MelissaRichards said:
Any IMG will become profoundly depressed after reading this article, I think:
Critical conditions: Physicians educated abroad work in low-paying jobs as they struggle to get certification. I feel sorry for those IMGs who easily fall for our Americans' comforting-nature at the talking-level. The proof is in the pudding. The numbers look very awful. Why to waste all the application money and apply to so many programs that don?t want you, basically? The doors seem closed, even though they may never acknowledge it openly. I cannot get that good-looking, gas-pumping, poor MD guy, out of my mind! Every year, he struggled to save from his measly income, to gather enough funds to apply. He thinks, mostly his application found its way to a trashcan, where other IMG-dreams must have been in waiting!
I read the article to which your post is linked; and while I give your concern the benefit of the doubt, I do feel that you may be ignorant to the plight of the average US Medical Student/Grad.
First, I have taught at/for Kaplan nearly three years. I originally had not considered teaching for a test service. However, during my preperation for the MCAT, I (an American pre-Med) realized that admission to US Medical Schools was/is VERY competitive for even the most outstanding students; so, I took the prep class -- as did most of my aspiring classmates. Three thousand dollars, and a couple hundred hours later, my efforts paid off, I was accepted: many of my friends were not so lucky!
Second, do you have any idea how much debt is incurred by the average medical student attending a US Medical College? Well over $160,000.00! No, that does not include undergraduate loans, admissions applications, interview trips, etc.... Further, I recently took the USMLE Step 1 exam -- one of the exams that is also required of IMG's -- and again I was out $2000.00 ( many of my classmates were out well over $5500.00, but I work for Kaplan). Further, I, like all med students, still have Steps 2 and 3 on the horizon.
Third, if you'll browse through some of these threads, you'll notice that many people are looking forward to residency interviews. Undoubtedly you'll also notice that many people are concerned about hotels, transportation, meals, clothing and other intangibles that invariably make even the best estimates skyrocket (BTW good luck to all -- including IMGs). And next year, we have the opportunity to fork out an extra $1000.00 for the opportunity to examine fake patients
!
While I do understand the concern, I do think that the article is a bit misleading. Likely there are a few qualified IMGs who fail to get through the licensing process; however, there are likely more US grads who fall through the same cracks. Finally, from MY EXPERIENCE, most IMGs who fail to obtain licensing in the US are either not english proficient (which helps to explain the extra time spent studying -- many at our Kaplan center study while using two or three dictionaries) or they are graduates of inferior Medical Schools, though I will admit that MOST international schools are fine schools!
Hope this doesn't sound condescending, I assure you that I wrote it with the best of intentions. Often these posts can be read in several ways; so, I thought I would emphasize this last point.
