IMG from UK

[mloutfi]

Hey,

I'm a fourth year medical student studying in the UK. I'm looking into doing ophtho in the US. I've got a couple of questions from reading up:

Do I have to do my year after graduation (FY1 in the UK, PGY1 I think in the US) in the US to get a residency place? If not, would I then apply half way through my fifth year (final year in medschool) to start in the second year after graduation?
Would a Masters degree in Ophthalmology help my application at all?

I've got average grades so far in medschool but the next year is heavily weighted in my overall rankings. I havent' done USMLE yet. I've got three ophtho publications in the running and possibly would be doing an optho elective in the US this summer.

Thanks in advance

 

[carolink15]

I am pretty sure you need your USMLE scores to apply. I would take the USMLE step 1, get a solid ophtho score and then apply, you can take step 2 while applying. You might want to look at the list of programs and see which programs currently have IMGs and maybe email those residents, they might be able to help you with more specific questions.