To Bellkicker, Max Berry and Duderino!

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krevelli

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Hej!

Just wanted to know what your course of action was in applying to the States after your medical degree? I.e. when you finish school, where you're applying next and what exams you had to take? The USMLEs I guess are a given - but do they give those here in Scandinavia?

I know of someone who finished her med degree here in G?teborg and moved to New Jersey and got started there. Without the (in Sweden) requisite allm?ntj?nstg?ring (AT) for 21 months. Is that where you guys are at? How does it work?

Tack p? f?rhand!

K.
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I'm pretty close to graduating so I should definitely have my strategy down by now. I don't, for a number of reasons - the most significant one probably being that I don't have a clue as to what specialty I'm going to shoot for.

And believe you me, when you don't have your priorities straightened out, mustering the energy to go through all that biochemistry/anatomy/pharmacology again (but this time actually LEARNING it :)) won't be easy...
 
Hi Krevelli,

Yeah, you can do the USMLEs in Scandinavia. They are offered at certain testing centers. You can more or less take it whenever you want. Having said that, the one testing center in Copenhagen just closed and I believe the same happened in Stockholm. People have told me it's temporary but for me it meant that I had to travel to Berlin this summer to take the toefl.

The problem is that most US schools no longer require the toefl of Scandinavian students and these test centers basically survived on toefls. We'll see what happens.

I''ve got a mapped plan for applying to the 2005 match. My main problem is that I don't graduate till January 2005 so I'll be in school here while traveling to interviews over there. At best, I'll have time for maybe 10 interviews.

In the perfect world, one would move over there and do some light work at a hospital nearby (like research or an externship) while working through the interviews.

It also depends on your specialty. If you're applying for, say, neurology (like Duderino may do) then you have to apply to programs all over the US. I'm applying to FP, which has more programs so I'm only applying in 2 or 3 states. That means I can drive between interviews and maybe squeeze a few more into the limited time I have available.

Keep the questions coming. I love feeling like I actually know something about this stuff.
 
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Cool - thanks for your responses, guys! A few more q's!

Are all three USMLEs necessary? Also, (BK) are the interviews for residencies after you GRADUATE Jan '05 or after you're done with the allm?ntj?nstg?ring (assuming you have those in DK)?

Duderino - where ya at?
 
No, you don't have to complete allm?ntj?nstg?ring. We call that turnus, btw. When you get your degree and pass the steps you get what's called an ECFMG license. This license allows you to do absolutely nothing in the US except apply for residencies.

I plan to start residency July 2005. The way the system is set up requires me to go through interviews before early February 2005, which means I'll still be in school during interviews. I'm not sure how I'll swing that; I'll have to come up with a couple of good excuses, that's for sure.

Let's say you graduated in the summer. In that case, I think it would be virtually impossible to start residency that same year.
 
Sorry for the huge delay in answering. I "had" to vacation back in the U.S. over Xmas.

I suppose you've gotten the skinny already. I took Step 1 in London simply b/c I liked the ring of English in my ear and had no desire to "visit" Berlin. In reality, the test was such a kick in the groin, I didn't feel much like enjoying the sites.

You'll need to take Step 1 & 2 (Clinical Skills + Clinical Knowledge ) prior to getting the ECFMG certificate. Oh yeah, the diploma too.

I just started to think about the ERAS and interviewing timing problem this weekend. I would like to start my residency right after graduation July 2006, but the interview schedule is going to be hard. Otherwise, I am moving over that summer and trying for some observership time prior to applying for Match 2007, yuck! Hate to wait.

Which Specialty!? Seems our chances are highest in FP, IM, Path and Gas, especially if one researches the topic of %IMGs in practice by specialty. I am still undecided, but leaning toward Path. Scared silly about never seeing a breathing patient again. Good hours and low malpractice. Perhaps BK has got it right with FP. Still on my list. IM offers the luxury/curse of fellowships for those who haven't yet decided what to be when they grow up.

I tend to be more pragmatic about the whole thing. We will have invested way too much time, energy and $ to NOT match.

Hope this helped some.
 
Originally posted by Max_Berry
Which Specialty!? Seems our chances are highest in FP, IM, Path and Gas, especially if one researches the topic of %IMGs in practice by specialty
Click to expand...

Re: Gas as IMG, think again. In 2003 match, 415 of 431 positions were filled by AMGs, meaning 96.3%. See
http://www.nrmp.org/res_match/tables/table10_2003.pdf
if you don't believe me. In the past, Gas was competitive for IMGs, but no longer...
 
That don't sound too promising. Iserson's book quoted roughly 13 % of all Gas bubbas as IMG. Luckily, Gas isn't on my short list. Thanks for the headsup though.

I guess one could shoot for a preliminary in IM or Surg then attempt the PGY2 Match the following year, if you really wanted Gas. Just a thoght.
 
Actually, 321 us seniors matched into gas. That leaves (ok... left) over one hundred slots open. If you look on the right side of the chart, you will see that there were still empty spots after everyone (fmg, img and amg) matched.
 
Originally posted by 26andcounting
Actually, 321 us seniors matched into gas. That leaves (ok... left) over one hundred slots open. If you look on the right side of the chart, you will see that there were still empty spots after everyone (fmg, img and amg) matched.
Click to expand...

I stand corrected. In my defense, I was looking at the wrong column while I was a bit tired.

So, the actual stats are 74.5% filled by US Seniors (321 spots) through the match, with 21.8% of positions (94 spots) by independent applicants (unknown affiliation) and 3.7% (26 spots) left over for the scramble.
 
Bellkicker, until when will you have to send your applications for the 2005 Match? And also, have you done any research in essay-editing services or you re gonna do you PS all by yourself? Do you know if these services are worth the money? Thanks in advance.
 
theodore,

I'm not sure what you mean by "until". I think I'll start sending stuff in by July and apply to about half my programs on opening day (september 4th?) with just step 1.

Then I'll see how it goes from there.

I think I'll write me PS myself. Now that you mention it, it would be nice to have someone look it over but I think that will be a few trusted friends or something.
 
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