How I Matched into Family Medicine After Multiple Unmatched Attempts | IMG Success Story + Tips

Yes — this is a super late post!

I found it in my drafts and decided to finally share my journey. If you’re an IMG (International Medical Graduate) still waiting for your Match breakthrough, I hope this gives you some encouragement and direction.

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My Background: Two Unmatched Cycles

I graduated from medical school in 2015.

That year, I applied for the NRMP Match, got a few interviews, but didn’t match.

The following year, I applied again.
No interviews.
Nothing in SOAP (Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program) either.

It was discouraging, and I took a step back for a few years to reassess and rebuild my path.

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My Comeback Year: 2022

In 2022, I decided to try again — this time with a completely revamped strategy.

I applied to:

• 114 Internal Medicine programs

• 86 Family Medicine programs

I used Match A Resident to screen programs and focus only on the ones that fit my credentials and timeline.

During that cycle, I received two Family Medicine interviews: one through the NRMP and one from a Prematch program.

I was offered a Prematch position, accepted it, and withdrew from the Match before ranking.
After years of uncertainty, I had finally matched!

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What I Did the Year Before Matching

Here’s everything I focused on during the year before I successfully matched. This is what I believe made the biggest difference:

✅ Worked a U.S. clinical job (2022): I made sure my role allowed me to earn strong Letters of Recommendation (LORs).

✅ Completed a research publication course: This helped me gain publications and strengthen the academic side of my CV.

✅ Earned my Medical Assistant certification: I completed my classes, externship, and NHA certification through Stepful  which gave me both hands-on experience and additional LORs.

✅ Did a 1-month externship: This added U.S. clinical experience and another strong LOR to my application.

✅ Used Match A Resident: It saved me time and helped me focus on IMG-friendly Family Medicine and Internal Medicine programs.

✅ Practiced IVs and procedures: I practiced with colleagues and even attendings who offered to help through social media (Twitter, mainly).

✅ Refined my Personal Statement: I followed advice from Dr. Petersen in the MSSNY ERAS webinar — especially his tips on how to structure the personal statement to tell a cohesive story.
Watch it here: ERAS Webinar – Dr. Petersen’s Talk on PS.

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My Experience Searching for Research Opportunities

If you’re an IMG trying to strengthen your CV with research experience, here’s what I learned:

• Research Fellow positions: Many prefer PhDs or postdocs. One program even said, “no medical graduates.”

• Lab positions: Often involve animal research, which wasn’t for me.

• Clinical Research Coordinator roles: I completed GCP and CRC certifications, but many volunteer positions expected one full year of service before allowing any shadowing or clinical exposure.

• Research Assistant/Data roles: Despite my clinical background, many employers focused on lack of research software experience.

After months of trying, I realized my time was better spent gaining hands-on clinical experience and publications rather than chasing unpaid research roles.

So, I shifted my focus, and it worked.

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Key Takeaways for IMGs Reapplying to the Match

1. Gain real U.S. clinical experience. Prioritize settings where you can earn strong LORs.

2. Update your CV strategically. Add certifications, publications, and new clinical roles that demonstrate growth.

3. Be intentional with your personal statement. Highlight your journey and what you learned from setbacks.

4. Use tools like Match A Resident. It helps you identify IMG-friendly programs faster.

5. Don’t be afraid to pivot. I didn’t get research roles, but becoming a certified Medical Assistant opened more doors than I expected. 

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Helpful Resources

• Stepful Medical Assistant Program (My Referral Link): https://www.stepful.com/medical-assistant?grsf=uja6it

• Dr. Petersen’s ERAS Webinar (Personal Statement Advice): https://youtu.be/Rvm5KB3P34Y

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Final Thoughts

If you’re an IMG reapplicant or someone who has gone unmatched before, please know that it’s not over.

Every cycle is a chance to rebuild, refine, and approach things with a smarter strategy.
Your gap years don’t define you; your persistence does.

I matched after years of rejections and silence, and so can you.

Dave Chappelle Stand-Up Monologue - SNL

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Mistakes to avoid when preparing for the USMLE

Here's a list of things I wish I did differently for all the steps.

USMLE Step 1

1) I would have started the uworld qbank in the last semester of Basic Sciences.
In my last Basic sciences semester, I was mostly using Kaplan videos for Pharmacology and the First Aid book generally. I also used Pathoma videos in the previous term for Pathology.
I started doing uworld questions only after completing my fifth term exams. I underestimated the importance of a question bank in preparing for the USMLE, so I did a lot of reading and not as much of the question bank as I should have done. Well, not as thoroughly as I did for the subsequent exams. I had two months to study after my Basic sciences before clinical rotations started. In hindsight, it would have been more beneficial for me use the qbank for more than 50% of my preparations for this 8-hour exam. Instead I focused more on retaining knowledge with the use of DIT and Kaplan videos.

USMLE Step 2 CK

1) I would have scheduled my elective rotations with either a gap to study or scheduled a lighter rotation during my preparations. In the month of my exam was a tedious Pediatric rotation, and those are hard to come by in NYC, so I stuck with it.
2) I would have cut down on the note-taking from uworld. So I may have gone overboard on this while trying to get every detail from the qbank. This surely took away from the limited amount of time I had to prepare. On the bright side, I used the notes to review certain topics while preparing for step 3.

USMLE Step 3

1) I would have had at least a morning or afternoon free after the first day. I had some time after the first day on my initial schedule. But the only schedule available when I moved my exam forward was two consecutive days (the first in the afternoon and second, the next morning). This was terrible, especially since I already find it hard to fall asleep on a regular day. It was worse because of all the caffeine I had that evening. Thank God I found the second day easier and the CCS cases were super short, because I was so sleep-deprived, I was trying really hard to stay awake.
2) I maybe would have gotten another qbank in addition to uworld. I say this because I dropped about 20 points from my step 1 and 2 scores despite doing the best on uworld for all of them. But passing is the most important thing for step 3.

Preparing For The USMLE Step 3

How I prepared for and passed the USMLE step 3

I found this to be the hardest of all the USMLE tests. I say this because I performed the best on the uworld bank but my test score was about 20 points lower than my step 1 and CK scores. This is a two-day exam, with 6 blocks of about 44 questions each on the first day. Then 6 blocks of 33 questions on the second day, followed by 13 CCS cases. In total, this took me three months of uninterrupted studying. For graduates who have some time before residency or applications start, that seems like a perfect time to prepare. 

Here's the link to the usmle.org page showing an overview of the exam: 

http://www.usmle.org/step-3/

For this test, I only stuck to two books and one question bank. Here are all the tools I used:

Master the Boards: from Amazon. This, I reviewed once while going through uworld the first time, subject by subject.

Step 3 secrets: also from Amazon. This covers general principles in the first chapter and systems in the other chapters. The book also contains 96 CCS cases.

Uworld question bank with CCS cases: I went through this bank about 3 times and took the single, 4-block assessment exactly a month to my exam. By the third time, I was scoring in the 80's and 90% and I felt confident and satisfied with my performance. Some people may prefer not to repeat the question bank so many times, but I wanted to make sure that I understood the concepts behind the questions. At the time I took the assessment, I was scoring 60s and 70s on my mixed blocks (second round of uworld), and I wasn't satisfied with this performance,so I moved my exam dates to a month from that time. 

I got the qbank with CCS cases, so I was studying both parts concurrently. Uworld comes with some live cases and others which are the "read-out" cases. For the read-out cases, you'll have to login to uworld not through the app but on the actual uworld site online. There are about 41 of these.

I didn't do NBME assessments or any other assessment. I ended up with one point higher than my uworld assessment score. However, I have seen several people getting scores way different from the uworld assessment, so honestly, I wouldn't say it's an accurate estimation of one's performance on the real test.

Uworld Biostats Bank: I did all the questions in this bank. 

Free usmle.org FRED practice test: This has a few blocks of questions and sample CCS cases. I'm glad I did this because there were some questions repeated in the test, word for word. A few, but it only takes one point to fail, right?

The last and best tool I used was my notebook. I took notes from uworld, but only when I found myself missing questions more than once. However, I did make detailed Biostatistics notes with the formulas and definitions I needed. I still had my notebook from studying step 2 CK, which contained notes from my uworld CK qbank, so that came in handy.  

ECFMG, NBME, NRMP links for medical students and medical graduates

If you're just starting this journey and you need to know the basics, here are the websites to familiarize yourself with.

http://www.nbme.org/students/usmle.html Examination and assessment information

http://www.ecfmg.org/ All the information required for IMGs can be found here.

http://www.ecfmg.org/fees/index.html USMLE exam fees, etc.

http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/NRMP-and-ECFMG-Publish-Charting-Outcomes-in-the-Match-for-International-Medical-Graduates-Revised.PDF-File.pdf

http://www.nrmp.org/match-data/main-residency-match-data/