Hi to all, I posted this in the Residency message board, but thought it might be worthwhile posting it on this board as well. Hope that's ok.
I'm a FMG graduating this year from a university in the UK. For many reasons, I want to emigrate to the US, but am finding the process of getting licensed to work there very complicated.
The basic process, as I understand, is:
1) Pass the USMLE
2) Get ECFMG certified
3) Apply for the residency matching
The problem is, for family reasons, I may need to stay on in the UK for the next 5 years or so. During this time, I will be working and continuing with my training in UK hospitals. So, here are some questions I have:
1) Will any of my specialty training in the UK count at all? Or will I have to start everything from scratch (redo all of residency)? Could I potentially have a shorter residency, seeing that I've had some years of training in the UK?
It's pretty depressing to know that I'll have to start all over again, at an age where I may have a family of my own which would make residency somewhat harder to go through. I know this would be the likely scenario, but am hoping against the odds that someone here has heard of FMGs whose prior specialty training in another country was recognised and had his/her residency length reduced.
2) In a thread below, someone mentioned that the longer you're out of med school, the harder it'll be to get into a residency program. Is this still the case even if I've been actively working as a doctor during those years after med school?
3) Is the matching process the only way to apply for residency positions?
4) Will recruiters help at all in this situation ?
Would greatly appreciate any info at all. The whole process is is complicated and feels rather overwhelming. If there are any FMG who managed to go through this and are now working in the US, could you please share your experience or give some guidance? Many thanks for reading this.
I'm a FMG graduating this year from a university in the UK. For many reasons, I want to emigrate to the US, but am finding the process of getting licensed to work there very complicated.
The basic process, as I understand, is:
1) Pass the USMLE
2) Get ECFMG certified
3) Apply for the residency matching
The problem is, for family reasons, I may need to stay on in the UK for the next 5 years or so. During this time, I will be working and continuing with my training in UK hospitals. So, here are some questions I have:
1) Will any of my specialty training in the UK count at all? Or will I have to start everything from scratch (redo all of residency)? Could I potentially have a shorter residency, seeing that I've had some years of training in the UK?
It's pretty depressing to know that I'll have to start all over again, at an age where I may have a family of my own which would make residency somewhat harder to go through. I know this would be the likely scenario, but am hoping against the odds that someone here has heard of FMGs whose prior specialty training in another country was recognised and had his/her residency length reduced.
2) In a thread below, someone mentioned that the longer you're out of med school, the harder it'll be to get into a residency program. Is this still the case even if I've been actively working as a doctor during those years after med school?
3) Is the matching process the only way to apply for residency positions?
4) Will recruiters help at all in this situation ?
Would greatly appreciate any info at all. The whole process is is complicated and feels rather overwhelming. If there are any FMG who managed to go through this and are now working in the US, could you please share your experience or give some guidance? Many thanks for reading this.
