Internal Medicine:
IMG Friendly Residency Programs
No Minimum USMLE Scores or <=80
Both H1 & J1 visas
Either H1 or J1
Non-recent grad and USMLE scores <=80
Family Practice:
No Minimum USMLE Scores or <=80
Green Card only
Both H1 & J1
Either H1 visa or J1 visa
IMG friendly Family Practice Residency Programs
Pediatrics:
No Minimum USMLE Scores
Both H1 & J1
Either H1 visa or J1 visa
IMG Friendly lists for Pediatrics
Psychiatry:
No Minimum USMLE Scores
Green Card/Citizens & <=80
Both H1&J1 AND <=80
Ob/Gyn:
No Minimum USMLE Scores or <=80
Both H1 & J1
Either H1 or J1
IMG Friendly Residency Programs
General Surgery:
IMG Friendly Programs
No Minimum USMLE Scores or <=85
Both H1 & J1 visas
Either H1 or J1
Non-recent grad
9. H1 visa. It is getting harder to obtain H1 visa. Yet, 2 types of programs are likely to sponsor H1 visas - (a) programs that are unable to attract US Medical Graduates (USMGs) and are seeing a decline in number of applications, and (b) programs that want the best residents, no matter what. Currently Internal Medicine and Family Medicine are out of favor among AMGs and many medical residency programs depend on IMGs.
You can not obtain H-1 visa for medical residency unless you first pass USMLE Step 3. And, if you need an H1 visa, most programs require that you pass USMLE Step 3, latest by 31st January. That is just before they submit their rank order list (ROL). However, the earlier you pass USMLE Step 3 and let the program know about it, the better. If you take Step 3 early and unfortunately fail, at least you can take it again. If you wait till the end, you might not be able to take and pass Step 3 by the time the program submits the ROL.
J1-trend: In past 2 years, we have observed that quite a few excellent university sponsored residency programs have stopped sponsoring H1-B visas. They now accept only ECFMG sponsored J1 visas. Sometimes, it may become necessary to be flexible about H1 visa and instead opt for a J-1 visa.
H1-exempt:
As most of you would be aware, only 65,000 H-1B nonimmigrant visas are issued per year. Once the quota has been met, no more H-1 visas could be issued. Fortunately, some non-profit hospitals and some universities are exempt from this quota. What this means is even if the H-1 cap of 65,000 nonimmigrant visas is reached, prospective medical residents at those exempt residency programs could still obtain H-1 visas to legally work.
If a residency program is not exempt, it can not sponsor H-1B visa. So, it becomes very important that you obtain H-1B visa while still available or apply to "exempt from H-1 cap" program. Whenever possible, InfoIMG has noted down in the "comments" field whether a program is exempt or not.
You can read more about this issue by visiting the website of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. The information is titled "Current Cap Count for Non-Immigrant Worker Visas For Fiscal Year 2007" and is available at http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/services/tempbenefits/cap.htm.
10. MPH Degree. It also seems that MPH (Masters of Public Health) degree is helping. While an IMG is seeking residency, pursing MPH is helpful in many ways: (i) It keeps one (sort of) in the field of medicine (ii) provides one US graduates degree, that a few programs often ask for and (iii) helps explain time away from clinical practice, while seeking residency and later medical resident license.
Continued <<Previous|1|2|3|4|5|Next>>
Page 1: When to apply, evidence-based application and IMG type
Page 2: Green card, persistence, and ECFMG certificate
Page 4: US Clinical Experience (USCE)
Page 5: Factors important to program directors & interview criteria
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