accepting any advice!

[deead]

Hi!

This is may first thread in this forum and I`m very excited because I can meet people who share the same dream as me-" to be MD".
As now I`m enrolled in a US community college after trying to get into a US medical school and failed because they do not accept international medical students.I studied General Medicine at University of Medicine & Pharmacy "Iuliu Hatieganu" , Cluj-Napoca, Romania , five years ( it requires 6 year for a MD degree ).I have one more year to decide if it is better to go back to finish my school or trying here in US to get the greencard so I can go to Med here in US.
If you have any idea of what can I do and what are my chances to get a US degree I would appreciate if you`ll share with me.
I`m applying to a Nursing School for this fall.

I wish everyone good luck!!!

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[tlew12778]

In order to go to med school in the US you need to have an undergraduate degree from another university. Since you have not yet finished your med program in Romania, I don't think that you qualify to apply to med school in the US since I think the Romanian program is like other European programs where your undergrad and your MD are rolled into one (hence the 6 years). If you want to stay in the US (and not return to Romania), then you will have to do 4 years of undergrad, then take the MCAT and try to get into med school there. Alternatively you can finish your degree in Romania and take the USMLE and try to get into residency in the US.

 

[deead]

But I did my transcripts evaluation and they gave me like 135 US credits for the courses that I took in Romania.And for the Nursing School they even approved my Anatomy and Microbiology courses ,so I wonder if i take the USMLE step 1 and maybe step 2 ( because actually I am in the last 12 months of completing the Med School ) can a US MED School accept me in any advance program??!! like in the second or third year undergraduate?!

 

[person2004]

I don't want to discourage you, but it is unlikely that you'll be able to transfer into a US school. There are only a handful of schools that will even accept transfer applications from IMG's. Those that do will be flooded with applications from US citizens studying medicine abroad. They'll get preferential treatment vs. you, making an extremely difficult thing even more difficult.

You can always graduate in Romania and try for a residency in the US.

 

[JMD]

As person2004 mentioned, why not just finish your degree in Romania and apply to residency in the U.S. Potentially, this will get you to the same point in a lot less time. There is no need to repeat medical school (and possibly undergraduate courses). Although I am not totally sure about things like your school's accreditation and the like, I think it would be worthwhile to look into this route.

You would have to take the USMLE 1 and 2, but would be placed directly into residency ("postgraduate" medical education) as opposed to "undergraduate" medical school.

 

[BellKicker]

There is also the possibility of transferring to a Caribbean med school for your last two years. You'd have to take Step 1 (and do well, of course).

There's the issue of cost, of course, since you might not qualify for loans.

 

[BellKicker]

Oh, you might want to ask around in the Caribbean forum. Not all the schools allow such transfers.

 

[deead]

This is a good idea but if I graduate from a Caribbean School then I will still be considered as an IMG for a residency in US??!!Will I have to take the other USMLE steps in order to qualify for a US residency??!!
Thank you!

Just as a general thing , the evaluation agency calculated my GPA from Romania MED School as being 3.57.I think is a good one and still this doesn`t matter in order to be accepted into US MED School .

Anyway life is going on ... and everyone will have a chance in the vast unknown future !

 

[BellKicker]

Yeah, you'll be an IMG. Still, with a mixed degree like you'll end up with the theoretical background from a traditional medical school and clinical rotations in the US. That might be looked upon as an attractive combination.

Remember, you'd have to take the USMLE steps no matter what. They are probably more important for IMGs but everyone takes them.

It's certainly a possibility to apply to both US and Carib schools. The difference is that you'd save two years by going to the Caribbean (unless you could get transferred to a US school, which is highly unlikely).

It might be a little weird to take both the MCAT and USMLE step 1 but that's what you'd have to do to apply to both routes.

Seriously, you gotta think about which specialty you want to end up in. IMGs are at a great disadvantage but there are still tons of good spots taken by (or left over for) IMGs. If you're looking for internal medicine, family practice, peds, psych, path, PM&R (and so on) it's certainly doable form the Caribbean. Caribbean IMGs generally do better than real, foreign grads (like myself) in the match.

I'm no expert but if you have any questions, keep them coming.

 

[JMD]

I think Bellkicker is right about doing rotations in the U.S., but again, you may be able to organize some rotations in the U.S from Romania in your last year.

You will have to take the USMLEs no matter what, and if you do well on them I think you will have a decent chance at landing a residency in one of the specialties BK mentioned.

MY POINT IS...if you only have one more year of school in Romania, the first thing I would look into is finishing up there and then landing a residency in the U.S. Why waste time, money, etc. on a Carribean school or some other option if you do not have to?

 

[BellKicker]

Yeah, actually it would be the easiest thing to do. Going back to Romania.

If you were able to set up some rotations in the US and get credits for them back in Romania, that would be a good choice.

I sense there's more to the story and that you don't want to go back there (otherwise, why wouldn't you just have finished your degree already?).

 

[deead]

Actually there is more , I mean I have some personal problems that keep me here in US and I don`t want to waste my time. Beside that I`m willing to experience how is to go to a US Med School.I`m almost sure that I`ll have to go back to Romania to finish , but you know , when I`ll be back in US it will be very hard for me to have the highest scores at USLME steps.So, if I do something now when I`m still here it will be much easier for me in the future.
I already took some courses like Medical Terminology, Human Diseases, Info management for allied health professionals , EKG only to become familiar with medical terms and to know how to use them .
I`ve read the other days that 60 % of IMGs failed at USMLE step 3 because of English language deficiencies.
I`m in US for about an year now and my plan is to stay another year and then go back and finish my school.(I`m only 23 years . In the meantime I want to do all that is humanly possible to improve my knowlegde.

Have a nice weekend and be good!

 

[BellKicker]

You've got some things to think about that people on these boards can't really offer advice on.

If I were you, I'd pick one choice and go for it 100%. Getting into a US med school without without a 4-year US college degree will be hard, so I would think twice about picking that option.

A degree from Romania or the Caribbean combined with good grades and USMLE scores can get you far. I'd pick one of those two.

Btw, you must think of USMLE step 1. Step 3 is usually not considered very hard, although the FMGs that take it before their intern year might find it hard (I don't know if that's true). Step 1 is hard but can certainly be beaten.