Advice!!!!!!!!!

[Phat_Doc69]

i'm studying medicine in a 6 year program in eastern europe. DOES NOT TEACH FOR THE USMLE!! i am weighing out the options of taking the USMLE step 1 after my 4th year, after i take pharmacology (last basic science). OR, i'll just take it when i graduate and return to the US and study for it together with the kaplan course.

i'm more into taking it after my 4th year because i can do some summer rotations in the US. where its required to atleast pass step 1 before given any contact with patients. it'll look good for my resume when applying for residency.

BUT, i want to eventually land a residency in general surgery and i don't want to take the chance of rushing to take it (step 1) and getting a bad score, or even worse failing it. when i can graduate and take my time studying for it (step 1) and having a chance at getting a good score. BUT THEN, i won't have any experience in the US.

when it comes down to it which is more important for the PDs? very good step 1 (90-99) with NO US experience, OR sub-par step 1 (80-89) with US experience?

any advice is really appreciated. thanks.

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[parasiteatwork]

i'm studying medicine in a 6 year program in eastern europe. DOES NOT TEACH FOR THE USMLE!! i am weighing out the options of taking the USMLE step 1 after my 4th year, after i take pharmacology (last basic science). OR, i'll just take it when i graduate and return to the US and study for it together with the kaplan course.

i'm more into taking it after my 4th year because i can do some summer rotations in the US. where its required to atleast pass step 1 before given any contact with patients. it'll look good for my resume when applying for residency.

BUT, i want to eventually land a residency in general surgery and i don't want to take the chance of rushing to take it (step 1) and getting a bad score, or even worse failing it. when i can graduate and take my time studying for it (step 1) and having a chance at getting a good score. BUT THEN, i won't have any experience in the US.

when it comes down to it which is more important for the PDs? very good step 1 (90-99) with NO US experience, OR sub-par step 1 (80-89) with US experience?

any advice is really appreciated. thanks.

hey.....where in eastern europe r u studying?

 

[Phat_Doc69]

hungary

 

[Ratan1982]

i hear its tough to come back to north america from Hungary

 

[Phat_Doc69]

i don't think it's all that difficult. take the necessary exams (USMLE 3-steps) and get ECFMG certified and land a residency. i have found quite a few hungarian educated graduates in the US. just do a search.

 

[Miklos]

i hear its tough to come back to north america from Hungary

i don't think it's all that difficult. take the necessary exams (USMLE 3-steps) and get ECFMG certified and land a residency. i have found quite a few hungarian educated graduates in the US. just do a search.

I think that the truth is somewhere in between.

IMO (in no particular order);

Advantages

• relatively inexpensive in comparison to other off-shore programs; however, this is slowly changing thanks to inflation and the falling dollar
• grads are eligible for full registration (or its equivalent) in the EU if they have EU citizenship or residency rights
• relatively simple and pain free admission process, especially if one does not have pre-reqs for four year programs
• if one can hack it and take advantage of the education provided, one can succeed and return
• incomparable cultural and travel opportunities throughout Europe, if one takes advantage of them.

Disadvantages

• very high attrition rate, cummulative somewhere around 50%
• foreign culture, foreign language, foreign customs, foreign bureacracy
• does not prepare for USMLE; though same material is covered, student must dedicate self-study apart from system
• difficulty arranging for US clinicals; this is left to the student, at considerable expense and time (see first post in thread)

My bottom line: I do not recommend it to anyone, unless they know what they are getting into.

Miklos

 

[BellKicker]

Phatdoc,

I took step 1 after my fourth year. I don't think it's ultra-important when you take it, as long as you are able to set aside at least a month of very dedicated study time. And I mean dedicated, like you study, eat, sleep and nothing else. I hadn't even taken pathology and didn't find it to be too much of a problem.

I'm at the end of the interview trail now and all I can say is that step scores make a HUGE difference. I did one rotation in the US, which was very hard to set up and probably cost me more time and money than the steps. At interviews, it doesn't seem to give me that much credit, more like "oh, that's nice; so you know what you're getting yourself into".

I'm an "off-the-boat" IMG, though, so the dynamics may be a little different for me. Anyway, lack of US clinical experience has not been an issue. Oh wait, that's not exactly true. There are many residency programs you will now be able to apply to if you don't have, say, 3 months of rotations in the US. That was really annoying, actually.

So they are both important, I guess, but I think step scores matter more than rotations.

 

[Phat_Doc69]

"off-the-boat" IMG, does this mean you didn't do undergraduate work in the US? well, i also didn't do any undergraduate work in the US. so, i guess we're "off-the-SAME-boat". but, i am a US citizen. how difficult was it to find places to do rotations? i thought it would be easier as a medical student to set up rotations (clerkships??) in the US after passing step 1.

anyway, i'm looking at doing some 6th year clerkships in the US. i'm sure that would also be possible for you, but i'm not sure. you might want to check up on that?

 

[BellKicker]

No, by off-the-boat I mean real foreign medical doctor (with an accent and everything). What I meant to say was that it's my impression that if you attend an international school as an American, they kind of expect you to do some, or all, clinicals in the US.

If you're just a foreigner studying in your own country, they know you can't go do everything in the US and don't really expect that. The one "rotation" I set up was in family practice. I just wrote to a bunch of medical schools/hospitals and got a few positive responses. The hard part was actually finding malpractice insurance but if you're in Hungary, they probably have that set up for you. There was nothing official about my "rotation" and I never got any credit for it at my own school. I basically saw patients in an FP clinic and spent a few days with the residents at the local FP program.

 

[Miklos]

Actually, BK, I've found that there is a significant problem getting malpractice insurance from Hungary especially if you do not have Step 1 in hand.

So, my recommendation would be to take Step 1 at the end of the 4th year and get the US clinical experience, especially in the surgery rotations.

Miklos

BTW, BK what did you decide to do about your choice program that was offering you a 'late' interview?

 

[Phat_Doc69]

thanks everyone for their advise. i've decided to take it after my fourth year. hopefully, it'll work out. BEST OF LUCK!!

 

[BellKicker]

BTW, BK what did you decide to do about your choice program that was offering you a 'late' interview?

Miklos, you'll get the whole story in a few weeks.

 

[helena]

Bellkicker: How did you finally get your malpractise insurance? And what schools/hospitals were willing to offer you an rotation? (considering scandinavian schools don't have core rotations)
Anyway, good luck with the interviews, I 'm impressed you were offered an interview everywhere you applied! How much time did you dedicate to step 1?

Another thing, I had a J-1 visa with a two year rule (exchange student) last spring, I could still go temporary to the US with any other kind of visa during this time right?

 

[alphaagonist]

i also go to school in hungary...i am at DOTE what about u ...im finishing up my last year in the states in new york and it was a geat experience. if u need any advice pm me...later