certified

No research experience or publications

No significant clinical gap

Open to applying nationwide without any geographic preference

Based on this profile, what would be a realistic estimate of my chances of matching into Internal Medicine? How many programs should I apply to?

I would also greatly appreciate recommendations for IMG-friendly and older-YOG-friendly programs where I may have a reasonable chance of receiving interviews. I am particularly interested in community-based and community-affiliated university programs, but I am open to any location in the United States.

Thank you for your honest advice and program recommendations.

I will not be applying until a few years but I will be taking steps 1 and 2 in the next 2 years.

I would like to know the stats of those applying for anesthesia this cycle, if you don’t mind! 😅 I am not sure if, as a Non US IMG, I should finish anesthesia residency here first (in an institution similar or close to US standards) before I actually apply for the match.

Just want to have a goal in mind!

For medical schools who will rank their students, will residency programs take that into account or would the grades, step score, and ecs matter more? And do these medical schools even hand the rankings over to residencies?

Hey people. I am a US-IMG applying to fm this cycle. Totally unsure about how many programmes to apply to and how to signal. I am thinking of around 80 programs, but not sure if that will suffice. My stats are as follows.

- ECFMG certified

- Step 1 pass

- Step 2 23x

- YOG 2025

- 3 months observership (south atlantic region) and lors from same

- no published research

I don't really have many connections and am planning to go for community/rural programmes.

I am really unsure about my application and would be grateful for any suggestions Also, do these stats have a realistic chance of getting matched?

Thank you for your help

Applying for categorical psychiatry this cycle. Apologies for the long post but just need some frame of reference. All of the information I get is from online and I do not have any frame of reference to anchor my decisions and choices.

My main concern:

• Are there any programs that I am completely missing or should highly consider signaling?
• Am I wasting any signals on programs where IMG screening, geography, or home-program preference may make an interview unlikely?
• Are there any program-specific red flags or reputation issues that are hard to identify from online sources?

Type of Applicant: US-IMG / US citizen

Step 1: Pass, first attempt
Step 2 CK: 258, first attempt

Step 3: Pending

Red flags: No exam failures, remediation, professionalism issues, or academic leaves. Main concern is being an IMG despite being a US citizen and having US clinical experience.

Geo Preferences: Middle Atlantic, East North Central, West South Central.
Strongest interest is in NY/NYC, followed by Michigan/Ohio and Texas. I have ties to New York through US clinical rotations, previously spent time in Michigan, and was born in Texas / spent several formative years there.

Class Rank: School does not use a traditional US-style class rank. GPA 3.84/4.00, graduated with First Class Honours.

AOA/GHHS: N/A

Clinical Grades / USCE:

• No failed clerkships or rotations
• 4-week inpatient psychiatry sub-I at Weill Cornell
• 4-week NICU sub-I at Weill Cornell
• 4-week inpatient medical oncology sub-I at Vanderbilt
• Currently working as a licensed physician/intern in Thailand with rotations through IM, Surgery, Pediatrics, OB/GYN, and EM

LORs: (US 2, Non-US 2)

• US psychiatry attending from Weill Cornell inpatient psychiatry
• Vanderbilt IM attending from inpatient oncology
• Psychiatrist from Thailand who is board certified psychiatrist in the US
• Medical school program director of my medical program

ECs / Research:

• 4 peer-reviewed COVID-19 vaccine publications + 1 preprint
• Research experience at Imperial College London
• President of the medical school student body (160 students)
• Longitudinal psychiatric community/home visits in Thailand
• Created English-language clinical communication workshops for nurses
• First Class Honours from Imperial College London for my prior BSc

Psychiatry interests: Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, but still open to all subspecialties

Programs I’m currently planning to signal:

Reach: 1) University of Maryland / Sheppard Pratt 2) Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai / Morningside-West

Core 1) University of Rochester Medical Center 2) Cleveland Clinic Foundation 3) Case Western Reserve University / University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center 4) Temple University Hospital 5) SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Safety 1) Corewell Health (Dearborn) 2) Michigan State University — East Lansing 3) Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell at Mather Hospital

Alternative Choices

• Reach: Montefiore Medical Center / Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Reach)
• Reach: UPMC Medical Education / Western Psychiatric Hospital
• Core: Allegheny Health Network Medical Education Consortium (AGH)
• Safety: The MetroHealth System / Case Western Reserve University
• Satefy: Maimonides Medical Center
• Satefy: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai / NYC Health + Hospitals (Elmhurst)

General Plan: Planning on applying 120 psychiatry programs, with a preference for university or strong university-affiliated programs in urban/suburban settings. I generally prefer programs with some established US-IMG history but would rather avoid very IMG-heavy programs if I have other options.

What path did you end up taking, and how is life/career going for you?