CS off my Chest

You'll hear about the gruesome sieving process for med students. 1st, admission selections designed to favor only a pristine breed of the "survival of the fittest". Then an excruciating 2 years of classroom learning aka basic sciences (where Carib schools excel; thanks but no thanks for free tuition money, you didn't make the cut so we're kicking you out anyway). Honestly, American grads have it easy because their schools actually care about their "welfare"


In Carib schools, you're on your own! Not for the faint and weak-hearted! And if you took a good look at the guy to your right and left during your white coat ceremony, chances are those faces won't be there at your graduation. Heck, if you even make it to graduation.


Anyway, they added USMLE Step 1; then Step 2, which is now 2 separate exams-Clinical Knowledge (CK) and Clinical Sciences (CS), and then Step 3. As if the 2 year-Sahara of academia wasn't enough, you have to score Ninety-something percentiles on these board exams. Ok so forget the stress, what matters is someday, all of this will pay off. Right!!! 

So in order to qualify for the 2012 Match, you must take CS by Dec 30th 2011. This is where things get interesting-there are only 5 exam locations : LA, Atl, the Chi, Philly and H-town. And how many med students are there again? This year in the US alone, about 18,000. Add another 10,000 or so from the Carib and the rest of the world. This means a 2-3 month waiting line to take that test. 


Icing on the cake: CS results are reported in 3-month blocks so depending on your timing (as in mine), you may be waiting up to 3 months. I took my test in Philly late September, and I didn't feel confident about passing as I ran out of time. Despite the fact that the damn test cost me $1300 re-taking it was the least of my worries. Since there was no way of finding out until Dec 7th I only had till the 30th if God forbid, I had to re-take it. This obviously was extremely unlikely due to that waiting line. In order words, failing that test meant ruining my chances of getting a residency. So I got on my knees and I promised a few things if He answered my prayer.

Dec 7th came...lub dub lub dub (loud heart sounds). When I saw PASS on that screen, I jumped in the library like a crazy woman. God's love is truly an amazing thing to experience. So I've secured my place in the Match...although this doesn't mean I get a job. Whatevs; at least, I'm still in the running. Now, let's work on keeping some promises.