New Guy

[Neville Sarkari]

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Hi I am new to the Forums and wanted to introduce myself. I am an internist in Private Practice. I welcome questions about medschool, IM residency, or private IM practice. I went to Univ of KY for medschool (part PBL based), graduated 1997, and did my IM residency there as well. I did a 3+3 or AIM (Accelerated) program that let me finish med school and IM residency in six years.
Neville S.

 

[vixen]

Welcome, I'm sure you'll find this website interesting 😀

 

[Jamier2]

Hi. First off, welcome to SDN.

I'm interviewing at UK in a little more than a week, and would like to ask some questions about that accelerated program.

I've just given it cursory attention so far at best, so here are my questions:

1. When do you apply for this program? I'm guessing around the start of 3rd year?

2. Do you get paid at all during this year? I have no clue on this one.

Thanks for these answers, and any other advice you can offer me regarding UK and this accelerated program.

 

[Neville Sarkari]

Jamier2--

Yes, you apply for it in the third year. You do get paid a "stipend" during the 4th/intern year. It's less than an intern salary, but you can still get loans since you're also a student. (And they base the need on the previous year.)

 

[jmejia1]

Dr. Sarkari

As a future physician I would like to be as removed as possible from all the paperwork mumbo-jumbo, so I wouldn't necessarily like to be in private practice. Can I work for example in a county hospital as a family doctor or internal medicine specialist? If so, how would this be different from working in a HMO hospital, as far as having more freedom and pay-wise?

The only doctors I've seen working in county hospitals are those still in training (interns and residents) and usually the attendings have thier own private practice on the side. Also I heard attendings are involved in research projects. My interests lies specifically in being a clinician, and research is not my cup of tea.

thanks in advance

 

[Jamier2]

Thanks 🙂

 

[Mystique]

Welcome to SDN, Neville Sarkari! Where have you been the past few years? I'm j/k...I only found this site this summer. Anyways, welcome!!

🙂 🙂

 

[Amy B]

Welcome. We look forward to your wisdom and sharing of knowledge. 😀 😀 😀 😀

 

[dknykid1980]

Dr. Sarkari,

i was just wondering. I know that a lot of people are opting to take a year off and stuff and then apply to med school. I on the otherhand think that that would be a waste of time. so..... I was thinking of going to the caribbeans (st georges or ross) for med school. I mean obviously its my "backup" but what are your thoughts? I mean it seems to me if they have to get even better scores on their USMLE than american students that they are pretty proficient. Also, do they get paid any differently and is their a lot of discrimination toward carib docs in the hospitals?

thanks

 

[Wednesday]

dknykid,

I have a good friend who recently graduated from Ross. Although she did extremely well on her boards and was the top of her class in basic sciences, she feels very limited by her degree. Most graduates can get lower-rated primary care residencies, plus some psychiatry and surgery, but is very difficult, if not impossible, to get a residency in any of the competitive specialties, such as radiology, emergency medicine, dermatology, etc... In her graduating class of over 200 students, 1 person matched for radiology and 1 person matched for EM. Some of the hospitals and programs which allow Ross students to do rotations (for instance, NY's Hospital for Special Surgery and Jamaica Hospital Family Practice) have never taken a Ross grad for residency. Add to that the licensing problems associated with graduating from a foreign med school (check the regulations for the state medical boards in California, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Virginia for a few examples)and the reality of foreign school is very sobering.
If you can go to school in the US, you would be well advised to do so. Enjoy your year off, but don't rush into something you could regret and could adversely affect your renumeration in the future. Of course, if you are interested in primary care and are not concerned about licensure difficulties in the future, Caribbean schools could be an option. My friend wishes that she had waited the extra year to apply to US med schools. If you are seriously considering this option, you should talk to other foreign med school grads, since this is only one person's opinion.

Good luck. 🙂

 

[Neville Sarkari]

Jmejia1--

You have really asked several questions, and I've been thinking about them a little. First off--paperwork. What paperwork are you talking about? There is always going to be some involved. It's not so bad that you should avoid private practice. I suppose the best way minimize it would be to work in a county health dept or as a salaried doc for an HMO. However, there will always be some. And even if you did only hospital work, there is still a lot of documenting and writing involved. Often, the ins co's or medicaid will call and ask about hospital patients too.

Secondly, most county hosps are no different from others in terms of medical staff. The attendings (which you will be one day) have private practices and admit their private patients to the hospital. Some County hospitals have residency programs.

Third, most private clinicians don't do research. Some help find patients for clinical studies. However, University Attendings (who are also faculty) usually have to do a lot of research also. And a lot of teaching. That's the main difference between private practice and academics.

 

[Neville Sarkari]

dknykid--

Two of my previous partners went to school in the Carribean. They are both good internists. Like most schools, you can get out what you put in. But, there is a definite prejudice against those grads both for post-graduate training (residency) and to a lesser extent in the private practice world.