Hello Medical Residency Applicants for 2014!

I am very pleased that many of you have already contacted us about helping you with your personal statements, and we have edited quite a few since the beginning of 2013.  Most of the doctors decide to submit their first drafts to us in August and September.   While we love the excitement of deadlines and work well under pressure, I also appreciate those of you who are "early birds."

We now offer a "From Scratch" service.  The doctor completes a questionnaire and we construct your essay based on your answers.  Then the doctor makes his/her changes to that draft, returns the statement, and we incorporate the changes into the second draft.  The results have been outstanding with your input on that second draft.

I hope you have done well on your exams, but if your scores are marginal (as many are), it's all the more reason to present an outstanding statement of purpose.  We welcome you.  Your story is unique and interesting.  Let us help you tell it.

Contact us today: cvpersonalstatement@gmail.com

Thanks!
Elizabeth

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Happy 2013!

Greetings to all the past and present medical residency and medical fellowship applicants!  Last year was a very busy one for us.  It seems the word is getting out there that we offer a specialized service to you, just like you offer specialized care to your patients.

Since CVPersonalstatement is getting older, we are starting to receive some very positive feedback from many of the past applicants.  It is a great day when we hear you have landed a position, and I'm so happy when we have a valued client return to us for editing a medical fellowship personal statement after he or she has completed the residency!  That may be selfish, but it serves as a motivator to keep this service going.  Our service remains "boutique" and focused only on you, the doctors and the future medical residents/sub-specialists.

Best wishes always,
Elizabeth

Important Date Changes!

Hello again,
The Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) and the fellowships participating in the Medical Specialties Matching Program (MSMP) have voted to move the MSMP schedule of dates beginning with the 2012 Match for the 2013 appointment year.

These dates and deadline changes are very important.  As an applicant, your responsibility is to be aware of these changes so you can get your applications in on time. For our team at CVPersonalstatement.com, it means the busy season is going to take place earlier than in previous years.

Please contact the NRMP with any questions at nrmp@aamc.org or 1866-617-5834. 

Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP)

Good morning!

This year the National Resident Matching Program started the Match Week Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program, or SOAP.  It replaced the Scramble, and "cleaned up" the process of finding and applying to residency positions that did not fill during the Main Residency Match.  The NRMP reported that 93% of the unfilled positions were placed in SOAP.

For more information, please visit the NRMP website, where you can find more statistics about the 2012 Match.

Residency Interview Advice

The internet is brimming with interview tips.  I just watched a youtube video on the subject.  A doctor offers a few minutes of great practical advice.  Some of his tips are:

• Have directions to the location
• Be early
• Know the names:  not only the program director, but the secretary and coordinator as well
• Make note of any updates to your CV, such as awards, etc.
• Take along copies of your CV
• Review your CV information and think of some enhancing stories
• Bring something to write on during the interview and/or tour for remarks/questions

His Youtube video and more information about additional relevant subjects can be found at "rookiedoctor.com" and "internship-tips.com".  I have not watched his other videos or read everything on his website, but from what I saw and heard in the last 10 minutes, the doctor offers very valuable advice. 

As a future resident, it is important to keep abreast with current issues facing US doctors.

Good morning!
My partner found the following article.  As the title of this post states, it is important to keep up with the current issues facing US doctors. This article from the NY Times deals with the subject of ordering tests for your patients.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/why-doctors-order-so-many-tests/

Elizabeth

How do you know if the medical residency program is accredited?

Hello Medical Residency and Medical Fellowship Applicants!
How do you know if the medical residency program is accredited?
First of all, I would call the AMA and ask a live human being where you can find the information, and ask about your specific program. Obviously, your first choices should be financially stable and accredited programs. Since everyone is on a budget these days and limited by time constraints, you most likely do not want to spend $1500 on a trip to the opposite coast to interview at a program which is unaccredited and not financially stable. Do you want to put in 2 years only to be told that the program is not accredited or had to fold? 

• Call AMA Member Relations at (800) 262-3211. (It's a good idea to register to join the AMA meanwhile.)
• Also call the specific program and ask if they are accredited and by whom.
• Get advice from your colleagues, supervisors and various department heads on this question too.
• BY ALL MEANS, check all this out by downloading the latest information at ACGME.
• Here are a couple of links to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME):

http://www.acgme.org/adspublic/default.asp
http://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/home/home.asp
And while I am spewing out advice, when you do go to interview, talk with some of the other residents.  You can ask them questions of a more personal nature. However, if you decide to ask additional questions of the residents, please assume that anything that you ask may be passed along to the decisionmakers, and also, please consider the possibility that the resident whom you are asking may also be one of the decisionmakers or may be consulted in your application process. Because you are essentially in a fishbowl at this point (watch those Facebook entries too!),  choose your words carefully.