Any Europeans in this match cycle?

[BellKicker]

Just being curious......

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[AndersOlsson]

Japp! Graduate from Karolinska/Stockholm....Applying to gen surgery...You'r applying as well?

 

[Max_Berry]

Not yet, my hell starts Aug 2005. Good Luck to both of you.

 

[AndersOlsson]

Hej!

Just got my 2 first interview offers Gen surgery at Metropolitan Groups Hospital/Chicagot and Graduate Hospital/Philadelphia.... However I wanted to ask you about visas... Whats your strategy? J1/H1?

A

 

[BellKicker]

Hi Anders. Somehow I missed your first post; I figured this thread was long dead.

Congrats on getting interviews. I heard surgery was hard last year. Having been in this game a month, it seems like Scandinavia isn't a bad place to be from.

I have a green card but if I had to, I would go for the H1. I'm not planning on coming back. Are you?

 

[AndersOlsson]

No, Im not really planning on coming back if I match...however I hear its pretty difficult to obtain an H1 visa..but even if I dont there are plenty of interesting alternatives like canada/australia/UK...

I agree on that as an IMG, its probably favourable to be from scandinavia since there are suprisingly few of us and we seem to have a pretty decent reputation..

So how is your application process going? I've applied to like 60 programs and so far I've been invited to 3/5 places so it looks promising..

 

[BellKicker]

Anders,

It would be unfair to compare our application progress. I'm applying to FP and some IM, which is obviosly a far less competitive game than surgery. My count is up to 12 now out of 28 programs. Some are from really sweet programs, too.

Yeah, the Scandinavians are few and far between. One of my A list programs has a Karolinska grad, in fact, but other than that I haven't come across any in my area (which is Wisconsin and surrounding states).

I guess your interview season will include a lot of flying, too? I'm trying to fit my interviews into a few weeks but it's not always easy. If you're applying to programs in both Chicago and Philadelphia (and probably a ton of other places), I guess you'll rack up more frequent flier miles than me.

 

[Max_Berry]

I have gotten word that the chief of surgery at UTSW in Dallas is Swedish. Might help to get an extra interview. Just trying to help.

 

[El Duderino]

Looks like I'll be missing out on this year, since I won't be able to schedule my step 2cs and get the results before the 'hard' deadline on Feb 23rd.

BellKicker, you told me that you can apply to programs with just the step 1 score - but wouldn't that still require you to be fully certified on Feb 23rd?

Good luck, by the way!

 

[vallmo]

Hej Anders!
Lycka till i the match, dina kommande intervjuer l?ter imponerande.
Hur tyckte du USMLE var? har du n?gra tips ang vad man ska l?sa?
M?ste man g?ra AT i Sverige innan man s?ker?

 

[BellKicker]

Looks like I'll be missing out on this year, since I won't be able to schedule my step 2cs and get the results before the 'hard' deadline on Feb 23rd.

BellKicker, you told me that you can apply to programs with just the step 1 score - but wouldn't that still require you to be fully certified on Feb 23rd?

Good luck, by the way!

Wow, that sucks. Like I've said before, there's always the scramble. Are you sure you can't get a spot before Dec. 31st?

Still, even if you get the result between the rank date and match date, you could still call programs during the scramble. I suppose you wouldn't get the list of programs but someone always releases the list on SDN or somewhere else.

You do need to have passed all 3 tests before rank day to enter the match. You don't need to be ecfmg certified.

 

[El Duderino]

Right now it seems you can't get a spot for step 2CS anywhere until late January/early February. Add six weeks or so to get the results, and things are looking bleak.

I guess that's just the breaks, but I think I can find a way to make it work to my advantage. Waiting until 2006 would probably allow me to finish my PhD, which I assume would help my cause to some extent.

 

[BellKicker]

Ok, that does sound like a good plan.

I'm still surprised the wait is that long for the CS.

 

[AndersOlsson]

Hej Anders!
Lycka till i the match, dina kommande intervjuer l?ter imponerande.
Hur tyckte du USMLE var? har du n?gra tips ang vad man ska l?sa?
M?ste man g?ra AT i Sverige innan man s?ker?

Hej!

Better stick to english so nobody gets offended However, about USMLE, to get a pass is IMO not that difficult. I guess with an IQ of about average (like mine) you could pass it after 3-4 weeks of studying, assuming you're a medical student... To get a good result is another ballgame, but the good thing is that anyone who is motivated/disciplined can. I spent 3 month fulltime preparing for both steps, that is 6 months in total, and got 97/98...and honestly, I was usually in the middle/lower tier at med school..


My best advices are 1: First Aid for the USMLE step 1 by Lee/Bushan mm, know it better than your own name. I read it like 7 times and still, after the exam, I found answers there to questions I hadnt been able to answer..
2: Kaplans question bank. You pay like 300US and get access to around 2000 usmle style qustions. Generally the questions are good, and also you get used to answering multiple choise questions.

I used a bunch of other books as well..let me know if you want more tips on books or if you have more questions abou the exam. They ask alot of questions on rare diseases but as I said, you can prepare for it..

About AT/Internship. No, you dont have to do your AT before applying , so theoretically you can save 2 years there..However Im not sure what happens if you want to return after residency...my guess is that you'd have to do 6 months of "provtj?nstg?ring"

OK, hoppas det hj?lpte!
A

 

[El Duderino]

<fact>

You don't have to do your AT before entering a residency, but if you ever want to practice in Sweden again, you have to do it. Also, US board certification is not automatically valid in Sweden. You would have to be evaluated by the head of the department where you're working, there are no guarantees that they will recognize your training.

</fact>

<speculation>

I assume that this non-transparency is due to concerns about unemployment/oversupply of doctors. IE, if you were to show up with an "attractive" specialty (just about anyone these days, the shortage is especially pronounced in psych, path etc), I have a strong feeling your transition would be fairly smooth.

</speculation>

 

[BellKicker]

One thing that bugs me is that if someone from, say, Italy went to the US to do a residency and then moved to Scandinavia, no one would ask about AT (we call it turnus). Why does it have to be harder for us to return to Scandinavia than for someone completely foreign to get in?

This is, of course, coming from someone who isn't planning on doing turnus (AT) before leaving. I actually only recently found about it being a requirement for someone coming back. Oh well, if I ever come back, I'll worry about it then.

 

[vallmo]

Those scores are awesome!

DOnt forget to sign up to green-card lottery, it will soon start.

 

[Arb]

Is anyone going with a J1 visa? Will you be eligible for a green card while on the J1 visa and doing your residency?

 

[Mike_LA]

Tjenare Anders! (Hi Anders)
First of all I?d like to congratulate u on your terrific scores.
I am a student at Karolinska too, and, I?d like to find out more on how u prepared for the USMLE step 1 and 2, besides the Kaplan Qbank and First Aid USMLE. Also, I?d like to know when is the best time to take step 1 and 2 respectively (so that it fits to Karolinska curriculum).

Hej!

Better stick to english so nobody gets offended However, about USMLE, to get a pass is IMO not that difficult. I guess with an IQ of about average (like mine) you could pass it after 3-4 weeks of studying, assuming you're a medical student... To get a good result is another ballgame, but the good thing is that anyone who is motivated/disciplined can. I spent 3 month fulltime preparing for both steps, that is 6 months in total, and got 97/98...and honestly, I was usually in the middle/lower tier at med school..


My best advices are 1: First Aid for the USMLE step 1 by Lee/Bushan mm, know it better than your own name. I read it like 7 times and still, after the exam, I found answers there to questions I hadnt been able to answer..
2: Kaplans question bank. You pay like 300US and get access to around 2000 usmle style qustions. Generally the questions are good, and also you get used to answering multiple choise questions.

I used a bunch of other books as well..let me know if you want more tips on books or if you have more questions abou the exam. They ask alot of questions on rare diseases but as I said, you can prepare for it..

About AT/Internship. No, you dont have to do your AT before applying , so theoretically you can save 2 years there..However Im not sure what happens if you want to return after residency...my guess is that you'd have to do 6 months of "provtj?nstg?ring"

OK, hoppas det hj?lpte!
A

 

[BellKicker]

Geez, the Swedes are taking over SDN......

 

[AndersOlsson]

Geez, the Swedes are taking over SDN......

Ok, to answer your question Mike LA, Ill just list the books I used and comment on them..

BRS Pathology - Excellent
BRS Physiology - Excellent
Medical microbiology made ridiculously simple - Excellent
High yield neuroanatomy - Good but some chapters were low yield
High yield anatomy - Good but there were actually not that many straight anatomy questions on the test, so dont spend too much time on it.
High yield behavioural sciences - Very good
Clinical vignettes: behavioural science - Good book, wont take you more than 6 hours to read
Biochemistry (Champe/Harvey) - Way to much info but I found no good alternative. Focus on metabolic diseases, internal metabolism and the integrated chapters at the end.
Pharmacology (lippincott) - Also way to heavy. Actually I think the chapter in First Aid is more than enough.

I also read through some of the Pre Test series books (question books). The questions were generally not that good but you get some variation by answering questions...

Actually I passed on many of my books to a friend at Karolinska (Joel Beck), he should be in his 10th semester by now, but finally I dont think he'll sit for Step1 so I could ask him to pass them on to you..

About the KI curriculum, alot of people will suggest you to take step 1 after the 4th semester. However I definetively suggest you to wait until after the 10th semester since most of the questions can be solved from your clinical knowledge. I had alot of help from having read pediatrics and gynecology and very few questions are strictly pre-clinical. For step 2 I only used First Aid for step 2 and the kaplan question bank, I think I could answer most of the questions simply because I had studied well for and recently taken step 1 so there is alot of overlapping...

Ok, hoppas det hj?lpte men du ?r v?lkommen att h?ra av dig om du vill veta n?t mer eller om du ?r intresserad av b?ckerna..

 

[puppykicker]

Hi Anders. I'm not sure if you're still reading these boards but if you are, it would be really interesting to hear how it all went. I just got accepted at Uppsala and I hope to pursue my career in the US once I complete my degree. Did you do any rotations at US hospitals and if so, did you think that your Swedish medical education prepared you well for them? Do you feel that the absence of grades/class ranks is a disadvantage, and do you think this make test scores more important? Did you manage to get a H1-visa? Also, it would be interesting to know why you want to train in the US. I don't believe you mentioned this anywhere in the thread.

 

[helena]

Hi, I'm a med student in Umeå, Sweden (done 3 years) planning on taking the steps in the future (have to save money first, it's pretty damn expensive!)
I'm wondering how long it takes after graduation to be ECMG certified?
And also how hard it would be to take step 2 before graduating (considering neurology, OB/Gyn and Peds are all in the last year)?
To the people who have applied for residencies, did you have to show them a breakdown of your clinical clerkships or something? (the swedish system is pretty different from the U.S).
About step 1, if you're a full-time student would the summer be enough time to study to get a good score?

Well, good luck to all of you out there! Please tell if you matched in March!

 

[El Duderino]

I'm wondering how long it takes after graduation to be ECMG certified?

The certification itself isn't that big of a deal compared to passing step 1, 2ck and 2cs. To be in a really good position, you should try to get those done before the application process begins in September (depending on your specialty). You don't have to be ECFMG certified to match, but you will certainly be a more competitive candidate if you are.

And also how hard it would be to take step 2 before graduating (considering neurology, OB/Gyn and Peds are all in the last year)?

I would advise against taking step 2 before you've graduated (then again, I would advise against taking step 1 too before graduating, but that's just me ). But I would definitely SCHEDULE step 2 as soon as possible after graduation.

 

[BellKicker]

I have to disagree with the Dude here. I took my step 1 after our 4th year and step 2 after our 6th year (with 6 months to go). That was before peds and OB/GYN. I know that seems weird but the stuff they teach us on these rotations isn't really high yield for the steps. You need to do tons of questions.

My advice will always be that it doesn't really matter when you take them as long as you have at least a good month to focus 100% on studying. Plus, and I'm not totally sure about this, I think PDs like to see that candidates took their steps during medical school, like American students do. It makes the scores more comparable.

 

[Max_Berry]

Just wondering how the interviewing went for everyone and how your ROLs are looking.

Crossing my fingers for everyone...

 

[tlew12778]

Bumping this thread back up bc I have a book question.

I was reading the book lists posted here and was wondering something. Over on the USMLE sticky thread, they don't have any Neuro or Gross Anatomy books listed. Nor do they have Biochem., Embyology or Immunlogy. Do you think those are important? I mean from an IMG perspective since my Fh is one. I just want to make sure he has all the books he needs to pass it and pass it well. He'll be going for surgery in 2006.

Thanks

 

[BellKicker]

Bumping this thread back up bc I have a book question.

I was reading the book lists posted here and was wondering something. Over on the USMLE sticky thread, they don't have any Neuro or Gross Anatomy books listed. Nor do they have Biochem., Embyology or Immunlogy.
Thanks

I would say this:

Neuroanatomy and Embryology: Somewhat important but you could easily do without books.

The others: The only reason you should ever open a book about these (other than a First Aid-type book) would be to do the questions in the back.

 

[rodani]

Hey guys, when you get tired with your Neuroanatomy and Embryology books, try something:

www.eurobilltracker.com

EuroBillTracker is an international non-profit volunteer team dedicated to tracking Euro notes around the world. Each user enters the serial numbers and location information for each note they obtain into EuroBillTracker. It may sound silly, but it's loads of fun!