Anesthesiologist/IMG In Need Of Advice!!

[RussianCzar]

Doctors,

I need some advice from those who experienced a similar situation, or who hold more knowledge of the 'system' than I do.

I am an IMG and received my M.D. in 1986. I did my residency in Anesthesiology, and around 1990 had to move to the US for personal reasons. At that time, I had been offered assistance to obtain my ECFMG certification, but as soon as I landed on American soil, the tune changed and I was forced to look for immediate employment in order to survive. Then, shortly after, I had to bring my family to the US, for their protection, and for the past 13 years I had to work to survive and make sure my family was supplied for. My finances never allowed me to be able to purchase review materials or even pay for review courses or exam fees. Now, for the first time, I have the time (and hopefully the money ) to obtain my ECFMG certification, and hopefully be accepted in a residency program. I will be taking my Step 1 on May 2, and am planning on taking my TOEFL shortly after that, Step 2 around September, and CSA no later than November or December, in order to still be able to participate on next year's Match!

Some of my questions are:

a. How about being relatively older than the average medical student entering a residency program? Will that be a negative, or would most/some/any programs look at me as a more mature physician?

b. Would my prior training in Anesthesiology be something that would be looked upon with good eyes, or would it become a roadblock for me?

c. And the one I fear the most.... For personal reasons, I have this hiatus in medical practice, from 1990 until now. Will the programs take into account my personal and family struggles and understand that I didn't have much of a choice, or will this bite me on the butt, making it difficult, if not close to impossible, to be accepted into a program?

I am a good professional, and I know I can still prove my value, but how can I prove that to the ones deciding whether I am worth it or not?

Please share your input with me - I would greatly appreciate that!

RussianCzar

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[cajunmoon]

Russian Czar,
I know someone in a similar situation as yourself, an IMG who graduated in 1993, with two significant differences. He had no anesthesia experience, but had worked as a FP in his country since he graduated.
He scored above 240 on both step1 & step2 and got interviews from 13 of 37 places ( all highly respected university programs) he applied to.
Hope that helps.

 

[RussianCzar]

Thanks for replying! Actually, since most messages posted get answered right away or not at all, I was not expecting to hear from anyone.

I have a couple questions for you. Did your friend get matched anywhere after the interviews? If so, where. What school did he come from?

Also, another issue is preoccupying me a lot - Most programs require 3-5 letters of recommendation reflecting clinical involvement in the US medical setting. Since I am an IMG and still working on my ECFMG certification, I cannot by law lay my hands on a patient, and letters of recommendation (LOR) from my country of origin do not apply since they do not meet the US medical setting criterion. Some doctors told me that they would be willing to work with me, but since I cannot interact with patients, they said they would have reservations writing those letters. Do you know how your friend worked his way around this issue? It is disturbing that I might reach a point when all necessary preparations have been made, and I cannot apply because I lack the LOR's.


If you can, please reply with comments! Once again, thanks!

RussianCzar

 

[cajunmoon]

I'm not really sure but I think he had a couple of LOR's from his profs in med scool and he also did a few months of research (lab work) which does not involve patient contact. He is from India and is participating in this match.

 

[doctim]

do you know FOR SURE that you can not lay your hands on a patient? i've never heard of that law.

 

[RussianCzar]

Doctim,

What I 'heard' is that students attending American medical schools can interact (touch) their patients because that is part of their educational program, but it can be done, for insurance and liability purposes, only at the hospitals that are affiliated with the school the student attends, and under supervision.

Regarding IMG's, what I also 'heard' is that since we are not enrolled in an American medical school, the same privilege would NOT apply to us, meaning that 'touching' a patient would represent great liability and insurance risk taking on the part of the IMG and the physician working with us.

Now, supposing all I described is 100% accurate, do you know if it is possible to obtain a medical learning permit, which would grant me some flexibility? Is there such a thing?

Thanks for the comments!

RussianCzar

 

[soon2bdoc2003]

If you want to pull this off given these competetive times you have 2 options:

A) destroy the usmle. You will need 90+ on step 1 and 2. If you can break a 95 on step 1 all the better.

B) Do an externship. That is the only way you will be allowed to function within a hospital. When I did my gas rotation the externs job was to stock the fridge in the lounge every morning and perform meaningless tasks that fell under the guise of 'research'.

If you cant do either of these, you can always find a sweatshop program like westchester, lsu shreveport, etc. that will take you in as cheap labor, work you to the bone, and teach you nothing.

Good luck in any case.

 

[doctim]

russian czar,
i finally figured out what you are asking. you need to get MALPRACTICE INSURANCE so that you can touch patients. PM me and i'll give you a company that might be able to help you.
peace

 

[Lonestar]

RussianCzar,
forget the crap about obtaining a malpractice insurance. I have seen a couple of fmgs work in the ER at our hospital as techs and then shadow a couple of anesthesiologists. They also worked with ER docs and got letters that way. They worked in the ER for a couple of years in order to figure out the system.

Another guy I know, did research under a surgeon and then asked him if he could watch surgeries with him. He then got to know a couple of cool anesthesiologists and got glowing letters from them.

All of the foreign grads that i know did well on their Sep. I (234, 237, 245, 241). This is probably what got them the interviews. So, the point here is to kickass on Step I and try to get some connections in the OR.