UK-US transition - timing; a question for US doctors graduated from UK

[pacoblue]

Hi all,

Thanks a lot for helping me with my previous thread!!

I was trying to plan when to take USMLE exams and found out that our F1 end in August. Now, I think (correctly if i am wrong) the US residency starts around June/July?
Does this mean that I would have to have a gap year following F1? or is there anyway to get around this prob? (do we have to do F1 to be eligible for US residencies?)

When will be the best time to take step 1 and 2CK/CS? (I was thinking of taking step 1 just before my elective (December 2009) and step 2 CK/CS in a gap between finals and F1..)

and another question.. Do US graduates go straight into residency or do they have to do something equivalent of F1 (intern?)

have a wicked weekend everyone!

[Scottish Chap]

Hi all,

Thanks a lot for helping me with my previous thread!!

I was trying to plan when to take USMLE exams and found out that our F1 end in August. Now, I think (correctly if i am wrong) the US residency starts around June/July?
Does this mean that I would have to have a gap year following F1? or is there anyway to get around this prob? (do we have to do F1 to be eligible for US residencies?)

When will be the best time to take step 1 and 2CK/CS? (I was thinking of taking step 1 just before my elective (December 2009) and step 2 CK/CS in a gap between finals and F1..)

and another question.. Do US graduates go straight into residency or do they have to do something equivalent of F1 (intern?)

have a wicked weekend everyone!

U.S. residency positions start on July 1. Before you are eligible to apply, you need your ECFMG certificate, which requires a passing score on Step 1 and Step 2.

Step 1 can be completed any time, but following all of the basic sciences in medical school is best. Step 2 is a little easier and covers only clinical application. I know several foreign medical graduates who took Step 2 before Step 1 because they had been working for years.

U.S. graduates go straight into their specialty with a few exceptions where you need to do a preliminary medicine or transitional year first (ophthalmology, dermatology, anesthesiology, PM and R etc.)

[parismed]

So it is possible to go straight from UK med school to a US residency? It's not necessary to complete FI/F2?
I am a second year UK medical student and am planning to take Step 1 this summer, when is the best time for me to take step 2, along with finals?
Any help would be appreciated
P

[Scottish Chap]

So it is possible to go straight from UK med school to a US residency? It's not necessary to complete FI/F2?
I am a second year UK medical student and am planning to take Step 1 this summer, when is the best time for me to take step 2, along with finals?
Any help would be appreciated
P

That is correct. U.S. residency programs don't count residency training in another country, so they don't care. Take Step 2 during year 4 or 5. Keep in mind that U.S. residency positions starting on July 1 conduct interviews from November (the year before) to January, and I think that this is the reason that many British medical students end up doing a year of postgrad training in the U.K.