IMG Spotlight: Samhitha Gundakaram
My IMG Story
By Samhitha Gundakaram, MBBS
I trained in a small medical college nestled in the Eastern Ghats of rural southern India. When I decided to pursue the USMLE and train in the United States, I was one of the first from my institution to take that path. There was no senior I knew ahead of me who had done it before, no one to call with questions about timelines, Step exams, or how to find rotations. Everything took twice the time and energy it might have for someone with an established mentor.
I turned to social media, reached out to strangers from various institutions, and sent hundreds of emails. I was fortunate to receive one or two replies. Planning my timeline, securing rotations, and preparing for Step exams all unfolded during the COVID pandemic, which added another layer of difficulty to an already uncertain process.
That journey ultimately led me to where I am today, training as an Internal Medicine resident in the United States and aspiring to be a future hematologist and medical oncologist. Along the way, something unexpected happened. After my match results, several peers and juniors from my college were inspired to explore the USMLE pathway themselves. I realized that, without planning for it, I had become the senior I always wanted to be.
I began giving back in small ways, first by mentoring peers at my institution and guiding them through the process from start to finish. Later, I volunteered with an IMG network, gave talks to students preparing for the USMLE, and created videos explaining the Step exams. What I learned along the way is that reading about the IMG journey online is not the same as speaking with someone you already know, someone who sat in the same classrooms, walked the same hallways, and understands the weight of your questions. This shared context is crucial.
The life of an IMG is not easy. You come to train in a beautiful, diverse country where people from all backgrounds come together, and that is genuinely one of the greatest gifts of this journey. It broadens your perspective and allows you to grow in ways you may not expect. But learning a new system, new rules, and a new way of practicing medicine is real work. It requires time and humility. That is why I believe mentorship goes beyond helping someone match into a specialty. It is a holistic process of developing a personality and values you can be proud of and qualities that stay with you long after your ambitions are achieved.
My involvement with the Southern Medical Association has deepened that commitment. Through the IMG Advocacy Committee, I work with colleagues who share the belief that no IMG should have to navigate this path alone. My goal is to be the person I once had to go searching for.
Dr. Gundakaram serves as the leader of SMA's IMG Mentorship & Networking Subcommittee.
