Success Stories - Orthopedic Surgery Residency Match - Dr Nequesha Mohamed

Описание: Orthopedic Surgery Residency Match - An interview with Canadian native, UMHS Grad Nequesha Mohamed, M.D.

Scott Harrah, MA spoke to Dr. Mohamed about her upcoming Orthopedic Surgery residency, why she always wanted to be a doctor as well as her research, and how she managed to Match after being out of med school for several years.

Check out the full blog interview here: https://www.umhs-sk.org/blog/success-...

For more information about How to become an Orthopedic Surgeon, click here: https://www.umhs-sk.org/blog/how-to-b...

For information about UMHS Medical School - click here: https://www.umhs-sk.org/caribbean-med...


How research helped her obtain residency

Since she did not Match right away, Dr. Mohamed admits she had to be persistent and persevere. 

“You kind of get in that mindset of, ‘Well, maybe this isn't something that I can get into.’ It's a very competitive field and IMGs are typically not accepted at a lot of programs. So, for me, it was disheartening because you want to follow your dreams, but it makes it so much more difficult when you don't see any paths in front of you. But I was lucky enough to do an Orthopedic Surgery research rotation. And I found myself a mentor there, Dr. Ronald Delanois. I did a lot of research. I published many papers in the orthopedic field, and that ultimately led me to where I am now at Wake Forest in North Carolina, where they have a physician-scientist track. 

Overcoming not Matching on first try:

Not everyone Matches on the first try, and Dr. Mohamed’s story is unusual indeed. 

“I applied for the Match. I tried to do General Surgery as my first choice because we obviously have some success there. And although I got interviews, I ultimately didn't Match there. And I think part of it was being an IMG.  But part of it was also being a Canadian at the time, needing a visa to get into a lot of these programs, all of which held me back.


Why did Dr. Mohamed choose to study medicine abroad at UMHS over other schools?

“As some people will know, the Canadian medical system is very difficult to get into. There's only a handful of schools in each province. And while I did fairly well in my undergrad, I had a couple of struggles in a couple of classes.  So, looking at options that were available to me, I knew that I had to be a doctor and I wasn't going to stop. And UMHS came up as one of those options to go to the Caribbean and do medical school. And out of the ones that I'd researched, I felt like UMHS put the most effort into trying to answer my questions and trying to make me feel comfortable going to another country to study medicine. So that was really what swayed me to choose this school and saying, okay, they seem like they care about their students and they're going to set you up to be successful. So, I took the chance and ended up down in St. Kitts and here I am.”

There were numerous professors and staff members at UMHS that helped Dr. Mohamed along the way.

 “There were a lot of great professors on the island. Many of them, it's funny thinking back that you could tell there was a difference in the way they taught and quite a few of them. Dr. Prakash Mungli was a great professor. There is Dr. Girish Kotwal, the late Dr. Michael Doherty, and Dr. Anoop Jalan.

 How UMHS helped her reach goals

One part of the UMHS journey was especially beneficial to Dr. Mohamed.

“I think one of the things that helped me to get to where I am now is the clinical rotation structure. I know that when I was going through it, we were sent all over the country. We didn't necessarily have a specific hub to go to, but I tried to finish as many as I could in one area. And that ended up being in Baltimore, Maryland. The clinical rotations coordinator said ‘Hey, you know, you need four more weeks to finish your education. There's this research rotation that's four weeks that can start at any time. And I've heard students do well, they publish when they go through there.’ So, being able to be flexible, but having those relationships that UMHS built was one of the things that allowed me to succeed.”

Advice for the Match

Dr. Mohamed said any UMHS student who has questions about the Match or is not successful on the first attempt should first contact Patrick McCormick and his staff in the Office of Academic & Student Affairs in New York City.

TimeStamps -
00:00 Nequesha Mohamed, MD
00:22 Information about Dr. Mohamed
00:28 What is Orthopedic surgery
02:32 How research helped her obtain residency
04:25 Why Dr. Mohamed decided to attend UMHS
05:40 Professors that made a difference
07:20 Clinical rotation structure
07:53 Advice for the Match