hey guys..
I'm a pre-dental student who is a little bit confused in terms of what I want to do with my career.

I've been planning my college curricular based on my assumption that I wanted to do dentistry.
but recently, I've changed my mind to eye surgery (especially vision correction surgery)

I would like a straight-up answer from someone (if from experience, the best)
on my chances of becoming an ophthalmologist in the U.S.

I know I can't get into any American medical schools without a green card.
But how hard is it to get into a foreign medical school and getting into ophthalmology as residency???

Please let me know.

Here are my stats.

Overall GPA 3.4
science GPA 3.5
some research done, but no publications,
lots of community service hours
some leadership positions

I would like a straight-up answer from someone (if from experience, the best)
on my chances of becoming an ophthalmologist in the U.S.

I know I can't get into any American medical schools without a green card.
But how hard is it to get into a foreign medical school and getting into ophthalmology as residency???

Ophthalmology is among the most competive specialties. Qualified US grads have difficulties getting an Ophthalmology residency.

Statistically (http://www.ama-assn.org/vapp/freida/spcstsc/0,1238,240,00.html), there are a total of 88 IMGs, representing 6.9% of the total Ophthalmology residents. (Note that at least some, and likely many of these are very highly qualified IMGs with completed residencies from their home countries, PhDs and publications.)

I would not recommend going to a medical school abroad with the goal of obtaining an Ophthalmology residency in the U.S.

ophthalmology. Note the 'h' after the op, the ph is pronounced like the ph in phone, not op, like in optometry.

Opthalmology is among the most competive specialties. Qualified US grads have difficulties getting an Opthalmology residency.

Statistically (http://www.ama-assn.org/vapp/freida/spcstsc/0,1238,240,00.html), there are a total of 88 IMGs, representing 6.9% of the total Opthalmology residents. (Note that at least some, and likely many of these are very highly qualified IMGs with completed residencies from their home countries, PhDs and publications.)

I would not recommend going to a medical school abroad with the goal of obtaining an Opthalmology residency in the U.S.

hey guys..
I'm a pre-dental student who is a little bit confused in terms of what I want to do with my career.

I've been planning my college curricular based on my assumption that I wanted to do dentistry.
but recently, I've changed my mind to eye surgery (especially vision correction surgery)

I would like a straight-up answer from someone (if from experience, the best)
on my chances of becoming an ophthalmologist in the U.S.

I know I can't get into any American medical schools without a green card.
But how hard is it to get into a foreign medical school and getting into ophthalmology as residency???

Please let me know.

Here are my stats.

Overall GPA 3.4
science GPA 3.5
some research done, but no publications,
lots of community service hours
some leadership positions

you CAN get into american medical schools without a green card. i would suggest this over going to a foreign medical school because it will be easier generally for you to match from a US school

ophthalmology. Note the 'h' after the op, the ph is pronounced like the ph in phone, not op, like in optometry.

Thanks for pointing that out. I was aware of the pronunciation, I merely misspelled it.

Ophthalmology is among the most competive specialties. Qualified US grads have difficulties getting an Ophthalmology residency.

Statistically (http://www.ama-assn.org/vapp/freida/spcstsc/0,1238,240,00.html), there are a total of 88 IMGs, representing 6.9% of the total Ophthalmology residents. (Note that at least some, and likely many of these are very highly qualified IMGs with completed residencies from their home countries, PhDs and publications.)

I would not recommend going to a medical school abroad with the goal of obtaining an Ophthalmology residency in the U.S.

wow...
thanks for the great stats...
that woke me up from my unrealistic dreams...

yeah i guess i'll stick with dentistry.. hehe
there are many fields in dentistry that are really awarding in terms of work-hours, incomes etc.

thanks again~~

if you really want to go into ophthalmology, rock the MCATs and do a post bacc program if you want to boost your GPA (tho you probably don't need to). international students can definitely get into med sch without a green card.

and then kick ass in med sch of course :)