When should a foreign medical grad take Step 1?

[medstudent11]

My cousin is a foreign medical grad in India currently doing his "residency" there. He wants to take both Step 1 and Step 2 pretty close together this year so that he can apply for an observership in the US in the next 1.5 years and hopefully a residency following that. Some of my mentors who experienced this when they tried to apply for residencies in the US felt adamant that he should first concentrate on trying to gain citizenship/green card status or become established in the US first before tackling the stresses of the boards. I'd appreciate any advice I could pass along to him, because I know all too well that Step 1 is going to be a beast in a few months for me, and I don't want him to study so hard and neglect trying to get to the US in the first place. Thanks!

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[hj0517]

Sorry - so is your question "when should a foreign grad take step 1?" or "should he/she try to obtain citizenship prior to taking the exams?" No idea about the latter question as although I am an international student I won't have that problem. Although, I am taking the steps (1 & CK) where I go to university. Since he's already way past the basic science years then its just a matter of gauging where his knowledge stands and allocating appropriate time within which he can take the boards.

I hope that helps but it seems a very niche question - hopefully someone else has experience in such issues.