General Surgery residency IMG

[hippoppop]

I am a UK graduate, planning to get into General Surgery residency, which program is famous of accepting IMGs for their categorical residents?

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[NotAProgDirector]

There are tables on the NRMP's website (www.nrmp.org) that show you how many residents accepted in the match are US grads, DO's, US IMG's, and IMG's. It's listed by program and by specialty.

This won't tell you which programs take IMG's via prematch contracts.

 

[hippoppop]

Do IMGs always have to accept prematch offer? or can they go through normal matching process? Cheers

 

[Winged Scapula]

Do IMGs always have to accept prematch offer? or can they go through normal matching process? Cheers

Not all IMGs get prematch offers.

Thus, most go through the normal matching process, some get a pre-match offer, some do not and stay through to the match and either get a position, get one through the Scramble or do not match.

 

[Blade28]

I am a UK graduate, planning to get into General Surgery residency, which program is famous of accepting IMGs for their categorical residents?

Make sure your application is as strong as possible. Good Step scores, ECFMG if possible, strong US letters of recommendation and US clinical experience. And apply widely!

Best of luck.

 

[Surgical FMG]

i read with interest the requirements of stanford's requirements for IMGs

http://med.stanford.edu/gensurg/education/apply.html

• We only sponsor J1 Visas and must fax proof of visa status to Anita Hagan at 650-724-9806
• Must have a current valid certificate from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) and Postgraduate Training Authorization Letter (PTAL) confirming completion of pre-residency requirements.
• No more than 2 years out of medical school
• At least 1 year of US clinical experience required
• We cannot offer an interview unless you meet all of our qualifications

Essentially, what the last 2 requirements mean is that, one year out of med sch, a prospective applicant is to land a prelim surgical residency spot in USA, and then thereafter apply to their program. no other route seems possible. how else can one attain 1 year of US clinical experience!

 

[Winged Scapula]

i read with interest the requirements of stanford's requirements for IMGs

http://med.stanford.edu/gensurg/education/apply.html

• We only sponsor J1 Visas and must fax proof of visa status to Anita Hagan at 650-724-9806
• Must have a current valid certificate from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) and Postgraduate Training Authorization Letter (PTAL) confirming completion of pre-residency requirements.
• No more than 2 years out of medical school
• At least 1 year of US clinical experience required
• We cannot offer an interview unless you meet all of our qualifications

Essentially, what the last 2 requirements mean is that, one year out of med sch, a prospective applicant is to land a prelim surgical residency spot in USA, and then thereafter apply to their program. no other route seems possible. how else can one attain 1 year of US clinical experience!

You can get a year of US clinical experience by spending all your clinical rotations in the US, as is the case for all the Caribbean schools.

Otherwise, as you note, you would have to spend a year as a resident elsewhere to be eligible for their program (in addition to having the California letter, attending an approved California school, etc.).

The VAST majority of US residency programs do not have these requirements. You are looking at STANFORD, after all.

 

[partial agonist]

Do IMGs always have to accept prematch offer? or can they go through normal matching process? Cheers

Some programs have a policy not to sign an applicant outside the match.. and the NRMP does recommed all programs to abide by the match - which everyone knows is not happening...

 

[Winged Scapula]

Some programs have a policy not to sign an applicant outside the match.. and the NRMP does recommed all programs to abide by the match - which everyone knows is not happening...

The NRMP does not require programs to offer all of their positions within the match.

 

[o d off]

It is a violation of Match rules for programs to ask you (or vice versa) about their ranking of the program (after the interview but before Match Day). Applicants might consider reporting the incident to the NRMP, or appropriate specialty board after the Match.

That being said, the Match Participating Agreement does not prohibit either party from making such statements, but such declarations do have consequences. Thus, unless the caller represents your top choice, this question is only a golden opportunity for you to hang yourself. If you tell the program you are not ranking them first, they might drop you on their ROL to ensure that they get their top picks (some programs would rather minimize how low they go on their ROL than just go for their top candidates). If the caller is from one of your top choices, get a committment in writing from the residency director. If he or she balks, then all bets are off.

It has been noted that several programs -- especially those in fields that traditionally do not fill, such as pathology and family medicine -- are increasingly using "under-the-table" negotiating to recruit IMGs. They see these applicants as less choosy than US medical graduates and therefore think they can "lock in" a good applicant from abroad by offering him a deal outside the Match. On the one hand, it is nice to have a guaranteed position in the US. On the other hand, if you are being offered a position outside the Match, it is likely that other programs will find you equally desirable, so you might fare well at a higher choice if you went through the Match.

 

[Surgical FMG]

i was looking around indiana uni's dept of surgery website when i saw this very interesting requirement:

http://www.surgery.medicine.iu.edu/body.cfm?id=196&oTopID=196

Application Requirements for Foreign Medical Graduates
Indiana University Department of Surgery criteria concerning application for foreign medical graduates to the residency program:
1. ECFMG certification
2. Completion of the USMLE Parts 1 & 2
3. J-1 visas only
4. Graduation from medical school within the last two years
5. No previous U.S. clinical experience
6. Participation through ERAS program only; no paper applications
7. Prefer USMLE scores 220 or higher
8. Deadline for application to program: December 1 of current academic year
9. Preliminary residency applications are interviewed on a selected interview day.

​

this seems hugely opposed to what most programs are seeking. i wonder what their rationale is.

 

[Winged Scapula]

i was looking around indiana uni's dept of surgery website when i saw this very interesting requirement:

http://www.surgery.medicine.iu.edu/body.cfm?id=196&oTopID=196

​

this seems hugely opposed to what most programs are seeking. i wonder what their rationale is.

I'd be willing to bet that by "no US clinical experience" they mean they don't want applications from people who have already done Prelim years or residency training elsewhere.

Most surgical programs are starting to be loathe to accept these candidates given the ABS requirements limiting the number of programs a surgical resident can train in and the number of years you can spend as a Prelim before becoming a categorical.

If you read the requirements for AMGs, it also says "no previous clinical experience". So it sounds to like IU doesn't want applications from anyone who has done prior training in the US at other programs - AMG or not.

 

[fidelity]

It is a violation of Match rules for programs to ask you (or vice versa) about their ranking of the program (after the interview but before Match Day). Applicants might consider reporting the incident to the NRMP, or appropriate specialty board after the Match.

That being said, the Match Participating Agreement does not prohibit either party from making such statements, but such declarations do have consequences. Thus, unless the caller represents your top choice, this question is only a golden opportunity for you to hang yourself. If you tell the program you are not ranking them first, they might drop you on their ROL to ensure that they get their top picks (some programs would rather minimize how low they go on their ROL than just go for their top candidates). If the caller is from one of your top choices, get a committment in writing from the residency director. If he or she balks, then all bets are off.

It has been noted that several programs -- especially those in fields that traditionally do not fill, such as pathology and family medicine -- are increasingly using "under-the-table" negotiating to recruit IMGs. They see these applicants as less choosy than US medical graduates and therefore think they can "lock in" a good applicant from abroad by offering him a deal outside the Match. On the one hand, it is nice to have a guaranteed position in the US. On the other hand, if you are being offered a position outside the Match, it is likely that other programs will find you equally desirable, so you might fare well at a higher choice if you went through the Match.

Interesting - could you expand a bit?

 

[NRAI2001]

i was looking around indiana uni's dept of surgery website when i saw this very interesting requirement:

http://www.surgery.medicine.iu.edu/body.cfm?id=196&oTopID=196

​

this seems hugely opposed to what most programs are seeking. i wonder what their rationale is.

So by saying "no previous US clinical experience.." are they basically saying they dont want students who rotated in the US?? That would basically cut out all students from carribean, isreal, ireland, australia, poland.....etc med schools that produce US IMGs.??

Or are they speaking of residency experience?

 

[Winged Scapula]

So by saying "no previous US clinical experience.." are they basically saying they dont want students who rotated in the US?? That would basically cut out all students from carribean, isreal, ireland, australia, poland.....etc med schools that produce US IMGs.??

Or are they speaking of residency experience?

See my post two spots above yours.

 

[fedore]

Hello
I am Peruvian doctor. I graduated in 2007 then I work for a year In Rural Medical Service. I enter the general surgery residency in 2008 and just finished now 2011. My desire is to do the General Surgery residence in USA
This year I will dedicate to pass the steps; My questions are:
1-will influence negatively the fact that I graduated in 2007.
2-I have an advantage to have completed general surgery residency in my country or not
Thanks for your help

 

[Buzz Me]

1-will influence negatively the fact that I graduated in 2007.
2-I have an advantage to have completed general surgery residency in my country or not

(1) The longer that goes by, the more it hurts your application. So I would definitely start working on your ECFMG app.

(2) It hurts you in the sense that you're more years removed from med school graduation. It doesn't really "help" in the sense that you're looking for (i.e. compared to a fresh IMG graduate). May help you on the Steps though.