Internal Medicine:
IMG Friendly
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
No Min or <=80 AND no exp
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
No Minimum USMLE Scores or <=85
Both H1 & J1 visas
Either H1 or J1
Non-recent grad
Family Practice General Surgery Internal Medicine
Ob/Gyn Pediatrics Psychiatry
Continued from page 1:
Residency Application Tips for non-recent IMGs:
(Updated June 20, 2005)
5. If you have undergone previous medical residency training in your home country, it often helps. Of course, if the previous residency was done in the USA, it helps even more. (Many residency programs would consider UK, Canada, Australia experience on par with the US experience.) Some Internal Medicine and Pediatrics residency programs make exception about their graduation rule for such IMGs. To some extent this is true for Psychiatry too. Not only that, some Surgery and Psychiatry residency programs will also consider US research experience in the interim years.
6. In some cases IMGs change their specialties. Say, you were a Surgeon in your country for 10 years and now you are applying for Family Practice. Before you were managing one narrow and particular aspect of health and now in Family Medicine you would have to manage the whole patient. Explain why you want to do this and how you would transition to the specialty you are now applying to.
7. If you are a married IMG with a family, be prepared to answer how you deal with stress. There was old research that said IMGs with families were likely to experience problems in residency. In the absence of new research, many program directors continue to believe this. If asked, it is better to explain. For many IMGs, family provides safety net and a place to release pressure as well as rejuvenate.
8. Cite all clinical activities since graduation and make sure there is no gap. For example, if you had a private practice or were a teaching faculty, say so. The more you are out of school; the important is what you have been doing since then. IMGs often come from other countries to the USA because of family ties or marriage. By the time they sort out visa issues, adjust to the life in the USA, take USMLE exams etc. and apply for residency; often 2-3 years pass by. While you are fighting all these other battles, try not to be away from clinical practice. Instead upon arriving in the USA, try to get in to the field of Medicine as soon as possible. Residency programs and state licensing authorities do not like any breaks in your CV and prefer continuity in medicine.
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