u/taniarrhythmia

I plan on flying to the U.S. in the winter to visit family, and honestly I just wanted to relax throughout the match season. I don’t care to do anything after the ERAS deadline is up in September, but attendings in my family claim that being inactive during interview season is a bad look apparently.

They claim that what you say you’re up to in the interview really matters, even if it’s something that didn’t make it to your ERAS application in time. My parents are suggesting I could be away from home for a whopping 4 months just to do something in the U.S. (October through January). It doesn’t make sense to me, as I can’t imagine a PD rejecting you just because you’ve been relaxing since September.

During an interview, would programs care at all what I’’d currently be up to, especially since it won’t be mentioned in my ERAS application? I don’t have anything planned, but my family suggested research, working as a physician assistant, etc.

My old cat was recently diagnosed with liver cancer, and the vet said she won’t have long to live anyway, so we decided to just keep her on oral medications that give her more energy. The problem is these days she has extreme difficulty walking, stumbling around the house and at times giving up on walking entirely. If I make the decision to put her down, I really don’t want to do it at a vet because she finds it a very stressful environment and it’s not a good way for her to go in my opinion. I struggled to find any vets in Jeddah that offer euthanasia in houses, even though that’s a common service in other countries. Please let me know if you’ve ever tried/heard of one.

بستي عندها سرطان الكبد والطبيب البيطري شخصها قبل شهر ونص، ووقتها قال انه ما عندها وقت طويل. لهذا السبب قررنا بس نعطيها أدوية تزيد الطاقة والشهية عشان تكون مرتاحة. شفنا فائدة من الأدوية لكن مع الايام ضعفها بتزيد ومرة صعب عليها تمشي. أنا ضد إنهاء حياتها في البيطرية لأنها بيئة تسبب القلق والاكتئاب لها دائما لمن نروح حتى لو لشي بسيط، وأفضّل بيطرية توفر الخدمة في البيت عشان بستي تكون مرتاحة في آخر لحظات. ما حصلت اي بيطرية في جدة توفر القتل الرحيم في المنزل رغم انها خدمة موجودة في بلاد كثيرة. بليز قولوا لي إذا جربتوا/سمعتوا عن بيطرية توفرها في البيوت

The whole pathways system confuses me the more I read about it. Since I’m graduating this year, I want to apply for the 2027 match. I know it’s not mandatory to be ECFMG certified by September, but that’s what I’d prefer so that good programs don’t filter me out. I heard that pathways opened a few weeks ago, so I just have a few questions so I don’t mess anything up.

1. Is it too early for me to open a pathways application if I have Step 2 left (booked for July)?
2. Am I supposed to start an application even if I have a few things missing for now, like my degree and Step 2 score?
3. Did they announce the deadline to open an application?
   Thanks in advance!

Is the real deal as vague as these awful NBME’s, or do they give you ample information like UWorld questions? I’ve heard the newer NBME’s are easier, but I’m saving them for later.

I’m losing my mind solving these stupid NBMEs because I feel like neither Amboss nor UWorld prepare you for these questions adequately. I solved Amboss for around a month just to improve my knowledge then wanted to know my baseline, which was 59% on NBME 11 at the time. I was totally fine with that, seeing as I hadn’t started UWorld yet and figured I had ample time for improvement.

Afterwards I did UWorld throughout May and finished around half of it, pretty much done with all of medicine, and I have pediatrics and OB/GYN left. Yesterday I figured I’d solve another NBME because I was itching to know if I had improved at all, and I couldn’t even pass NBME 13 with a 57%! And the vast majority of questions I got wrong were vague and told me fuck all, so I was torn between 2 choices.

I assure you guys I’m not an idiot and know how to revise my UWorld incorrects. I’ve been spending hours everyday digesting new info and understanding where I went wrong and annotating. Anytime I solve a UWorld block, I’d typically score around 60% correct, and it’s a learning tool not a testing tool, so to barely even crack that number in NBME’s has made me spiral. This isn’t my first rodeo, when it came to Step 1 I could see very clear improvement after every month of doing an NBME. Whereas now, I don’t see how I could improve my NBME scores even if I solve more UWorld because I only have pediatrics and OB/GYN left, and those are very underrepresented in NBME’s compared to medicine.

My exam is only 2 months away, and I was hoping to score a 260 or at the very least in the 250 range, but now my confidence is hanging by a thread. I have yet to pass an NBME after 2.5 months of prep, even though I genuinely feel like I’ve learned quite a bit.

My parents made the awful decision of taking my younger sister out of middle school because of money problems, and instead they had her privately tutored to give the IGSCE exams (British curriculum). They thought she could easily enroll in an international high school after passing. For whatever reason, schools and the ministry weren’t allowing her to enroll in a high school even though she passed those very difficult board exams and was being tutored privately. Now she’s 20 years old and non-Saudi, and we can’t find a university in Jeddah that allows people to enroll without a high school diploma. Why doesn’t the ministry have a high school equivalency exam? She can’t study abroad because we can’t afford it. Please let me know if any university/college in Jeddah that lets people enroll without the high school certificate, maybe through another exam like the SATs, A levels, etc.

أمي الله يهديها خرجت أختي من المدرسة بسبب صعوبات مالية وبس كان عندها مدرسين يعلموها المنهج البريطاني. وقتها أمي كانت متوقعة إذا أختي نجحت اختبارات IGCSEs تقدر تدخل مدرسة عالمية بسهولة لكن كلهم طلبوا شهادة السنة الدراسية الي قبل, و والوزارة رافضين يخلوها تدخل مدرسة ثانوية. هذا الكلام قديم والحين عمرها ٢٠ وغير سعودية ومو لاقية جامعة تنقبل طلاب ما عندهم شهادة ثانوية. معقول الوزارة ما عندهم امتحان لمعادلة الشهادة الثانوية زي باقي العالم؟ أرجوكم إذا تعرفوا جامعات في جدة يقبلوا طلاب زيها قولوا لي (عادي إذا يحتاجوا اختبارات زي SAT أو A levels إلخ)

I gave Step 1 years ago before ECFMG transitioned to MyInthealth. A week ago, I paid for the USMLE Step 2 application, and just now FSMB emailed me saying that they cancelled my application and refunded the amount. Apparently ECFMG is who I’m meant to contact since it’s their fault. I don’t see what could possibly have gone wrong, as I filled my details correctly and my status hasn’t changed (still a student).

Of course they will take several days to reply to my email, which I don’t have time for. Has anyone gone through the same thing before? What did ECFMG tell you that was amiss?

I saw a post on this sub that said you have to reapply for ECFMG certification on MyIntealth before submitting a USMLE application. Was this what I had missed? I already did this years ago and got form 186 done before my Step 1. Do I seriously have to do this again just so that I’m allowed to sit for Step 2?