Do PAs have better chances to get into residency programs?

[anadnav]

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Hello Everyone ,
I am an internationally trained physician from India and have been residing and working as a Physician's assistant in Toronto for last few years. I am planning to apply for family medicine residency programs in the US in the coming year.Can anyone tell me if PAs have better chances of getting into residency programs owing to their previous experience? as oppossed to previous expereince of work in clinical research or observership? Who would be the best person to talk to in this matter or which organization should I contact to get better ideas?
Thanks

 

[Winged Scapula]

Go to PA school if you want to be a PA. Do not if you desire to practice as a physician in the US.

There is no advantage to doing additional training as a PA (if you could even get in) to try and match as a resident physician.

NB: I was reading your post from my phone and didn't see that you are already working as a PA, not that you were thinking of going to PA school. At any rate, the last line stands: working as a PA does not engender any preference to entry into residency programs in the US.

 

[deleted6669]

you are not a physician assistant, you are an fmg.(and there is no 's in physician assistant by the way).
to become a pa you need to graduate from pa school and take and pass the national board exam.
I know there are parts of canada that use fmg's as pa's but that doesn't make you one.

 

[dragonfly99]

Wow. Some harsh responses on here.
I would say that being a PA probably won't help much in the residency application process. However, the fact that you are still doing clinical medicine as opposed to being off in a lab somewhere for 4 or 5 years I think is a good thing. It seems that the concensus of advice on here is that FMG's are judged mainly by the USMLE scores, their abilities with English (show in the personal statement and interview) and any letters of reference/recommendation from rotations done in the U.S. This makes some sense as most faculty in the US who are picking the residency candidates are not going to be familiar with schools in other countries and what their grading scales are, and they don't know how clinical rotations taught in other countries compare with rotations here in the U.S., in terms of what the student is expected to know and do. It also seems like people are always giving the opinion that the further out you are from med school, the worse it is as a residency applicant, so it probably would help to apply as soon as possible.

I guess with anyone who has been working in a medical office for some time, one question in the interviewers' minds might be, "Will this person adapt to residency and will he or she take feedback/criticism well?". I have worked with a foreign trained doc in a free clinic where I volunteer (I'm license in internal med and did residency already) and he is great with the patients, great at drawing blood, etc. and he knows quite a bit about infectious diseases that are treated in his country, but a couple of times I've asked him to give an immunization and order a lab on a patient, and he has said things like, "No, doctor, you don't want to give that/do that" when really YES I DID and had a good clinical reason to do so. So just realize that you probably know a lot of stuff, and probably some different stuff, than students trained in the US and may know some stuff that residents and attendings don't know, but they also know a lot of stuff that YOU don't know.

 

[mfrizzo3]

I would submit that a Pennsylvanian has just as much chance as everyone else. 😀

 

[anadnav]

Hello Dragonfly and all the other members who have taken a few moments to give me replies.Sorry due to work, I havent been able to check this post on a regular basis.Thankyou for your inputs which are valuable. I wish I could tell you some more stories of IMGs struggling in Toronto with jobs and palcement positions. In a place, where none of our previous qualifications are recognised and hospital jobs are both competitive and scarce , would you blame me , if I took up a PA's position instead offers to work in a warehouse/ clerical work in an office . So based on my circumstances, I'm doing, whatever I can to keep my clinical knowledge as current as possible and trying to put it to maximum use within the limited parameters of working but without a license to practice as a physician.
Nevertheless, I appreciate your taking the time to give me your honest opinions as it will help me to chart my future plans.
Thanks

 

[Winged Scapula]

anadnav...no one blames you for working as a PA if you cannot get licensed in Canada. I commend you for doing something to try and keep your skills sharp and am sorry that you cannot work in your intended specialty.

Our responses above were based on the first post which made it sound like you were intending for the PA position to increase your chances of matching, not because it was the only position you could get and you figured it was better than nothing.