Confused Aussie. Help!

[ALTorGT]

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Hi

B4 I start, I think its great that a forum like this exists where people like yourselves are able to give us confused souls some much needed advice. Thanks in advance for all your assistance. Here goes:

I'm a 5th year medical student in Australia. I was exploring my options
of working overseas during my career as a doctor. As I understand,
opportunities to practice at the cutting edge of medicine and be well
rewarded for it are to be found aplenty in the US.

At the end of my 5th year, we are given the choice of completing our
elective term overseas. I'd very much appreciate if you could answer a
few queries of mine:
1) Will an 8 week elective stint in the US significantly improve my
chances of eventually transferring over to the USA after graduation
for Post graduate residency training?
2) What is the current climate for international medical graduates like
in the USA and how plausible is it for Australian medical graduates to
gain a residency spot in the USA. I suppose Great USMLE scores and good reccomendations from top physicians in my home conuntry during internship here will stand in me in good stead? What more do I need to spruce up my application?
3) For those of you that know of any Austrlians who transferred over or are aware of previous posts with queries such as these, would you be able to give me their details. Much appreciated.


I am as yet undecided on the field of specialisation. I'm quite analytical/mechanical in my thought process and enjoy disciplines with a physiological bent to them. Within Internal Medicine Cardiology is
particularly appealing.

Biomechanics within Orthopaedic surgery and the sheer kicks one gets out of beautiful reconstructive or cosmetic work in Plastic Surgery tickles my fancy as well.

I notice that these are ultra competitive specialities in the USA. Considering my interests, what other disciplines would be just as exciting? I'm totally confused becasue no one field grabs me so completely. All are interesting to a certain extent. 🙄

Cheerio, Comrades. I think I suffer from Paralysis of Overanalysis. But I gotta do what I gotta do. Thanx a million once again in advance. 😍

Josh.

 

[Pontine]

I say go for it! There are plenty of hospitals in the US with foreign graduates. True .. it is harder to get into some of the more competitive residency programs, but anything you can do to give yourself an extra edge is advisable .. such as spending time here during an elective. Typically, elective rotations are 4 weeks long .. so you could get two in if you're here for 8wks. I would also choose a hospital that is known for accepting foreign graduates and preferrably one in a major city .. that way you can have fun while you're here. Who wants to work all the time!

Also .. I'm surprised you haven't run into any US medical students in Australia. Everyone seems to go there for an elective. I know at least four students who will be going in April, including myself. Two will be in Melbourne, and two in Perth.

Hope my response answers at least one of your questions.

 

[ALTorGT]

Thanx for your input pontine. Can you recommend any good hospitals known for their elective programs in SF, Houston and NY. I was in SF few months ago and absolutely loved the city. Or do you know of any people or resources that can help me in my search.
Thanx once again.

Originally posted by Pontine
I say go for it! There are plenty of hospitals in the US with foreign graduates. True .. it is harder to get into some of the more competitive residency programs, but anything you can do to give yourself an extra edge is advisable .. such as spending time here during an elective. Typically, elective rotations are 4 weeks long .. so you could get two in if you're here for 8wks. I would also choose a hospital that is known for accepting foreign graduates and preferrably one in a major city .. that way you can have fun while you're here. Who wants to work all the time!

Also .. I'm surprised you haven't run into any US medical students in Australia. Everyone seems to go there for an elective. I know at least four students who will be going in April, including myself. Two will be in Melbourne, and two in Perth.

Hope my response answers at least one of your questions.

 

[nychick]

This site may give you a useful strting point.

http://services.aamc.org/eec/student.cfm

It has info on all the US med school procedures for electives. Some take international students, some don't--you can search by this feature.

There are also non-med school programs that take IMGs--the best way to find out about them is to check out www.scutwork.com, or blindly contact programs in FREIDA in the region/specialty you are interested in.

Find a specialty you want, then pick a region and read about the programs. There are usually links to the websites there as well.

Also, I interviewed at three internal residency prelim years (all also offered categorical residencies). I highly recommend St. Raphael's in New Haven, CT. I really liked the place, and it is affiliated with Yale. They offer a clerkship. Go here for more info.

http://www.srhs.org/gme_clerkship.asp

 

[foreignmd]

To your questions:
1. Yes, definitely!!! Do the 2 (or even more, if you can afford it) rotations, and get recommendation letters from there, they will have a heavier impact than outside-of-US rec. letters. And if you are really serious about the US postgraduate training, don't take your electives as vacation, you better work your butt off!!! Take a vacation later! Also, I would disagree about doing the rotation in a IMG-friendly hospital, try to arrange in high-power academic place with a strong reputation (IMG-friendly places have usually a worse reputation just due to the fact they are IMG-friendly). I managed to arrange a rotation at Harvard.
2. Internal Medicine is very IMG friendly, and so are FP and Peds, I've heard. Good board scores help, for sure.
3. Cannot answer since I am not from Australia, but I would imagine that you being a native English speaker would give you an advantage over the rest of us...
Good luck!

 

[jon_jon]

After doing your 8 weeks of electives, you may want to consider doing a year or two of research at a US medical school or hospital before applying, especially if you want to apply to one of the more competitive speacialties.

This will give you the opportunity to work with US physicians and get an idea of what kind of cutting-edge medical research is being done in the US. You may have opportunities to attend conferences and present posters/papers. This can help build up your CV as well as allow you to network with people from other institutions where you may be interested in doing your residency.

If you are considering eventually practicing medicine in Australia, you may want to do your residency in Australia and do your fellowship in the US.