Gastro elective at UMass....good?

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Blitz2006

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British IMG here, hoping to match into U.S for 2012 match.

Got offered Gastro elective at UMass for 2011. I'm interested in matching to Internal meds.

Gastro elective at UMass good idea? UMass @ Worcester have a decent IM program? Do they take IMGs on J1 visa?

Thanks,

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Hey, yes I heard UMass had a pretty great program in internal medicine. I'm not sure about IMG rates and whether they offer J1's however...
 
Hey, yes I heard UMass had a pretty great program in internal medicine. I'm not sure about IMG rates and whether they offer J1's however...

Yes they offer only J1s. A sizeable number of their IM residents are IMGs (very good quality).
 
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Sweet, thx for the helpful replies.

I guess UMass it is!

Now I gotta decide if I want to live in Worcester or Boston for the month....not sure if commuting 90 min each way is worth it though!
 
What happened to Mount Sinai? :)
 
they let you guys drive now? isnt that like total brainwarp?
 
Is it getting tougher as an IMG to get an elective at a top tier program?
 
Is it getting tougher as an IMG to get an elective at a top tier program?

No, its actually 'easier' to get electives at Top tier programs I think. You just need to pay mad cash.

For example, I got offers to do electives at

1) Harvard ($3500)/month
2) Brown ($3000)/month
3) Baylor ($1500)/month


Or I could go to a pretty decent program (UMass) for free :)

And I'm just a run of the mill med student. Also, I havent taken Step 1 yet, and most schools require Step 1 to do an elective. So my options were quite a bit limited.

But yeh, i would say a large proportion of schools require you to be a student of a LCME medical school (therefore, study within North America). So it is 'tougher' for IMGs....

I'm not convinced that going to ivy league schools makes that much of a difference for elective.

I'm going to Mt. Sinai because I know surgery programs like 'big names'. And Mount is $500, i guess pretty reasonable cost for a 'big name' school.
 
No, its actually 'easier' to get electives at Top tier programs I think. You just need to pay mad cash.

I'm not convinced that going to ivy league schools makes that much of a difference for elective.
.

You are right.

As an IMG, if you do an elective at UMass or UT-Houston (or a similar tier program), you have a much better chance of getting into their residency, as compared to doing it at BWH/MGH, in which case the letter will help you; but your chances of getting into their residency program are negligible (unless you have a fantabulous CV, which would make them choose you over 50 other MS4s who are 250+, AOA, multiple publications/significant research/international experience).
 
Thx for the confirmation,

and no, my application is far from my amazing. And I don't expect to crank >230 on the Step 1.

Now since I'm doing my other elective in GSurg, can I use a surgeon's LOR for IM residency app?

Also, during my 1 month in Gastro at UMass, do I have a realistic chance of getting 2 LORs? I really have no idea how U.S. electives work...

As you can tell, I'm trying my best to get 3 USCE LORs....so I'm debating if I should use 2 IM U.S letters and 1 British IM letter, or 2 IM U.S letters + 1 GSurg U.S letter...

Wish life was simpler!

You are right.

As an IMG, if you do an elective at UMass or UT-Houston (or a similar tier program), you have a much better chance of getting into their residency, as compared to doing it at BWH/MGH, in which case the letter will help you; but your chances of getting into their residency program are negligible (unless you have a fantabulous CV, which would make them choose you over 50 other MS4s who are 250+, AOA, multiple publications/significant research/international experience).
 
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