info required plz : Residency in Physical medicine for FMGs !!?????

[ahmadahmad]

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hello
i am Dr. Ahmad. A foreign medical graduate.i want to hv some info regarding prospects of residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation as a non us citizen and non us graduate .
I have few concerns , info for which is not available in detail online. ill b very grate ful if u might take sometime going through the queries .As ur suggestions and opinions would def. be of gr8 help for me .

1. chances for FMGs to get into residency for physical med and rehab
2. how competetive the program is ?
3. why its NOT a hot residency program for docs ?
4. future prospects after residency ? (in reality!!!?)


well, i have always loved orthopedics and rheumatology,
but as an FMG ( a NON U.S citizen , no green card) with "very low scores in USMLEs and no US clinical experience" ,the chances of getting into residencies of ortho or surgery are least likely.. (in addition to that i dont want to spend another 3 years doing externs or researches for that purpose) one of the reasons that PHYSICAL MED AND REHAB struck me th most was ,its deep routed to ortho and rheumatology.
Please be very generous in your opinions regarding over all chances for FMGs and esp in my case.
thanks

What

suggestions and opninions are most welcome.
best regards
Dr. Ahmad

 

[PT2MD]

I think you may want to post this on either the PM&R or ortho residency forums, although I fear I may already know how some of their answers will go. Best of luck to you.

 

[ahmadahmad]

thanks nyways......

 

[DrMom]

I'll move this to the PM&R forum so that you can get a more appropriate audience.

 

[axm397]

I think you may actually have a better chance matching into Int Medicine then doing a rheum fellowship than matching into PM&R because there are more int medicine positions available.

The last few years match statistics are here: http://www.nrmp.org/advancedata2007.pdf

Just remember that "US Grads" do not count DOs. The less competitive PM&R residency programs may take FMGs but I think (correct me if I'm wrong) an IMG who is a US citizen will be more competitive than a non-citizen FMG because of visa issues.

And as you describe yourself: "an FMG ( a NON U.S citizen , no green card) with "very low scores in USMLEs and no US clinical experience" the chances of you matching in the small number of PM&R spots that may be open to PM&R would be pretty slim. I don't mean to sound discouraging and this is only my opinion. Obviously, I am NOT an expert on this subject matter and I'm not familiar with the less competitive positions available in the field. You also should consider how it would look to residency directors if it's obvious that your true interests are in ortho and rheum and you are applying to PM&R only because you think it is less competitive. It is vital that you get a better understanding of the field you are applying to and the best way to do that is to search this forum, read the FAQs, and shadow a physiatrist.

Hope this helps

 

[ahmadahmad]

Thanks for the info and the link.
Axm , u r rite in saying that IMGs who are US citizens have always better chances than non US-citizen IMGs because of the visa issues.
The other thing, i think that preferring PM&R over rheumatology n ortho sounded more Practical (and somehat Possible!) considering the fact that its really difficult (rather impossible----ASK an IMG!!!) for IMGs to get into competitive progs and Specialities as well.

What really is being a confusion for me is that i havent seen met or heard of any IMG ( so far on the net too) persuing the speciality. So i was wondering that inspite of PM&R not being a HOT speciality as other hot ones , is it really NON-IMG friendly 2 ??????