what are the programs looking for

[psychiatry2009]

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I need some honest advice . I am a foreign grad who is applying for psychiatry. I did 1 year internship on psych back home . Have done 2 months of externship in a university psych program . I have got 1 avg & 1 strong letter from the professors over there. The other 2 letters are from my home(psych head of dept). My step 1 score is horrific..it`s 190 and step 2 is 214. CS passed ..all at first attempt. Do I stand a chance to get a single interview? I really want to do psych.I don`t have any geographical preferences. Just wanna be a psychiatrist. I wish I had better scores !! 🙁
Thanks.

 

[Doc Samson]

I need some honest advice . I am a foreign grad who is applying for psychiatry. I did 1 year internship on psych back home . Have done 2 months of externship in a university psych program . I have got 1 avg & 1 strong letter from the professors over there. The other 2 letters are from my home(psych head of dept). My step 1 score is horrific..it`s 190 and step 2 is 214. CS passed ..all at first attempt. Do I stand a chance to get a single interview? I really want to do psych.I don`t have any geographical preferences. Just wanna be a psychiatrist. I wish I had better scores !! 🙁
Thanks.

I think you'll be fine. Passing all your exams on the first attempt is a big plus. Demonstrated interest in psychiatry (versus wanting to be any type of physician in the US) makes you particularly attractive. Ideally you'd have US clinical experience, but overall I think you'll find a spot somewhere.

 

[psychiatry2009]

Thank you Dr Samson for the rays of hope. My externship was done at UMMC . My LORs state that I was as involved as a resident . I`ll be doing externship at Children`s National Medical Center , Child & Adolescent Psychiatry dept till the end of this year. Are these not counted as USCE ? I`ll keep my fingers crossed and hope they are considered USCE . Thank you once again for your reply.

 

[Doc Samson]

If you're actual doing clinical care, then yes they count. For some reason I had thought you were doing observerships (which wouldn't count). Is these are clinical rotations, then I'd say you'll probably have a choice of where to go since you'll likely be offered positions outside of the match.