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Medicine in America megathread

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Original post by medicalstudent1
I am doing a fairly chill intercalated year after 2 years of MBBS.

I am starting to revise for step 1 (done like 2 weeks work of laid first aid revision), in theory I feel this prevent me from forgetting all the pre-clinical stuff that i did (as im doing my intercalated BSc in management lol).

A quick question is what are the advantages of sitting the usmle step 1 as early in my career as possible? (probably in late 2018 or early 2019 in my 3rd year of MBBS (when I rejoin) ?
any obvious disadvantage of sitting step 1 too early, apart from the obvious lack of clinical knowledge?

How long does the step 1 score last? and if i get a crappy percentile can I resit? and will resits be detrimental?

N.B. I am a pretty intense guy when it comes to studying, and have always scored top in written/mcqs so I am not overly worried about the difficulty as long as I take at least 9 months to revise the whole stuff.


Benefit: You can use it to apply for electives for places that require Step 1 scores. Furthermore, you earn yourself more time for Step 2 CS and CK revision. It sets you up nicely to ditch FY1 when you graduate to go to the US (ERAS means you need to more or less have scores before September of the year you're applying.

ALL THE DISADVANTAGES:
ALL COMPONENTS OF THE USMLE NEEDS TO BE COMPLETED IN 7 YEARS. PERIOD. So if you sit Step 1 in summer 2018 for example, you need to finish all parts by 2025. Which isn't hard, granted, but that is somewhat of a disadvantage if you're planning on doing any postgraduate things in the UK before jumping ship (though that being said, you probably won't be able to get into a program after 3 years out of uni, but hey ho)

And no. You can't resit.

If I can say one thing as someone going through the pains is that be realistic about what you're aiming for and why you want to move to the US. It's not impossible but c to gtainly not easy to get into prestigious programs as an IMG, and depending on what you specialise in / when you quit climbing the MMC ladder, it may be pretty difficult to return to the UK with full clinical recognition.

It's not just about your academics. It's also bout your visa. And the cost of doing electives there. And the actual cost of exams. And possible ramifications of visa laws and what that might mean for future fellowships and so on. With all the effort put in, if you are clever enough to land a good residency program, you may as well use that time to apply for ACF and eventual professorship imo.
To the original poster of this thread, CONGRATULATIONS! I want to commend you for planning ahead for potential residency training in America. You are already ahead of your peers by asking all these very relevant questions in early training.

I am a practicing physician in United States and have worked here for the past 10 years. It is getting more difficult to get into US.
Having said that, once you get a residency position, and pass your
board exams, the future is still good here. I recently started a blog at
foreignbornmd.com It is a self-funded venture and focuses on the
financial aspects of doing your USMLE/residency interviews in America. Please message me if you have questions on this.



Original post by Bezoar
Hi there,

Currently a first year medical student I (know it's early days but these things need planning!) seriously contemplating doing the USMLEs after talks with various doctors and medical students.

A bit of research into it taught me that these exams are extremely expensive, and very intense - and because US graduates are given priority for residency places, realistically I need to be scoring very highly if I want to get into a decent place if and when the time comes. I don't want to spend all that money on these exams and only get a mediocre score (and therefore a mediocre residency).

Has anyone here taken the USMLEs or currently in the process of taking them?
If so, I have a few questions:

1) How did you save up the money to pay for them?
2) How long in advance did you study for each step?
3) What year of medical school / training did you take each step?
4) What textbooks and resources did you use?
5) What general advice do you have for someone thinking of taking them?

Thanks in advance :smile:
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jxsoph
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From what I have read it is extremely difficult to get into a US medical school as a foreigner without a US degree.

However, would one be able to get into medical school with an undergrad degree from a US institution even if they aren't a citizen or resident?
I'm a med student in the UK wanting to apply for residency in the US when the time comes.

Has anyone here successfully gotten a residency place in a competitive hospital, and that too in a competitive specialty such as Cardio or Neuro.

I know how unbelievably difficult it is IMG to train is the US and it's annoying how your training/ fellowship wouldn't be recognised if you moved back, you'd have to do more training in the UK again.

I know @ecolier is a neuro consultant in the UK. I wanted to ask, have you ever considered going to the US? Why or why not? And what would you say to someone who is considering it?
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Original post by Anonymous
I'm a med student in the UK wanting to apply for residency in the US when the time comes.

Has anyone here successfully gotten a residency place in a competitive hospital, and that too in a competitive specialty such as Cardio or Neuro.

I know how unbelievably difficult it is IMG to train is the US and it's annoying how your training/ fellowship wouldn't be recognised if you moved back, you'd have to do more training in the UK again.

I know @ecolier is a neuro consultant in the UK. I wanted to ask, have you ever considered going to the US? Why or why not? And what would you say to someone who is considering it?

Not someone who has but its not uncommon to find profiles of Brits who've done that. It often either involves someone with an elite pedigree with a year or two of foundation years, or someone who did a research fellowship at the same institution for a few years after graduation and got into residency afterwards.

Someone who fits into the former is http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/surgery/Clinical/profile.html?name=ibrahim-michael

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