The Birthday Phonecall

I called the ECFMG today. I was predicting that some haggard old hog of a woman would pick up the phone, probably the type that has over 100 cats lying around at home (some dead, some alive, and some…not too sure) reeking of feces, urine and rotting cat carcasses. This was my mental picture of the folks at the ECFMG, directly proportional to my level of frustration. Instead, I was greeted by quite a pleasant young man. He was quite helpful and quickly verified that my fax had been received and my birthday was now entered correctly. I can now look forward to restarting my application. Yay!

Birthdate Verification

Ok, so I faxed them copies of my drivers licence and passport to prove my date of birth, and I'll check with them next week to see if they have updated my records...When that is confirmed, I can *start* the process of reapplying for Step 1. The stupid thing is, it would actually be faster, and less painful, to create a new "pre-"application record, compared to waiting for them to receive my fax and update my records, but they would most certainly find out. I'll let you know how it goes in after the weekend.

ECFMG Blues

Ok, I checked online at OASIS last night and discovered that my application for Step 1 was rejected. I called ECFMG this morning, and learned that I had entered my birthdate incorrectly, somehow reversing the month and date. Sounds like a simple thing to change, right? Wrong. I have to send a copy of my birth certificate, passport and now I have to wait for them to manually change it in my records. Then, I HAVE TO RESUBMIT EVERYTHING AGAIN! EVERYTHING. INCLUDING FORM 183 (Which will be identical to the last one). It's so frustrating. I can understand that the ECFMG has to be ever vigilant and verify everything -- we can't have a bunch of phony docs out there. But at the same time, there is no need for this asinine, power hungry attitude, forcing people to redo applications from scratch with only MINOR (and I mean minor) discrepancies. I heard someone had to resubmit an entire application because he was missing a "-" in his school name. It's this sort of bureaucratic red tape that makes the licensing procedure unnecessarily long. And it’s not like I’m asking them to license me...yet. All I’m asking if for the privilege of writing the exam. The next time you complain about the doctor shortage in your area, or how long the queue is to see your doctor, think about who you should complain to. Here we go again...

Dr. Hwang Dropped from Scientific American 50 for Faking Research

"With considerable disappointment, the editors of Scientific American are immediately removing Dr. Woo Suk Hwang from his honored position as Research Leader of the Year on the 2005 Scientific American 50 list."

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Hey, what's your number, baby?

Ok, this is hardly USMLE Step 1 related, but it's pretty freaky nonetheless. By the way, no news on the application. Just going to take it easy for a bit and think about what date to write it. In the meantime, try this out:

1. Grab a calculator. (you probably won't be able to do this one in your head, but if you can, holy crap)
2. Key in the first three digits of your phone number (NOT the area code)
3. Multiply by 80
4. Add 1
5. Multiply by 250
6. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number
7. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again.
8. Subtract 250
9. Divide number by 2

Do you recognize the answer?

House's House

House, Season 1, Episode 6, Actress Stacy Edwards plays a schizophrenic who turns out to have Wilson's Disease. Funny how she played Dr. Lisa Catera in Chicago Hope, and one of the first things she diagnosed was Wilson's Disease in one of Dr. Wilkes' patients. Anyone notice this or do I just watch too much TV? Also, did anyone else notice that House's address is 221B? Yes, it's Sherlock Holmes' address!

The 12 Days of Anticipation

I awoke from my deep slumber, ever so anxious as to the status of my Form 183. After all, I had put my faith in a group of strangers at the medical school office, whose efficiency, based on previous experience, has been somewhat questionable. As I typed the user name and password of my email account, I fought off images of my precious Form 183 being mailed to the wrong address, somehow ending up deep-fried in a Shanghai McDonalds or floating serenely down the Vltava River under the Charles Bridge in Prague. And so, imagine my surprise when, less than 2 weeks after submitting the form to the med school office, I received the following in my e-mail inbox (Huzzah!):

We are pleased to confirm that the Certification Statement (Form 183) of your USMLE application has been received by ECFMG. ECFMG typically processes on-line USMLE applications within 10 business days of receipt of both the on-line part and the Certification Statement. You may track the status of your application by using ECFMG's On-line Applicant Status and Information System (OASIS). Access OASIS on the ECFMG website at oasis.ecfmg.org.

What the hell do I do now...?

Is There a Doctor in the House?

Ok. I'll admit it. I'm addicted to House. No, not a physical structure serving as a dwelling for one or more persons, or that once popular musical genre that the kids used to dig. I'm talking about the tv show House. It's a new medical drama from the USA about a doctor who hates seeing patients and employs a team of well manicured, youngish doctors to do his dirty work.

What sets House about from other medical dramas is that it's actually about medicine. They take on a new case every week, generally an unusual condition, and spend most of the episode trying to decipher the mystery illness.

My only beef is the many hats worn by the same characters. For example, how many times will you see the same doctor perform a lumbar puncture, ultrasound, run an ELISA, and then break into a patient's house to investigate what kind of shampoo they use, all in the same day? Anyways, it's good entertainment. And the fact that you actually feel a bit smarter at the end of the episode alleviates some of the guilt you feel after spending the hour not studying.

All's Fair in Love and War

Today I learned that US (and Canadian -- Canadians are people too!) medical students only pay $455.00 to write the USMLE Step 1. In contrast, I, IMG, have to pay $695.00. I’m curious as to what they will be doing with the extra $240.00. It certainly can’t be used to provide test facilities overseas since I’m writing the exam in North America. And, when you register for the exam, there is a $120.00 surcharge for writing the exam outside of North America. So basically, if you are an IMG, and you are writing the exam outside of North America, you get kicked where it counts, and then while you’re down, you get kicked once more, just for good measure. We’re all equals, right? It’s just that some people are more equal than others. Do I sound bitter? Yeah. A little bit. But it’s just going to make me want to study that much harder. Ain’t nobody gonna hold me down.

The (Mis)Adventures of DrMom

Dear Fellow Step 1 Blog Readers:

I recently posted a message on an online forum (SDN) with a link to this blog. I was shocked to discover, that, within hours, not only was my message deleted, but my account on that forum was also removed by an rather heavy handed moderator with the screen-name DrMom (I can only assume this is not her legal, given name). In my defense, I posted another message on the same forum, which, within minutes, was promptly deleted. It reads:

Dear DrMom,

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I do, however, take offense to your removal of my SDN account without any notification or method of appeal. It is this sort of heavy handed moderating that makes the sharing of information unduly difficult.

Granted, my original post had a link to my blog, which for all intents and purposes has no products or services for sale, and serves only to provide timely information for students such as myself who are currently in the process of preparing for the USMLE. This is where I believe the SDN policy is inconsistent. What difference does it make if the link to my blog is within the message itself or within my signature? In both cases, users are still able to reach the same end point. Furthermore, the content of my original post contained no offensive, libelous or defamatory comments, and was well within the spirit of this forum.

I registered on SDN because I have found it to contain valuable information in many areas important to the medical student. I also registered in order to share what information I have gathered, in this case, with respect to the USMLE, and not simply to “register on SDN in order to promote my own website”. Unfortunately, I have been denied a means to make further contributions to SDN.

Kind Regards

------------------------------

DrMom's explanation for the deletion was as follows:

SDN's policy is to close accounts of anyone who registers for the sole purpose of advertising something in the regular forums. We do not give warning because it is a blatant violation of the Terms of Service for the site. We consistently count webpages in the same category as a product or service. I don't even usually send an email, so you got more consideration than most.

As you can see, she fails to understand the underlying issues at hand:

i) What difference does it make if you post a link in your message or beneath it, in your signature? Why does one constitute a violation of the terms of service, while the other, is an acceptable practice?

ii) How can you determine if the sole purpose of registering to the SDN was for advertising if you summarily deleted my account, denying me the opportunity to make any contribution, advertising or otherwise?

However, I do feel quite humbled that I, a lowly medical student, deserved the consideration of an electronic correspondence from her magnificence. How privileged I feel to have received this email from DrMom (according to her publicly viewable signature, a 4^th year student from the world renowned Oklahoma State University-College of Osteopathic Medicine, and… the “Official Mom of SDN”).

Update from ECFMG

I received an email from the ECFMG today confirming they had received my online application. Oddly, they address me as "doctor" which makes me feel a little weird, since I haven't graduated from medical school yet. The standard form letter continues to state, in that charmingly personal way that the ECFMG does so well, that once they receive Form 183 in the mail, they will review the entire application within 10 calendar days and will send me written notice of the outcome of my application. It's just a waiting game from here. Hopefully the mail won't get lost on its way to Philly, providing the medical school office has even posted the letter. (I should really check on that). You can track your status using your unique Application Identification Code on the On-line Applicant Status and Information System (OASIS). Or can you...? Please refer to the image below.


Apparently, someone isn't using my $695.00 very effectively.