Tips for residency

[peter0ck]

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Hi, new to the forum and not even in the medical field. I'm helping my girlfriend get tips on getting residency in the East Coast, particularly in the DC area. She is an IMG from Asia, but a US Citizen, graduating this spring. She hasn't taken Step 1 nor 2 yet, but plans to take a review course once she returns to the states this summer. I'd like to know what advice anyone can give as to what she can do while she prepares for the exams and all that time leading up to the exams and application process.

1) Do you have to have completed Step1/2 before applying for an observership?

2) If she cannot do an observership before taking the USMLE's, what can she do to be a better candidate for a residency program in the US? (again, she is already a US citizen). She feels she needs to do more than just study for the exams and just sit around and wait for who knows how long.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[McGillGrad]

She needs to contact the programs directly for their policies on USMLE requirements.

As an independent applicant, she needs to have two things to become a good candidate. The first is US clinical experience and the second is high board scores. At this point, she should focus on high board scores that will create a more positive response from programs offering and observership.

 

[dragonfly99]

I think she should try and delay her graduation so that she can do clinical rotations as a visiting medical student at a US hospital. As a student she'll actually be able to participate in patient care. As a graduate/nonstudent doing an observership she won't be able to lay a hand on a patient or really do anything worthwhile clinically, and this would hurt her ability to get good letters of recommendation.