I am a Foreign medical student in my 3rd year now and taking my USMLE step 1 in a month. I'll be moving to the US with my family this year and go to a med school here ( I have a dual citizenship).I wanna move here to have better residency chances. Do you think having a high STEP 1 grade would improve my admissions chances to a med school in the US or it wouldn't make a difference?
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Which country are you attending medical school in?
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I cannot recommend taking step 1 if you are planning an application to US medical schools.
I know of no US schools that consider transfers from non-LCME schools.
I know of no US schools that consider transfers from non-LCME schools.
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US medical schools RARELY take transfers from even other US medical schools so the possibility that they would take a transfer from a foreign medical school is highly unlikely regardless of what your STEP1 grade is. There's a possibility you may have to redo and reapply and go through the process all over again. There's also the question of if they'll even take a foreign undergrad transcript and may make you retake those undergrad classes here in the US.
In your case, in the interest of time. Why not just finish whatever schooling you have and just apply for residency? Yes, your chances at matching as an IMG is very low but at least you won't have to redo applying and medical school.
D
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Take this with a grain of salt, I'm not an med school admin. Just from what I've seen, very few US Medical Schools accept transfer students and the ones that do say it's under very rare circumstances. I would not bank on dropping out of med school in your country, moving here to the US, and just transferring unless you already have something worked out with a medical school here already.
No Im
No Im not transferring,I'll come back and get a bachelor's degree and time is fine with me,I'm only 21 but I mean will have a USMlE help with my admission to year 1 or it wouldn't make a difference?
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So you are planning on coming back to the US and then doing a 4 year bachelors and then applying to medical school? USMLE will not help you in gaining admission to a university in the US if thats what your asking.
Not 4 years,I'll transfer my credit and I can do it in 18-24 months.
Okay thank you so much
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If you are planning to apply to bachelor programs, and then to medical school, DO NOT take Step 1 beforehand. Most states in the US have a time period during which all three step exams much be taken. If you have a long break between Step 1 and Step 2 (this would likely be a 7-8 year gap if you take it in the 3rd or 4th year of medical school), you will be at risk for not finishing all exams on time. Besides that, the average score for Step 1 increases almost every year. A good score today would likely be a very mediocre score by the time your residency comes.
As for transferring credits to an undergraduate university, you may not get as many credits accepted as you expect. And you would need some sort of US clinical experience before you apply so I think 2 years is a little optimistic...not to mention the year it takes for the application itself.
You are setting yourself a very hard path. Is there a reason you want to practice in the US rather than your home country? You are realistically looking at an extra 6-7 years just to get back to where you are now.
As for transferring credits to an undergraduate university, you may not get as many credits accepted as you expect. And you would need some sort of US clinical experience before you apply so I think 2 years is a little optimistic...not to mention the year it takes for the application itself.
You are setting yourself a very hard path. Is there a reason you want to practice in the US rather than your home country? You are realistically looking at an extra 6-7 years just to get back to where you are now.
Omg that sounds a lot of time,but I'm very worried if I come back here as an IMG,I'd have no any chance to match for a residency program.
I am from Egypt so yeah life there isn't the best actually and all my family is in the US so I have no reason to stay in Egypt and medicine here is like 7 years (I am starting my 4th) so it isn't that easy aswell.
Do you advise me to come to the US and take that path or just stay where I am?
Thank you
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I can't make that choice for you. Talk to your family. Look into undergraduate programs and see which ones would reasonably accept you and how many of your credits they would accept. Apply to them. Once you have real, concrete options (transfer to university X in the US or stay in your program), then you make your choice. If for whatever reason, you cannot transfer to a US undergraduate school, that may make your choice for you. Good luck.
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As URHere has already mentioned, don't take the USMLE. Since you're planning on applying to US undergrads anyway, it won't matter since you'll have to take the MCAT anyway. Another consideration is that you will not be a citizen or a green card holder when you apply. Only very few (and very competitive/selective) schools will consider non-citizen applicants due to visa concerns, etc etc. So you're already in the hole from that regard when you apply in the next 2-3 years. This is not considering how well your undergrad credits transfer. At the very least you'll probably need to redo the med school pre-requisite classes in the US as AMCAS and most schools will likely not accept foreign credits.
This is going to be a very long process for you and based on all these additional hurdles, it makes me wonder if it's even worth it. Completing your MD in Egypt will take 3 more years and then you can apply for US residencies and take the USMLE. It'll be hard but you can at least apply directly for residency spots. I feel in your case it would be easier to get a residency spot as an IMG than it would be to get into medical school as a non-citizen. But that's just my gut feeling on your particular situation.
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S/he has a dual-citizenship regardless.
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Well than it should be no problems.
D
Do I have any chance for residency as an IMG ? They say it gets harder every year.
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Depends on the residency. As an IMG you're likely confined to either IM, FM, psych at low tier programs. You're SOL for any competitive fields. Since you hold dual citizenship then you should definitely try doing the US med school route.
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2 years to redo your undergrad. (Probably more time, since like others have said, a lot of your courses/grades probably won’t transfer, while studying for MCAT and adjusting life back to US)
Apply to med school. Get in to finish, 4 years.
Total 6 years. That’s if you get half of your credits transferred.
Apply to residency ~ 95% match rate. I don’t know the number. I assume it’s more than 90, less than 100)
Finish in Egypt in three years. Have strong Step 1 and Step 2. Match rate ~ 40%.
6 yrs 95%
3 yrs 40%
Tough choices. If you do it in 6 years you will have more options, yet you have to make sure that you actually get in a US medical school. 3 year options, much shorter, it’s a sure MD degree, lower chance of practicing in US and less speciality options. This is the simplest that I can make it.
Good luck.
Apply to med school. Get in to finish, 4 years.
Total 6 years. That’s if you get half of your credits transferred.
Apply to residency ~ 95% match rate. I don’t know the number. I assume it’s more than 90, less than 100)
Finish in Egypt in three years. Have strong Step 1 and Step 2. Match rate ~ 40%.
6 yrs 95%
3 yrs 40%
Tough choices. If you do it in 6 years you will have more options, yet you have to make sure that you actually get in a US medical school. 3 year options, much shorter, it’s a sure MD degree, lower chance of practicing in US and less speciality options. This is the simplest that I can make it.
Good luck.
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