Making a living while preparing for USMLE

[Jaleel]

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Greetings to all USMLE takers. Hope this post finds you all in good health, and, most importantly, in good spirits.

A brief introduction, just enough for you to understand the question: I’m a medical doctor from Iraq, and I have been in the United States for only a couple months. As far as I understand from the conversations with foreign doctors who’ve “made it”, for a foreign doctor, it’s a long way to become a doctor again in this country. It took several years for the doctors I spoke to.

And here comes a question to those who live in the United States and study for UMSLE: while you are working hard on the exam preparation, taking KAPLAN courses, doing-self-study, or some combination of both, how do you make a living for the meantime?

For, unless you have very big savings, or a family that is willing and able to support you while you study, a living must be made somehow. And waiting tables does not appear to be an attractive option. There must be something better than this!

Can a foreign medical doctor work in the healthcare in the U.S. in some capacity, for example, as a phlebotomist, EKG technician, medical assistant or anything of this nature? Do you need a license for these occupations? If yes, how do you obtain such a license?

Please accept my apology if I am asking about something that “everybody knows”. I’ve been in the U.S. for a very short time, and I am still trying to understand the system and to adapt myself to it. Any information, advice or sharing a personal experience will be greatly appreciated.

 

[JelloBrain]

To answer your questions, the main thing one would need to know is how did you come to the USA if you have no job or family already secured? There must be some way that you entered the country legally. Most people I know (from India) who are here are either because they got married to Indian software guys already settled here or came via a job visa (H1B or J1).

What is your personal immigration status? Can you be legally employed? Do you have a Social Security Number (SSN)? How long do you have leave to remain in the USA? Any job that you apply to in whatever field will need to know all that.

If you came here as a spouse, like most of my female doctor friends, then money would (should) not be an issue, your spouse would (should) support you. If you came here on a fellowship/job visa like myself, then you would be on H1B or J1 visa and get monthly salary and benefits.

I personally know of no other way people, especially doctors, can come to the USA and find work. Unless you are legally eligible to be employed, and have SSN, no legal occupation would employ you in any capacity, especially not in this recession. Trying to get illegal/under the table employment is not advisable.

You cannot work in the USA in any allied healthcare specialties without appropriate training and licensure. IMO, the money you have to spend to get certified as a phlebotomist or medical assistant is not worth it. I personally feel it's an insult for doctors to have to pay to be trained as phlebotomists and/or medical assistants.

The best way to work in healthcare in your status is in research IMO. If you have already completed residency training in your country, then you can work as a post doctoral research fellow. If you have only just finished medical school, the you should be able to find work as a research assistant, esp. an RA2. Research jobs will pay you a salary and benefits. You will also be able to build contacts and develop your academic side. Of course you still have to be legally employable in USA. Alternately you can enroll in a a PhD where you will get a stipend.

If you want to look into research options more, I would suggest reading a post I made a while ago about some pointers to getting a research related job: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=721360.

If you moved from Iraq as an asylum seeker or refugee, then you might have to talk to people in your unique situation and/or your case worker/s to get an idea of employment issues.

Another suggestion I have is to maybe post this in the International Forum; that way you can get responses from people with vastly different experiences. You cannot double/cross post yourself, but maybe the moderators might move it there if they find it appropriate.

Disclaimer-I only sent you a link to my personal research post, as I can only give you my perspective. I'm not trying to blow my own horn.

Good luck in your endeavors.

 

[Jaleel]

Thank you for your answer, JelloBrain.

Let me clarify: I'm in the United States legally, have a valid SSN, and I'm certainly not looking for illegal/under the table employment. Yes, I moved from Iraq as a refugee, but I have not thought that this information would be relevant to the question I asked. And, unfortunately, the case workers were not helpful at all.

I certainly agree with you that "it's an insult for doctors to have to pay to be trained as phlebotomists and/or medical assistants". Yes, it is - and perhaps "insult" is too mild a word. Yet, when you have to respect the laws of the country you are living in, and - I have to stress it again - a living must be made somehow. Sometimes you just have to accept a temporary solution for a problem, while looking for a permanent one.

I'll look into your post about research option, as it certainly seems much more attractive option than paying to be trained as a medical assistant. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

As to the moving my post to another forum - I though hard about where to post it, and could not find "just right" category, so I posted in what seemed to me the closest one. If this is indeed not an appropriate place, I'll leave it to the discretion of the moderators to move it to the appropriate one.

Again, thanks for taking your time to answer.

 

[hrandani]

Honestly the game is rigged against you, but not as badly as say, Canada.

Based off of your level of proficiency in English I would say you stand a decent chance at teaching arabic in a community college, maybe a TA in a state university. Or something medical, this would get you into the university system and you would begin to accrue some fairly nice benefits and perhaps get a discount on a kaplan program, gain familiarity with the american hospital system etc. Teaching doesn't pay well but typically you can finagle it into a low stress job with a ton of opportunities to spend time studying in very comfortable libraries.

Waiting tables at the right places can be extremely profitable, the hours are hard to beat, and you never know who you might meet, so I wouldn't knock it. Whatever gets you back in the saddle, right?

 

[JelloBrain]

The refugee question is relevant in terms of immigration-you will have a GC straight away and won't have to worry about visas. A lot of employers don't want to go through the hassle of processing visas.

I would still advice that research is the best option. You will be working at a level appropriate to your education, unlike retraining as an allied heathcare person, building contacts in the medical field-most research is done at academic centers, and getting posters/publications in the process. Research time is also quite flexible, so you can fit in your USMLE studies accordingly.

 

[Obi184]

While working as a pharmacy technician in a hospital, I knew a FMG working with me as a tech, just until he finished with all the steps. The advantages are pretty big: VERY simple certification exam, no actual training needed (dependent on which state you live in) and very reasonable pay (~15/hr base for my hospital + shift differential + benefits). Plus, you could always do what another poster said and teach Arabic, or even perhaps, Anatomy and Physiology, at a community college while working as a tech to make more cash.
Good Luck.

 

[DoctorDude]

Hi Jaleel. I just stumbled upon this thread, and as it happens, I'm very familiar with your situation. My cousin is also an Iraqi refugee doctor who was in your very shoes about 2 and a half years ago. He was fortunate in that my mother was willing to take him in and provide some support in the way of housing/food while his parents (still in Iraq) contributed to his other needs (car, kaplan courses, etc.). He's currently studying for the second part of Step II.

Do you have a family or organization that is sponsoring you? Sometimes there are church organizations that will sponsor refugees and give them enough money to live on for a limited period of time. Government assistance also helps with food stamps and a monthly allowance. Have you looked into these options as a temporary solution until you can find employment? I know everyone is telling you that the path towards gaining licensure as a FMG is difficult, and it is, but it can be done. My cousin is pretty close to being done and he knows many other Iraqi doctors who made it in America too.

Anyways, I wish you well. If you have any questions about my cousin's situation, please don't hesitate to ask. Best wishes.