futuremed said:
It does not really matter to residency directors whether you have graduated from Sackler, RCSI or a less prestigious SGU.
Well now, we can't generalize
all program directors.
😉
futuremed said:
Certain hospitals (like UCSF) will not take FMG from any school, and that is that. I found that out from a recent Sackler grad. who had to do his residency in North Carolina, even though he wanted to do it in California. He matched only in North Carolina, and that is where he had to go.
True, some hospitals are notorious for not taking foreign medical graduates. My understanding of the Residency Match, however, is that you rank the programs. You only match in one location; you don't match at more than one program. So if your friend matched in North Carolina, then that's where he would go. Even if you match at the program that you rank first, you still only match there and that's where you have to go.
futuremed said:
Unfortunately, the "prestige" of offshore medical school does not seem to matter for certain specialties, or even certain hospitals. If FMGs are no allowed there, the name of the school will not help.
Highly competitive specialties like rad onc, urology, derm, etc., are extremely difficult to obtain coming straight out of a foreign med school ("prestigious" or not). Your last sentence here goes without saying.
futuremed said:
If anything, I was informed, it is the board scores that will be a bigger factor in determing where you match.
I think any medical student will agree that your USMLE scores are extremely important (or COMLEX if you're an osteopathic student and choose not to take the USMLE Steps).
futuremed said:
I also spoke to a residency director in one the New York hospitals, and she confirmed all that by telling me that it does not matter to her whether the person comes from Sackler or Ross. She told me to worry about the boards, and making sure that your school is legitimate in New York. I gues my point is that there is not much difference between different foreign medical schools in the eyes of residency directors, as long as the school has rights in that state.
You also have to consider that this is a residency director in New York, so I don't think you can accurately generalize for the residency programs in all other states, in all other hospitals. Her assessment will be true for her programs and possibly many others, but it's a huge leap to assume that her view follows for all other residency directors. I've met some residency directors that are FMGs--don't be surprised if their programs seem a little more welcoming to certain schools or FMGs from certain countries. Also, both Ross and Sackler students can do most of their clinicals in New York so they can often audition and make contacts that way. The residency directors may be able to see first-hand about a particular applicant or may obtain information from a familiar source (e.g., an attending in a neighboring hospital that the residency director knows). I've got some friends at Caribbean med schools that intend to apply almost exclusively at NY/NJ residency programs because they feel they'll have a better shot than if they were to apply to residency programs with similar reputations in other states.
futuremed said:
DO degree on the other hand, will not come with the same restrictions. The stigma will be there for both DO and FMG, but the rules will be more lenient for people with a DO degree.
Generally speaking, I'd agree with this statement. DOs, like I stated earlier, do tend to have an advantage in the match over the vast majority of FMGs. However, there are still some allopathic residencies that DOs have trouble getting (urology, rad onc, derm, ortho, neurosurg, ENT, ophthalmology). It sucks that the American Osteopathic Association backed out of the combined match. Of course, FMGs struggle trying to get these residencies too (probably even harder). But these residencies are pretty hard to get no matter where you go (even at US allo schools).
