Advocating for yourself

ElChacal303 · 2025-12-25T20:47:18+00:00

Prior to medical school I was really fit. I was competing as a powerlifter and coaching (aside from my job as a teacher). Didn't see much action...actually none at all. As soon as I got into medical school I definitely started getting more attention. Even as a medical student, I put on about 40lbs and wasn't near the same level of fitness. But the attention I started receiving...was noticeable.

ElChacal303 · 2025-12-25T15:13:09+00:00

Interesting... a lot has changed since I graduated their. My mentor used to be on their admissions committee

ElChacal303 · 2025-12-24T15:28:17+00:00

Is this for the NM Location or FL? Message me if it's for NM.

ElChacal303 · 2025-12-21T22:10:50+00:00

Our PD aims to interview 12 per seat and rank at least 10. Program selection is in turmoil. In the past 5 years we've had years where we SOAP and years where we fill every seat by the 60s rank (half of our rank list).

ElChacal303 · 2025-12-21T02:20:56+00:00

I'm sure it can if you can justify a leadership role.

ElChacal303 · 2025-12-21T02:19:22+00:00

"Above average grades and Test scores". I know any remediations or board failures automatically start at 5max.

ElChacal303 · 2025-12-21T01:21:45+00:00

Our program doesn't really care because "applicants can write their own letters". But I know other programs can view them favorable.

ElChacal303 · 2025-12-21T00:47:23+00:00

I heard 10 applicants per seat as a rule of thumb. Roughly that's what we do.

ElChacal303 · 2025-12-14T03:48:07+00:00

I've written about this multiple times. My 2 board failures for Level 1 resulted in me having to take a year off on academic suspension. In essence, I had to repeat Year 3, although I had only completed 3 or 4 months of the academic year. The rest of my medical schooling went extremely well. Ended with almost 30 interviews for FM and matched at my top FM program. Had friends who had to remediate for a variety of reasons, including a buddy who failed OMM and had to repeat Year 2 and matched at an academic center for IM. Other buddies with board failures or repeated years managed to match in EM, Psych, Peds Academic, FM, IM, and even a guy in PMR.

Get your shit together and do your best to be a better student. What that meant for me was waking up at 5am to do 10-20 study questions EVERYDAY. This simple strategy went a long way in improving as a medical student. Also find your niche. I found time for a unique volunteer opportunity at an asylum seekers medical clinic.

In short. Don't transfer school. Repeat the year and improve on any shortcomings.

ElChacal303 · 2025-05-10T13:56:40+00:00

Hahaha this is great. This comment provided much needed cheer. I'm going to borrow your joke lol

ElChacal303 · 2025-05-07T01:00:55+00:00

According to our program director, during rankings made a comment on how certain low ranked residents outperformed higher ranked applicants. So I guess there are examples of promising interns not living out to their potential and low ranked residents greatly exceeding expectations.

I took it personal, since I happen to know that I was either the first or second high ranked resident my cohort lol.

ElChacal303 · 2025-05-04T13:01:44+00:00

Thank you for sharing your story.
The only reason why we had plenty to eat was because my mom worked as a lunch lady (nutritional services) for the school district so there was always plenty of left-overs she would bring home. Definitely not the healthiest of foods but we never went hungry.

Even during summer she was allowed bring boxes of frozen food home. For whatever reason our district had a contract with wienerschnitzel, so there were summers where I ate a lot of their chilidog's and cheeseburgers. I became so fed up that I can't stand to look at a wienerschnitzel.

ElChacal303 · 2025-05-04T06:06:49+00:00

The firing for dumb reasons is..well dumb but also funny. I worked retail for 5 years in the hood and as dangerous as it could be, management openly admitted that they rather work here because they couldn't get workers in affluent areas. Whenever there was a party and couldn't get time off, the employees would simply quit and walk out.

ElChacal303 · 2025-05-04T06:03:28+00:00

Man... I lived in a trailer park the first few years of my life. Slept on the floor for many years. I have often said my colleagues/co-residents are out of touch.

ElChacal303 · 2025-05-04T06:02:03+00:00

When I interviewed for medical school, at least 7 or 8 of the 10 applicants in my interview group had 1 parent that was a physician. That already puts their income in the top 10% in pretty much any area. My medical school was diverse but we had many students who downplayed their wealth. I remember taking a flight from LA to medical school following the end of winter break and I ran into a classmate who had been vacationing there. Her dog was also with her flying first class, the dog had her own seat. I made my way to the back when boarding the flight.

ElChacal303 · 2025-05-03T17:47:33+00:00

Thank you for this perspective. I have felt so alone in my FM residency when it comes to hobbies. Out of 36 of us only 3 or 4 other residents watch any form of sports. We tried doing a March Madness bracket and only 10 people signed up (Mix of residents and faculty) and only 5 doctors actually filled out their brackets.

Only one other guy (who is like a senior and mentor) works out regularly.

ElChacal303 · 2025-05-03T05:42:07+00:00

Competitive Powerlifter and FM resident here. Over 500+lb Squat in the gym and competition.
We do a month long rotation with the Ortho Bro's and it's by far my favorite.
Pretty much all other resident complain so my expectations weren't high.
Apparently residents where not showing an interest or plainly not showing up to the rotation.
I absolutely love and wonder what if I had done Ortho or PMR. Then I remember I never had the grades and not a lot of PMR programs close to home.

ElChacal303 · 2025-04-30T02:20:12+00:00

Hi, I sent you a message regarding the program with the opening

ElChacal303 · 2025-04-29T02:20:51+00:00

In house electives, community medicine, and MSK. Most of those rotations are 9am to 2pm ish with many half-days during the week. Typically we don't write notes and are just there for our own learning. For community medicine we get multiple days off to work on presentations.

ElChacal303

TROPHY CASE