MD & DO *Foreign medical student in need of some help*

[Doc Q]

Hello there. I'm a Medical student from Brazil, Universidade de Brasília, currently going to the third of six years at med school. I'm going to make many questions, so feel free to just answer whatever you feel like doing so. I'm interested in doing residency at the US, and I have already gotten pretty much all the basics on what to do, including resource-wise. The thing is, it is all extremely expensive for me. Just so you guys can have an idea from where I'm coming from, here residency programs will pay off usually what would be around the equivalent of $10k a year. Barely 10k tbh. I'm telling all of this because I can't really afford to buy all the resources required for step 1. Uworld requiring me 400+ just for 6 months? That's way too much for me. And I already took notice that simply Pirate Bay'ing some old Qbanks from Uworld won't cut the deal, because they are just screenshots. And, infuriatingly, this is, by general consensus, the most needed resource. I know the whole process is going to be very expensive, but at least many of the expenses are over time (with interviews and such), but the initial requirement from my (truly, my family's) wallet is kinda rough. So, here it is: anyone suceeded in doing great (240+) at the USMLE without expending too much on resources? A rather unorthodox journey of sorts?

Just a few more questions regarding residency and some general stuff as well. So, being an international student already means I need to be excellent to get into a residency program in general, but what about the competitive ones? Does anyone know if it is possible for someone like me to do ortho or other tough to get into residency programs? I'm currently interested in Neurology, which is not that competitive, but I still have some time to change my mind. Also, I've taken a look at a Qbank from Step 1, and I was quite shocked by how hard some were. For those who are already practicing (or are just more experienced), do you actually need that level of expertise at the basic sciences in order to be a good medical doctor in the U.S? Is every bit of that memorization actually important, or it's more about the exam than anything else? I mean, clearly most of what is studied is very important, but I think you get the point of why I'm asking. Brazilian med schools don't give quite the emphasis on basic subjects, but I'll just have to deal with it. Finally, anyone would be aware of some good opportunities to get a clerkship somewhere, or how should I proceed to get one?

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[OrthoTraumaMD]

Forget about competitive residency programs. They are hard to get even for US graduates— in my program, we picked 5 out of 700 applications for example and basically everyone was US. I will defer to the rest of SDN for your other questions.

 

[txplcoord]

There's a lot to unpack here. I'll just address the concerns about the price of Uworld. It's important to understand that that $400 is not only the best $400 you can spend preparing for the USMLE, but it is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of taking the USMLE (Step 2 CS is about $1200, Step 1 and 2CK are about $700 each), the cost of applying to residencies through ERAS which will run into the thousands of dollars, and the cost of traveling to interviews. These costs are not necessarily spread out - you have to pay ERAS when you submit all at once. These costs can be minimized to a small extent, but they can't be eliminated. The other thing to realize is that medical school, for the most part, is very very expensive in the US and most medical students have upwards of $200,000 of student debt. Students in the US are willing to take on the cost of all of these things. If you're serious about trying to match in the US, you need to be realistic about the financial investment.

 

[lawrencewellsbourne]

in 2019 there were only 2 FMG's who matched into ortho, both of their step 1 scores were in the range of 231-240. and both of them had more than 5 publications.

i would take that with a grain of salt though. the data also shows 2 applicants who had over 260 on Step 1 and still didn't match.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Hello there. I'm a Medical student from Brazil, Universidade de Brasília, currently going to the third of six years at med school. I'm going to make many questions, so feel free to just answer whatever you feel like doing so. I'm interested in doing residency at the US, and I have already gotten pretty much all the basics on what to do, including resource-wise. The thing is, it is all extremely expensive for me. Just so you guys can have an idea from where I'm coming from, here residency programs will pay off usually what would be around the equivalent of $10k a year. Barely 10k tbh. I'm telling all of this because I can't really afford to buy all the resources required for step 1. Uworld requiring me 400+ just for 6 months? That's way too much for me. And I already took notice that simply Pirate Bay'ing some old Qbanks from Uworld won't cut the deal, because they are just screenshots. And, infuriatingly, this is, by general consensus, the most needed resource. I know the whole process is going to be very expensive, but at least many of the expenses are over time (with interviews and such), but the initial requirement from my (truly, my family's) wallet is kinda rough. So, here it is: anyone suceeded in doing great (240+) at the USMLE without expending too much on resources? A rather unorthodox journey of sorts?

There's no way around this--the cards are absolutely stacked against foreign medical graduates when it comes to applying to a residency in the U.S. As one of the other users said, the cost of actually taking the exams and then applying for residencies (when you'll likely need to apply to 100+ programs) is enormous. I don't have a great answer for you--if $400 is really a huge burden for you at this time, I think you need to be honest with yourself and decide whether this plan is realistic.

Just a few more questions regarding residency and some general stuff as well. So, being an international student already means I need to be excellent to get into a residency program in general, but what about the competitive ones? Does anyone know if it is possible for someone like me to do ortho or other tough to get into residency programs? I'm currently interested in Neurology, which is not that competitive, but I still have some time to change my mind.

I wouldn't worry about the what-ifs of whether you eventually might be interested in one of the competitive specialties. Take step 1 first and let that dictate whether any of the competitive specialties are even on the table.

Also, I've taken a look at a Qbank from Step 1, and I was quite shocked by how hard some were. For those who are already practicing (or are just more experienced), do you actually need that level of expertise at the basic sciences in order to be a good medical doctor in the U.S? Is every bit of that memorization actually important, or it's more about the exam than anything else?

Honestly, it really doesn't matter whether it's necessary to be a good doctor. That is the level of detail that American graduates are being tested on, and if you want to practice in the US you have to play the same game.

Finally, anyone would be aware of some good opportunities to get a clerkship somewhere, or how should I proceed to get one?

Most US medical schools will have some information about visiting rotations on their websites. A number of them require that you sit for step 1 before you're eligible, unless there's a special arrangement between your school and theirs, so this is also something I wouldn't worry about until you get past step 1.