COMPLEX QUESTION about Internal med residency for an IMG

[galkim]

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Hi!

i'm 5th year med student(6-year program) from Europe, and i just got the results for my step 1 exam: 226/94.

another thing is that me and my girfriend/soon to be wife, are both planning to move to the US, and while she hasn't done her step 1 yet, i'm guessing that her score would be a similar one, and she wants to go for general surgery.

i'm interested in internal med, and i was wondering what should we expect with these kind of scores + the fact that we're IMG's?

what things should both of us try to achieve in order to get residencies(research, rotations, etc...)?

please let me know what are the MOST important things, and what could be a worse case scenario?

 

[gutonc]

Hi!

i'm 5th year med student(6-year program) from Europe, and i just got the results for my step 1 exam: 226/94.

another thing is that me and my girfriend/soon to be wife, are both planning to move to the US, and while she hasn't done her step 1 yet, i'm guessing that her score would be a similar one, and she wants to go for general surgery.

i'm interested in internal med, and i was wondering what should we expect with these kind of scores + the fact that we're IMG's?

what things should both of us try to achieve in order to get residencies(research, rotations, etc...)?

please let me know what are the MOST important things, and what could be a worse case scenario?

USCE (Clinical Experience) is the #1, #2 and #3 most important thing you need to successfully match in the US. #s 4-6 are Step scores. Your score is decent but not great. You need to take Step 2 soon and do better (a 240+ would be good). Your GF needs to take them both soon as well and do as well or better than you did.

Worst case scenario? Neither of you matches and you wind up staying in whichever country you're in now.

 

[tarlovcyst]

USCE (Clinical Experience) is the #1, #2 and #3 most important thing you need to successfully match in the US. #s 4-6 are Step scores. Your score is decent but not great. You need to take Step 2 soon and do better (a 240+ would be good). Your GF needs to take them both soon as well and do as well or better than you did.

Worst case scenario? Neither of you matches and you wind up staying in whichever country you're in now.

Indeed, you have three orders of business.

1. You need clinical experience -- at least 6 months. Some programs require 3 months, some ask for observerships, while some others ask for non-observership rotations. Depends on where you want to go and what programs you are looking at. Regardless, for an IMG, you need US clinical experience. It takes a lot of time and effort to come to the US to do these rotations, but it is absolutely necessary. Choose wisely, because you often will have a better chance for residency at the hospital you do this rotation at... because they know you.

2. You need LORs (letters) from US attending doctors -- the higher their position, the better. The best letters for IMGs come from other program directors or a chairman. Ideally, you will have at least 3 letters from US physicians. Again, this depends on order of business #1, because you will ask the attending that you are working with for your rotation.

3. Your step 1 score is average. Most IMGs from other countries that I've seen get interviews have 99s on their USMLE scores. 94 is pretty good, but when you're competing against applicants from India, you can't get better than a 99. You still have step 2 CK, which has been shown to be more clinically significant than step 1. Aim high for your CK score. If you take step 3 and do well, you will also have a huge advantage when applying. Programs can the offer you a pre-match position into their residency... granted that you graduated from medical school already. I would also advise taking Step 2 CS (ECFMG in your case) as early as possible.

It's harder for IMGs to get into a US residency, and most call it unfair. But if I wanted to be a doctor in your country, then it would be tough for me too. These are necessary for you to be competitive in the match.

Thanks for the thread.

 

[galkim]

thanks for the help!

two more questions:

-what about clinical experience as a working physician in a european country? will that help?
- can u tell me more about the pre-match position that you have mentioned?

 

[sam1999]

thanks for the help!

two more questions:

-what about clinical experience as a working physician in a european country? will that help?
- can u tell me more about the pre-match position that you have mentioned?

Not much, you need USCE

 

[gutonc]

thanks for the help!

two more questions:

-what about clinical experience as a working physician in a european country? will that help?
- can u tell me more about the pre-match position that you have mentioned?

Without USCE, foreign clinical experience will be largely ignored by US programs. It may help you over another foreign grad with otherwise identical stats to you but isn't much help overall.

A pre-match is when a spot is offered to you prior to the Match. You can do this if you are a foreign grad or a DO. The advantage is that you are guaranteed a spot. The downside is that, with some exceptions, they tend not to come from the best programs out there.

 

[Hassler]

Although I'm no expert in this, I would assume that it also depends on which European country you are talking about.

 

[gutonc]

Although I'm no expert in this, I would assume that it also depends on which European country you are talking about.

A tiny little bit...but not that much. If you spend a few years as a resident/registrar in Aus/NZ, the UK or Ireland, it would be better than similar work in Croatia or Romania, but most programs will still want some USCE.

 

[ResidentMD]

A tiny little bit...but not that much. If you spend a few years as a resident/registrar in Aus/NZ, the UK or Ireland, it would be better than similar work in Croatia or Romania, but most programs will still want some USCE.

Agreed...possibly even Canada..but the USCE is still the crux.

By the way, I was rather amused by this sentence of yours. How did you seem to predict this?

Hi!

i'm 5th year med student(6-year program) from Europe, and i just got the results for my step 1 exam: 226/94.

another thing is that me and my girfriend/soon to be wife, are both planning to move to the US, and while she hasn't done her step 1 yet, i'm guessing that her score would be a similar one, and she wants to go for general surgery.

i'm interested in internal med, and i was wondering what should we expect with these kind of scores + the fact that we're IMG's?

what things should both of us try to achieve in order to get residencies(research, rotations, etc...)?

please let me know what are the MOST important things, and what could be a worse case scenario?

 

[galkim]

what do u mean?

 

[yankeescard]

I think residentmd probably finds it a bit presumptuous on your part assuming that your SO would get the same score as you. The USMLE's are a strange beast and while you all may have the same grades in basic sciences, you may find that she scores significantly better/worse than you. Regardless, I think the most important point in all these posts is that getting USCE is the best bet in getting into a competitive residency in internal medicine (assuming you both do well on your USMLEs)...Good luck!