UK graduate & US internships?

[Guerrien]

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I'm currently at the stage of my life where the question of what I want to do for the rest of it is looming. Menacingly. Anyway, this is okay - if disturbing - because I have a Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C. Go me.

Anyway, one of aforementioned plans involves med school. More accurately, it involves me applying to US and UK schools after graduating the current BSc course I'm halfway through right now, going to whichever UK school will take me (because I've noted how difficult it appears to be to get into the US med schools as an international student, but I'll try anyway), and then attempting to get an internship in the US or Canada.

...Right now it occurs to me that I should perhaps announce that I'm British. So...I'm British. Right. Good. Moving on.

I guess what I'm asking is, what's the process for this? I've done some research into it, and am vaguely aware of the hoops I'll have to jump through, but a nice flow diagram or something would be handy. 😉

Particular concerns I have: this mysterious matching process I've heard so much about, and possibly having to do this independantly without the aid of a University or University backing. Differences in the US/UK med courses. Working hours. Rotations. Will I be competitive when applying for internships? And, er, so on. Basically, reading this back, I want to know anything you can teach me, Yoda. I guess I'm just looking for insight into the US system. So...hopefully you can help. 🙂

 

[Winged Scapula]

There are literally dozens of threads here about how to apply for a US residency. I suggest doing a search for them.

Internship is merely the first year of training in a US residency program. While you can do just a single year of training in the US via a Preliminary Medicine or Surgery or a Transitional Year, most programs expect you to complete the entire training schema.

If your plan is to return to the UK to complete your training and practice, I might inquire as to the purpose of the year in the US. Most states require FMGs to have more than 1 year of training to become licensed and practice in the US and I'm not sure the US internship will allow you to cut some time off your training in the UK - it may, but these rules are constantly evolving so for something perhaps 6 years away, it may too early to make such assumptions.

At the very least, during your final year as a student in a UK medical school, you would want to arrange some electives in the US to familiarize yourself with the US medical system and meet some US faculty who could write you letters of recommendation for US residency. Ideally, you would apply with a full ECFMG certificate which at this point in time requires you graduating from a school recognized by FAIMER, passing USMLE Steps 1, Step2 CS and CK.

Thus, you would need to register with ECFMG: http://www.ecfmg.org

and when it comes time to register for the match, assuming you have chosen a specialty which uses the NRMP (not all do), then you register with ERAS: http://www.eras.org AND the NRMP: http://www.nrmp.org

If invited for interviews you will have to come to the states; regional interviews or interviews abroad are generally not possible, this means you will have to have leave frm your school in the UK or have graduated and have time off.

This is a brief introduction to the process; as I noted above, there are dozens of threads about how to match into a US residency program and to be honest, things may change radically 6 years from now when its time to apply, so what is true now may not be then.