Applying Internal Medicine H1B programs from USMD

[roosebolton99]

Hi all,

I'm a Canadian citizen, currently a 3rd year at USMD school. According to FREIDA there are 128 IM programs that offer H1B visas. I see myself as a pretty average student, honored a couple clerkships, high pass in the rest, 250 STEP 2, couple poster presentations, pretty involved in student orgs and volunteering. There seems to be a pretty good mix of high tier, mid-tier and community type programs from the list of 128 programs mentioned above. My question is, if I hypothetically only applied only schools sponsoring H1B, lets say like 50? Is that a bad idea or is it a reasonable thing to do? Has anyone done something similar?
I know that there are much more flexibility in terms of number of programs I can apply to, but H1B just seems like the more straightforward route for someone just wanting to be a hospitalist and stay in the US.
Thank you!

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[Highlander455]

This is an interesting situation and I'll be interested to see what responses others give.

There is no doubt H1B is the way to go if you can.

Unlike the J1 visa you would not have a 2 yr home residency requirement. H1B is a dual intent visa so you could move more easily to a green card visa from it without the hassle of a J1 waiver.

That said, my understanding is that there may be at least two possible challenges.

The first is that I believe you may need to have passed Step 3 to get an H1B. It's difficult, if not impossible, to write Step 3 with enough time to process an H1B to start in your year of graduation. Delaying your application a year to get an H1B can put you at a disadvantage as your best chances of matching are immediately after graduation.

The second challenge is cost to the residency program. The program foots the cost of processing an H1B application, but there is no cost to them for a J1 through ECFMG. Cost for an H1B can be upwards of 10,000. For this reason most programs are reluctant to sponsor H1Bs. In a competitive match, between two equal candidates, they may be more likely to rank the one who only needs a J1 than the one needing an H1B. For this reason, in practice, a candidate may need to be exceptional to match with H1B.

Take away from this for me would be if you're going to try for the H1B, apply as broadly as you can consistent with being willing to match at the school.

Look forward to hearing other's thoughts on this.

 

[roosebolton99]

This is an interesting situation and I'll be interested to see what responses others give.

There is no doubt H1B is the way to go if you can.

Unlike the J1 visa you would not have a 2 yr home residency requirement. H1B is a dual intent visa so you could move more easily to a green card visa from it without the hassle of a J1 waiver.

That said, my understanding is that there may be at least two possible challenges.

The first is that I believe you may need to have passed Step 3 to get an H1B. It's difficult, if not impossible, to write Step 3 with enough time to process an H1B to start in your year of graduation. Delaying your application a year to get an H1B can put you at a disadvantage as your best chances of matching are immediately after graduation.

The second challenge is cost to the residency program. The program foots the cost of processing an H1B application, but there is no cost to them for a J1 through ECFMG. Cost for an H1B can be upwards of 10,000. For this reason most programs are reluctant to sponsor H1Bs. In a competitive match, between two equal candidates, they may be more likely to rank the one who only needs a J1 than the one needing an H1B. For this reason, in practice, a candidate may need to be exceptional to match with H1B.

Take away from this for me would be if you're going to try for the H1B, apply as broadly as you can consistent with being willing to match at the school.

Look forward to hearing other's thoughts on this.

Thanks for your insight! As far as the H1B and Step3, I think people can do their intern year on an OPT and take their step3 before applying for the H1B before intern year is done. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[Highlander455]

You might find this thread has some relevant info. Orientation about Visas ??

Notaprogdirector and gyngyn may have some insights.

 

[roosebolton99]

You might find this thread has some relevant info. Orientation about Visas ??

Notaprogdirector and gyngyn may have some insights.

Thank you!

 

[NotAProgDirector]

There are many programs that will offer you an H visa after an OPT for your PGY-1. There may be some that are J only. So it depends on whether there are specific programs that you are interested in. All programs should have this listed and easy to find, you should be able to figure out long before application season whether there are adequate programs offering H visas which you would consider.

 

[ROBINHO]

Hi all,

I'm a Canadian citizen, currently a 3rd year at USMD school. According to FREIDA there are 128 IM programs that offer H1B visas. I see myself as a pretty average student, honored a couple clerkships, high pass in the rest, 250 STEP 2, couple poster presentations, pretty involved in student orgs and volunteering. There seems to be a pretty good mix of high tier, mid-tier and community type programs from the list of 128 programs mentioned above. My question is, if I hypothetically only applied only schools sponsoring H1B, lets say like 50? Is that a bad idea or is it a reasonable thing to do? Has anyone done something similar?
I know that there are much more flexibility in terms of number of programs I can apply to, but H1B just seems like the more straightforward route for someone just wanting to be a hospitalist and stay in the US.
Thank you!

You situation is a bit unique. And part of the issue with asking the question generally on the internet is that you are bound to get recommendations based on general knowledge about J1 versus H1B---especially when you post in the international forum.

I will advise against just screening programs just based on H1B designation on ERAS. Foreigners who attend US MD are sometimes treated differently. Even though a program says they only sponsor J1, doesnt mean that they wont do OPT to H1B. I will recommend checking the individual websites. This is a very unique situation

 

[mszzeta]

Hi all,

I'm a Canadian citizen, currently a 3rd year at USMD school. According to FREIDA there are 128 IM programs that offer H1B visas. I see myself as a pretty average student, honored a couple clerkships, high pass in the rest, 250 STEP 2, couple poster presentations, pretty involved in student orgs and volunteering. There seems to be a pretty good mix of high tier, mid-tier and community type programs from the list of 128 programs mentioned above. My question is, if I hypothetically only applied only schools sponsoring H1B, lets say like 50? Is that a bad idea or is it a reasonable thing to do? Has anyone done something similar?
I know that there are much more flexibility in terms of number of programs I can apply to, but H1B just seems like the more straightforward route for someone just wanting to be a hospitalist and stay in the US.
Thank you!

Internal medicine is not a very competitive. Being USMD already has a HUGE edge. You should absolutely apply only H1b program and there is almost impossible for your not to match......Don't ever think about J1 programs. These will not worth at all