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[fatenfarid]

I Want To Say As Iam Resident,it Is One Of The Worse Day In My Life.wish It To End Rapidly

[ASG]

Hi,
Iam a student from US and iam planning on going to a med school in Poland as i couldnt get into a med school in the US.I tried the carribean but they are asking me to do all the pre req courses all over again as i got my bachelors from the UK. The med school in poland has US clinicals rotations.But iam not sure how hard it will be to get a residency back in the US?

Iwas considering the carribeans as we have seen a lot of students from there and i dont think they had too much of a problem to get a residency or rotations in the US. But if i do end up going to the carribean schools i would have to take atleast a year or two out to do all the pre req and the MCAT's. And polish school seems to be a better option in that matter.

Do you guys have any idea of how hard it might be to get a residency in the US being a IMG from poland? I would really appreciate it. Any help would be nice.

[Scottish Chap]

Hi,
Iam a student from US and iam planning on going to a med school in Poland as i couldnt get into a med school in the US.I tried the carribean but they are asking me to do all the pre req courses all over again as i got my bachelors from the UK. The med school in poland has US clinicals rotations.But iam not sure how hard it will be to get a residency back in the US?

Iwas considering the carribeans as we have seen a lot of students from there and i dont think they had too much of a problem to get a residency or rotations in the US. But if i do end up going to the carribean schools i would have to take atleast a year or two out to do all the pre req and the MCAT's. And polish school seems to be a better option in that matter.

Do you guys have any idea of how hard it might be to get a residency in the US being a IMG from poland? I would really appreciate it. Any help would be nice.

It's not impossible to make it back to the U.S. as a IMG, but the odds are significantly stacked against you. As a person in a similar situation to you (British undergrad), I would exhaust all options in the U.S. if this is where you want to end up - take more classes here to increase your GPA if you have to and also consider osteopathic medical schools, too - you will be better prepared to practice in the U.S. as a D.O. than a IMG from Europe. Good luck.

[Bambi]

How exactly do you go about applying for residencies in the U.S. as a U.K. graduate? I know you have to have passed all the parts of the USMLE but then what? Do you just fill in a form and it gets sent to all your choices and then they interview you or whatever or do you apply completely separately to each place? Also what are your chances of getting a really good residency if you have really high USMLE scores, good class rank and generally good cv?

[Scottish Chap]

How exactly do you go about applying for residencies in the U.S. as a U.K. graduate? I know you have to have passed all the parts of the USMLE but then what? Do you just fill in a form and it gets sent to all your choices and then they interview you or whatever or do you apply completely separately to each place? Also what are your chances of getting a really good residency if you have really high USMLE scores, good class rank and generally good cv?

1. Step 1 (8 hour exam) - can be taken by computer in the U.K.
2. Step 2CK (9 hour exam) - can be taken by computer in the U.K.
3. Step 2CS (all day) - must be taken in the U.S.
4. Apply for the ECFMG certificate:http://www.ecfmg.org/
5. Apply for U.S. residency position(s): http://www.nrmp.org/res_match/index.html
6. Attends interview(s)
7. Submit preferred rank list (programs do the same).
8. Wait for the computer to find a reciprocal match.
9. Apply for a J-1 work visa.
Really good residency is a subjective term. If you mean a non-competitive specialty in a competitive place (Hopkins, Harvard, Yale, Stanford etc.) or a competitive specialty (ortho, optho, ENT, plastics etc.) then it's definitely not easy for foreign-educated folks - but not impossible either - unless board scores are excellent and/or there is a significant political connection.

There are more residency positions in the U.S. than applicants ('undesirable areas'), so you'll match if this is what you want to do. Generally, the rank list in order of descending preference of programme directors is: U.S. M.D. students>U.S. D.O. students>U.S. citizens overseas>everyone else. I hope that helps.

[Bambi]

What about step 3?

How likely is it that I would end up somewhere rubbish though? Part of the reason I want to go is because I think I could have a better career over there but if I end up in a rubbish job there is no point going really. If a U.K. grad had better board scores and higher class rank and better cv than a U.S. grad would they still not get the job? Surely the hosps want whoever is best?

Exactly what is the difference between MD and DO schools by the way? I have been reading on SDN and it seems that MD is meant to be better but doesn't really say more than that.

[Bambi]

Just been reading those links and well if I applied to really good residencies and then didn't match I could just carry on in the UK instead right? Could I reaply the next year?

Thanks for all your help by the way

[Bambi]

Sorry, another question - are all international grads seen as the same? Surely a UK grad is seen as higher than someone that studied in the caribbean? Not meaning to sound stuck up or anything but grade wise and competition wise it is much harder to get into med school in the UK than in the caribbean so it wouldn't exactly be fair to be viewed in the same way.

[Scottish Chap]

Simple solution: don't apply to a programme you have no intention in joining. About comparing a U.S. to a British graduate: it's apples an oranges and they can't be compared in the way that you are trying to compare them. Keep in mind that a foreign medical graduate needs a work visa and many residency programs don't like dealing with that headache. Only today, I was working with a foreign medical graduate who joined the programme six weeks late because he had visa issues, and his life is being made miserable by everyone else in the programme.

If you graduate from ANY U.S. school, you hit the ground running. Foreign-educated physicians unequivocally are looked at after all stateside graduates. That may not seem fair, but that's the reality of the system over here - same thing when you apply to a U.S. medical school: they don't care where you got your degree in the U.K., how well you did, or what else above and beyond an American graduate that you have in your application.....they will consider you only after those applying with a U.S. undergraduate degree. I have first-hand experience with this. Bottom line: U.S. graduates will be looked at first and there are 126 allopathic medical schools in the U.S. and 26 osteopathic medical schools, so if this is a serious option for you, you need to work hard, score well on the USMLE, and it will work out. Trying to practice medicine in a country where you were not originally trained is not for the faint-hearted. While the subject matter may be the same, the emphasis, culture, and style can be shockingly different - even for a person whose native language is English.

About Step 3: U.S. graduates usually register for it no sooner than their first year in residency. You need your medical school parchment to apply. As such, foreign docs can occasionally take Step 3 in certain states (Like CT) without U.S. clinical experience. Step 3 is a two-day exam and similar in nature to Step 2.

Comparing the U.K. and Caribbean: again, you are comparing apples and oranges. Both systems use entirely different selection criteria and there are varying caliber of medical schools in the Caribbean and in the U.K. for that matter.

Comparing M.D. and D.O.: both are licensed to practice medicine in all 50 states and in any specialty. D.O. schools emphasise holistic medicine and teach joint manipulation etc. As such, D.O.s often are geared more toward the primary care specialties (medicine, paediatrics, family medicine, ob/gyn).

[osmosis]

how difficult would it be to get a decent residency in psychiatry or neurology in the us with a uk medical degree, but a us undergraduate degree?
secondly, what happens to you when you 've finished your specialization? do they kick you out?
with thanks.