santa_claus said:
Thanks for your reply Kimberli! Ok...here are two more (if it has been addressed before, I'm sorry!!!). If someone knows something, please share!
1. Will doing a year-long internship in US help me score a more competitive residency if I am an FMG? (I'm studying at UQ)
2. How hard is it to get an internship in US, compared to residency?
Thanks
You're welcome.
In the US, the first year of residency is considered the internship and in most cases, you apply for one and the same together. For example, if you were applying for general surgery, you would apply for Categorial positions (which would imply the full 5+ year track) which include the internship; no need for separate applications.
There are "advanced" positions in which you do do a year of internship, usually in either Preliminary Medicine or Surgery before going onto the PGY-2 year in the specialty (ie, the "advanced" position). For example, should you apply for Anesthesiology or Radiology, you are required to do an internship before starting either one of these fields. Many programs have the first year/internship built in (ie, you do not need to apply separately or to another program), some others require you to apply separately and there is therefore the chance that you do your internship/first year in another program and move elsewhere for PGY-2 and beyond.
So, to answer your questions, doing an internship in the US will be required for any field, competitive or not, but should you not match into your field of choice, you would have a better chance of matching the following year if you do a US internship (in something) in the interval.
And hopefully the above answers your second question. In most cases, we do not separate internship and residency. However, in some fields, such as those I listed above, it is not unheard of to match into a Prelim internship position and not match into the Advanced PGY-2 position. The opposite has also happened.
But in general, you will apply for a RESIDENCY position which will include internship, except in those cases which require a separate internship application.
