Importance of grades for IMG

[dordi2794]

Hi,
I have a very simple question:

I study medicine in Israel (at a local Hebrew program, although I have a dual Israeli/American citizenship).

In Israel grades have no importance for residency applications and thus the grading is quite random during rotation, on some rotations everyone gets the same grade. We also have local shelf exams which are not really graded on a curve, and the main motivation of most students is just to get a passing grade.

Do american residency programs look at international medical school grades at all? Or do they only look at USMLE grades for international students? I ask this because I got a low grade on my Psychiatry shelf exam and am considering retaking this exam, something I would never contemplate if I was aiming at an Israeli residency.

Thank you!

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[AnalisCanalis]

Hi,
I have a very simple question:

I study medicine in Israel (at a local Hebrew program, although I have a dual Israeli/American citizenship).

In Israel grades have no importance for residency applications and thus the grading is quite random during rotation, on some rotations everyone gets the same grade. We also have local shelf exams which are not really graded on a curve, and the main motivation of most students is just to get a passing grade.

Do american residency programs look at international medical school grades at all? Or do they only look at USMLE grades for international students? I ask this because I got a low grade on my Psychiatry shelf exam and am considering retaking this exam, something I would never contemplate if I was aiming at an Israeli residency.

Thank you!

Are you going into psychiatry? Don't sweat it imho.

 

[Winged Scapula]

US programs don't generally look at individual grades per se from foreign schools because the grading standards can be so different than in the US. However, they may look at your ranking amongst your peers as a quasi measure of your academic success (although far behind USMLE scores).