US Residency

[Pegasus]

I have a friend that graduated last year from Medical School in another country. He did a year of intership and realized that he wanted to come back to the US to practice. He grew up in the US, and is now back, studying for the boards and planning on taking the USMLE I in the summer.

Is there any advice I can give him to help him get in to a residency program? Will he have to do exceptional on his Step I and II to even match into something like Family Practice...this is what he wants to get into anyway?

Any advice?

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~Pegasus~

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[Winged Scapula]

I certainly didn't do exception on my USMLEs although your friend shouldn't construe that as advice to gain a US residency position; he should of course do as well as possible on these exams.

Your friend should bear in mind the following:

some programs require US clinical experience; thus if he did not do any final year US rotations he may be out of the running at these places

some programs require the ECFMG certificate to process your application

California programs require the California Status Letter; applications are available from the Cali Med Bd

there are some programs known to be "IMG friendly". However, this information is not exactly secret and these programs received THOUSANDS of applications - thus, IMHO it might be harder to shine in such a group rather than a place which gets fewer applications but is not necessarily opposed to IMGs.

All in all, FP is an easier match than other fields. In addition, the numbers of IMGs matching has increased this past year - conventional wisdom is that the process has gotten so difficult and expensive that some are simply deciding not to apply.

There really is not magic formula to obtaining US residency for an IMG. If he is a US citizen that will be in his favor. If he does well on his USMLEs and hsa good medical school grades, that will bode well. If he is realistic and understands that some programs will not want him because of his IMG status, and that he may not end up at the most prestigious program, he will do well. Letters from US faculty or foreign faculty known in the US will help. Make sure all applications are in on time and in orderly fashion - the mistake many IMGs make is to not follow the prescribed procedure for applications. A sloppy or late application (even on ERAS) does not favor an applicant.

Hope this helps and best of luck to your friend.

 

[Pegasus]

Thanks for your reply. He was raised in the US and his father is an MD here, so I hope that this will be to his advantage. As far as his grades are concerned, I am not sure what US schools will consider good. I assume that he will have to do great on the boards to get in. But if he wants to do Family Practice I hope that it will be easier.

Thanks again

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~Pegasus~

 

[gower]

Any graduate of a foreign medical school (US citizen, permanent resident, neither) requires ECFMG certification for a residency.
A Part IV of the examination, a practical test, is now required for all FMGs.

 

[j7chico]

Actually, if you are a US citizen who matriculated at a foreign medical school that is recognized by W.H.O., you can enter a Fifth Pathway Program. This program does not give you ECFMG certification and you do not have to take the English Proficiency Exam or the Clinical Skills Assessment Exam. Upon completion of this program you are eligible to participate in a residency program. Another option your friend can look into.
Jerry

 

[Annette]

I thought 5th pathway programs were only if the country your school is in requires a year of social service before you graduate. Has it changed????? And isn't there now only 1 program?

 

[dwstranger]

Annette's right.

According to the AMA website:
Although originally developed for US citizens or permanent residents who wished to enter GME in the US after attending a foreign med school (generally in Mexico), 5PW is available to those who completed their pre-med work in a US-accredited college, studied medicine in a foreign school listed in the WHO's World Directory of Medical Schools, and have completed all requirements for admission to practice medicine except internship and/or social service in the foreign country. The web address I have for this info has changed, but you can go to the AMA's website (http://www.ama-assn.org) and search for "Fifth Pathway." It's listed under the ECFMG certification section.

According to NY Med College's website:
Physicians who already have their MD degree are not eligible to participate in 5PW. Web address: http://www.nymc.edu/depthome/fifth.htm And Annette's right again when she says that there's only one -- it's at NYMC.

And here's a website that gives the history of 5PW: http://musom.marshall.edu/gmed/FifthPathway.htm

Hope this helps.

[This message has been edited by dwstranger (edited April 26, 2001).]

 

[j7chico]

I recently completed my 5PW year through NYMC. I graduated from the Autonomous University of Guadalajara, Mexico. However, I know that there are students from schools in Hungary in the program right now. I am not sure if those schools require a social service year prior to obtaining the degree. NYMC is the only active 5PW program as of today, however, there are other institutions that can accept students for a 5PW year they just choose not to enroll students in their program. I believe Mt. Sinai in NY is an example of this. If I am misinformed I apologize, but I think I got it right

Jerry

 

[Winged Scapula]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by gower:
Any graduate of a foreign medical school (US citizen, permanent resident, neither) requires ECFMG certification for a residency.
A Part IV of the examination, a practical test, is now required for all FMGs.

•

I didn't mean to imply that ECFMG certification would not be required for Pegasus' friend, only that some programs are now requiring certificate in hand BEFORE applying (as opposed to before starting residency which has been the tradition).

The CSA (or "Part IV") is indeed required for all IMGs and will likely soon be as well for US students.



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PGY1
Penn State University
Department of Surgery

 

[Winged Scapula]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by Pegasus:
Thanks for your reply. He was raised in the US and his father is an MD here, so I hope that this will be to his advantage. As far as his grades are concerned, I am not sure what US schools will consider good. I assume that he will have to do great on the boards to get in. But if he wants to do Family Practice I hope that it will be easier.

Thanks again

•

Being raised in the US and having a father here is not the same as being a citizen. If he is an non-US citizen, then he will still be at a disadvantage due to visa issues. Although having family and experience in living here will make a difference in perception (ie, he will seem to fit in better than those without such qualities) some programs may be less willing to take people without US citizenship for a number of reasons.

What constitutes good grades will vary from program to program to between specialties. Obviously having a few Honors will look good, as will a higher gpa - but this is up to the discretion of the PDs.

Certainly FP and IM are less competitive than other fields which will be to your friend's advantage.

In addition, I agree with dwstranger in that I believe your friend would be ineligible for the 5th Pathway given his graduate status. As far as I know, it is only available to those students who need to complete a year of social service or internship to be eligible for license in the country of their education. It used to be that eligibility for a license was a requirement of the ECFMG certification, now only the final medical diploma is required (since so many countries required additional training for the license). I do not know whether Mt. Sinai has an active program - if they are "allowed" to take participants but don't - well, IMHO that is as good as not "allowing" it.

Hope this helps and best of luck to your friend.
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PGY1
Penn State University
Department of Surgery

[This message has been edited by Kimberli Cox (edited April 27, 2001).]

 

[drbob96]

Some foreign medical schools will issue diplomas after the fourth year of med school but graduates still have to take one year of internship to be eligible to even sit for a licensure exam. And only if the graduated becomes licensed is he then allowed to continue on to residency. For an IMG who now has a diploma but is not yet eligible for licensure at his country of education...does this qualify him for a 5th pathway program?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by Kimberli Cox:
Being raised in the US and having a father here is not the same as being a citizen. If he is an non-US citizen, then he will still be at a disadvantage due to visa issues. Although having family and experience in living here will make a difference in perception (ie, he will seem to fit in better than those without such qualities) some programs may be less willing to take people without US citizenship for a number of reasons.

What constitutes good grades will vary from program to program to between specialties. Obviously having a few Honors will look good, as will a higher gpa - but this is up to the discretion of the PDs.

Certainly FP and IM are less competitive than other fields which will be to your friend's advantage.

In addition, I agree with dwstranger in that I believe your friend would be ineligible for the 5th Pathway given his graduate status. As far as I know, it is only available to those students who need to complete a year of social service or internship to be eligible for license in the country of their education. It used to be that eligibility for a license was a requirement of the ECFMG certification, now only the final medical diploma is required (since so many countries required additional training for the license). I do not know whether Mt. Sinai has an active program - if they are "allowed" to take participants but don't - well, IMHO that is as good as not "allowing" it.

Hope this helps and best of luck to your friend.•

 

[dwstranger]

You asked: For an IMG who now has a diploma but is not yet eligible for licensure at his country of education...does this qualify him for a 5th pathway program?

As I quoted from the NYMC website, if someone has an MD, they are not eligible to participate in 5PW. That's the degree awarded by the med school; it has nothing to do with licensure.

 

[Winged Scapula]

NO - to participate in the 5th Pathway program you must still be a student. Thus, graduates are not eligible for the program at this point in time and must secure entrance to US residency in the traditional ECFMG route. More details can be found from the NYMC web site.

Hope this helps.

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PGY1
Penn State University
Department of Surgery

 

[Mikado]

It depends very much on which foreign country he is in. For example clinical experience in Germany is preferable to clinical experience in Mongolia. (Mongolians - take no offence)