My story
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๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
STEP BY STEP from medical school to Match Day
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• Started medical school in Argentina in 2009 (6 years program)
While in medical ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ’๐ฉ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ค๐ข๐๐๐๐ก ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ, so one of my first jobs was teaching English, and then Biology and Chemistry to High School students, after that Microbiology and Biochemistry in a Private Institute to medical students. I then applied for a scholarship in my school during my last two years, and they granted it to me ๐
I finished medical school December 2015, and I knew that I needed a lot of money to start my USMLE JOURNEY.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐๐๐?
• As soon as I finished school and got my medical license, I started working full time as a General Practitioner in Argentina (You can work as a G.P. without a residency in my country). I would work 48, and sometimes 72 hrs continuous shift in the hospital.
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Also, in my country we don’t have paramedics, it’s the doctor that goes in the ambulance, so I would do 16-18 hours shift in the ambulance, sometimes they would pick me up from the Hospital 8 am after my long shift and start my ambulance shift. My longest time working was during the holidays of 2016, I remember I worked for 15 days almost non-stop.
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That's me on the photo in Argentina, after working a 48 hrs shift in the Hospital, and then doing my ambulance shift. Saving money to pursue my dream, with a very uncertain future, not idea that a couple of years later I would be matched in OB/GYN in New York City!
๐๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง?
• I started planning my Step 1 on April 2017, and started studying full-time on September 2017. In Argentina we study medicine in spanish, so I wasn’t familiar with many enligh words, also last time I took basic sciences was like 6-7 years ago so I was basically ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ซ๐จ.
• I then started volunteering at a Hospital on December 2017, and then working on research on June 2018, where I also got USCE (you can see my previous posts on my page where I explained this in detail)
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When did I take my exams?
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I took my Step 1 on October 2018
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Step 2 CS on May 2019
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CK August 30, 2019 so I could apply this year.
• I applied September 21 (one week after ERAS application opened because I was waiting for my CK result and my last LOR)
๐๐ก๐๐ง and ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ๐ฌ?
• I interviewed for OB/GYN from October ‘19 to January 2020.
• I had to fly for my interviews to: ๐ต๐๐ ๐ฑ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ต๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ถ๐๐๐, ๐ญ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐, ๐ฒ๐๐๐๐๐.
๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ ๐จ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ:
Something that I always wanted to do is to ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ before starting my residency.
• On October 2019, right before interview season, I flew to Japan to see the Rugby World Cup. Not very fun fact: I almost don’t make it to my first interview because I got stuck in Tokyo extra days due to the super typhoon! ๐ช
• On January 2020 I flew to Europe for my first Eurotrip (Visited ๐ณ๐๐๐ ๐๐, ๐ท๐๐๐๐, ๐บ๐๐๐๐, ๐น๐๐๐, ๐ป๐๐๐๐๐, and ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐)
• If you are interested you can see my travels during my interviews, Japan and Europe on my Instagram: @doctor.sebas
On March 2020, matched in OB/GYN @ Lincoln Hospital NYC ๐คฉ๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ธ
๐๐ก๐ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ & ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐
I faced multiple challenges while in medical school, and during my USMLE preparation.
• I didn’t have a house/ place to study, had to find my own.
• Not economical support from anyone.
• I had to work hard before start studying, saving money because once I start studying, I didn’t know when I was going to be able to get money again, and I had to pay for my exams, housing, applications, flights and hotels during interview season.
• Also, when I started my full-time preparation period for my STEPS, my mother faced a health issue, and she had over $30,000 dollars debt to the bank and about to be homeless, so ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐จ๐๐ to help her resolve all those issues, and then returned to studying for Step 1. Luckily, she is perfectly fine now, and things are back on track ๐
• At some point I even had to go to a small town in ๐๐๐ฑ๐ข๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐ฝ (Malinalco) to study for my exam during a couple of months because I didn’t know where I could study.
• Also, Argentina medical school is in Spanish so I had to learn thousands of new English terminology, and also I was out of school for more than 2 years when I started my preparation
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We only need a bed, some food, a computer with WiFi, and a desktop to study for Step 1 and CK, so you might be in the middle of nowhere but ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ๐!!
I did have a lot of emotional support from my mother and grandmother which I love so much ๐โค๏ธ
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐:
• I know you are facing a lot of tough times, same as I did all along my preparation.
• I want you to know something, it may seem that the entire world is against you right now, that there is a big concrete wall that keeps getting higher and higher and impossible to climb.
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But trust me, once you pass through that concrete, break through that wall, all the planets will alienate on your side.
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐:
All that resilience and experience that you gained, will make you be the one that will solve the problems when everyone freaks out, the one that will stay and make it happen when everyone around you is in complete chaos that don’t know what to do.
โ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.
โ๐๐ญ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐:
Have that idea to stand to people that say that your idea is wrong.
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โ๐๐๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐:
Prepare yourself for reality of today and unknown possibilities of tomorrow. ๐
โ๐๐ฅ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ค๐๐๐ฉ ๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ :
Have the strength to disappoint you now, in order to delight you later
โ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒ:
There are three states of being: Not knowing, action and completion. Once you have a plan and know how to do it, start it and take action, keep going hard, that the next step is completion, and celebration!
โ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌ:
Also, as I always mention, help people along your preparation, along your life. When you invest time or recourses into someone’s success or happiness, and your payment is a share of that outcome, you become partners. ๐
โ๐๐จ๐ง’๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐:
Many times they want to tell us exactly what to do, and so many times that’s exactly the wrong approach
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My idea is to ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด that you ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ for ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ in just ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐๐, so you ๐๐จ๐ง'๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ precious time going crazy trying to find something and instead
use that time to ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ, ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค or do more ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ things ๐ฅ
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Good luck friends, I know that you can make it too!!
Love you all โค
Sebastian Arruarana, MD
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Youtube: DoctorSebas
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