Is it truly over? A desperate question from a foreign medical student

[swimminginconfidence]

Here's where I'm at right now, I'm a 2nd year medical student from Ethiopia , I failed my first preclinical year of med school twice...well failed once and withdrew once(which means no grades on the second attempt)....I passed on my third attempt(with a C in anatomy but B in everything else), and now am for the first time in the last 6+ years of my life putting in the 100% effort med school requires(as I should have always been doing)....my grades in my second preclinical year are pretty good so far... we're barely 3 months into the year but things r looking up for once...I intend to take the USMLE but as an IMG with such terrible first year results, plenty of online forums tell me that it's pointless and no matter what I do or how well I score on the step 2 CK in the future, I'll never be accepted into any US residency, that my path to practicing medicine in the USA is over due to my slacker days....if that's the case then I fully accept it, as there are many people who worked hard since day one who also share my dream and far too few positions available, but if anyone thinks diffently, that I have even the faintest of hopes pls don't hesitate to tell me....Ik I'm desperate and grasping at straws by this point but sometimes hope and dreams are all we have...I'm not gonna aim for anything very competitive for my residency...a pathology residency hopefully (which many famous medical people say is generally less competitive and IMG friendly) but I'll take whatever I can get, if I can get anything that is...p.s I'm starting to rly love my patho course, and yes I'm now re-studying all my first year classes properly for step 1 and even more so that I become a good physician (a few years later than I should have started admittedly 😅), I don't think I'll be needing a visa sponsorship form my residency program if that's an influencing factor; on the off chance that I'm accepted, as my mother and most of my family live in the USA and I will be applying for a visa through them in the near future....med school in my country is 6.5 years with a first year of mandatory general classes so I'm actually on my 3rd year of university and second year of pre clinical courses so I have 3 years to have my visa taken care off. Thank you, I'm truly grateful to anyone who takes their time to respond to my questions.

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[gyngyn]

Are you hoping to apply to medical school or residency in the US?

 

[swimminginconfidence]

Re

Are you hoping to apply to medical school or residency in the US?

Residency, preferably pathology but if that's too competitive I'll take any residency

 

[gyngyn]

Here is the most recent data for IMG's in the Match:

https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Charting-Outcomes-IMG-2022_Final.pdf

 

[swimminginconfidence]

Here is the most recent data for IMG's in the Match:

https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Charting-Outcomes-IMG-2022_Final.pdf

Thank you very much sir, I feel like even with my repeated years I have some minor hope now aslomg as do well on step 2 CK.
In ur professional opinion tho would an IMG candidate with 2 failed first year attempts throw u off him completely or would u read the rest of the file inspite of his red flags

 

[gyngyn]

In ur professional opinion tho would an IMG candidate with 2 failed first year attempts throw u off him completely or would u read the rest of the file inspite of his red flags

This will not be immediately apparent to us. If everything else is strong, you have a chance.
Green cards are a lot more unpredictable, though.

 

[swimminginconfidence]

This will not be immediately apparent to us. If everything else is strong, you have a chance.
Green cards are a lot more unpredictable, though.

Thank you sir/ma'am, I'm so relieved.
I will do my best to become the best doctor possible.

 

[mszzeta]

The short answer is NO. I cannot believe there are so many misinformation and people don't know what they are saying. Completely false advice!

The transcript at an international medical school matters VERY LITTLE to US residency selection criteria. I have seen people with low med school GPA (low 2...) who successfully matched.

The most important thing is USMLE. If you fail USMLE once, you may seriously consider giving up any effort to US residency. Try to get a very high USMLE step 2 CK as possible. This can be tremendously helpful

USCE and LoR are also very important. If you are still in medical school and could apply for "electives" in a US medical school, this can also be tremendously helpful.

For strategic purposes, in your MSPE, it would be better if you could ask your medical school to comment on your failed scores in a positive way, saying that you are still a very good student with the ability to grow and a great potential to be a healer

You have a green card. You are very lucky. I personally think this may weigh even more than the bad international med school transcript (personal opinion. could be wrong). Pathology is not very competitive. You should have a chance. You could even try internal medicine or family medicine, if you really like the patient interaction part of medical practice

 

[swimminginconfidence]

The short answer is NO. I cannot believe there are so many misinformation and people don't know what they are saying. Completely false advice!

The transcript at an international medical school matters VERY LITTLE to US residency selection criteria. I have seen people with low med school GPA (low 2...) who successfully matched.

The most important thing is USMLE. If you fail USMLE once, you may seriously consider giving up any effort to US residency. Try to get a very high USMLE step 2 CK as possible. This can be tremendously helpful

USCE and LoR are also very important. If you are still in medical school and could apply for "electives" in a US medical school, this can also be tremendously helpful.

For strategic purposes, in your MSPE, it would be better if you could ask your medical school to comment on your failed scores in a positive way, saying that you are still a very good student with the ability to grow and a great potential to be a healer

You have a green card. You are very lucky. I personally think this may weigh even more than the bad international med school transcript (personal opinion. could be wrong). Pathology is not very competitive. You should have a chance. You could even try internal medicine or family medicine, if you really like the patient interaction part of medical practice

Thank you so much for ur advice, I will do my best to follow it.

 

[gyngyn]

I cannot believe there are so many misinformation and people don't know what they are saying. Completely false advice!

What part is inaccurate?

 

[mszzeta]

What part is inaccurate?

"as an IMG with such terrible first year results, plenty of online forums tell me that it's pointless and no matter what I do or how well I score on the step 2 CK in the future, I'll never be accepted into any US residency, that my path to practicing medicine in the USA is over due to my slacker days"

 

[fecalith]

You got a chance.