USMLE Competitive Residency For An IMG From India Or An Easy Residency And A Fellowship

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

BuddingDoctor97

New Member
5+ Year Member
Joined
May 14, 2017
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Hello everyone.

I am a second year medical student from India and I have a few questions to ask. They are as follows:

1. What are my chances of securing a spot in a competitive residency such as the ROAD specialties for example? (Radiology, Ophthalmology, Anesthesiology or Dermatology) From what I have read on this forum so far, Dermatology and Ophthalmology are completely out of the league, even for some AMGs so if I wanted to match into Radio or Anesthesia, what can I start doing from now? I haven't taken the steps yet. I'm right at the start of the journey so if anyone could lay out a list of things I should do, it would be really nice. :)

2. If my dream of getting into a competitive residency is too high to aim for, then would you suggest I do a relatively "easy" "IMG friendly" specialty such as IM or Peds and then proceed to a fellowship?(which would be competitive as well)

P.S. Please do not bombard me for looking at the competitive specialties only. I'm just starting out and I am not done with many rotations so right now I pretty much like everything. Please excuse the high spirits.
I am an average medical student and I plan on settling in the US, if that helps.

Thank you everyone. :)

Members don't see this ad.
 
Hello everyone.

I am a second year medical student from India and I have a few questions to ask. They are as follows:

1. What are my chances of securing a spot in a competitive residency such as the ROAD specialties for example? (Radiology, Ophthalmology, Anesthesiology or Dermatology) From what I have read on this forum so far, Dermatology and Ophthalmology are completely out of the league, even for some AMGs so if I wanted to match into Radio or Anesthesia, what can I start doing from now? I haven't taken the steps yet. I'm right at the start of the journey so if anyone could lay out a list of things I should do, it would be really nice. :)

2. If my dream of getting into a competitive residency is too high to aim for, then would you suggest I do a relatively "easy" "IMG friendly" specialty such as IM or Peds and then proceed to a fellowship?(which would be competitive as well)

P.S. Please do not bombard me for looking at the competitive specialties only. I'm just starting out and I am not done with many rotations so right now I pretty much like everything. Please excuse the high spirits.
I am an average medical student and I plan on settling in the US, if that helps.

Thank you everyone. :)


I always recommend you do what you enjoy, but fully understand that many students don't know what they are interested in yet. Looking at the data, it's nearly impossible to match into derm or ophtho, but general rad and anesthesiology is a bit easier. Take things one step at a time, and the first step is doing well on the USMLE Step 1. There are a ton of resources out there, but the first thing you should do is buy First Aid for the USMLE. Look it over and see what you know, and fill in any gaps that you don't. Look for some sort of study schedule and resources on this forum to help you build a study plan.

IM and Peds are easier to get into and require a lower step score, but again I recommend you aim high and score the best you can and worry about the rest later.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
I always recommend you do what you enjoy, but fully understand that many students don't know what they are interested in yet. Looking at the data, it's nearly impossible to match into derm or ophtho, but general rad and anesthesiology is a bit easier. Take things one step at a time, and the first step is doing well on the USMLE Step 1. There are a ton of resources out there, but the first thing you should do is buy First Aid for the USMLE. Look it over and see what you know, and fill in any gaps that you don't. Look for some sort of study schedule and resources on this forum to help you build a study plan.

IM and Peds are easier to get into and require a lower step score, but again I recommend you aim high and score the best you can and worry about the rest later.
Thank you so much for replying Lymed. I've bought first aid and I'm planning to subscribe to a Kaplan course soon. As you've mentioned General rad and anesthesia are realistic to aim for. But the problem is that in my country, we've got only core rotations, meaning that I will have zero exposure to rads and anesthesia. What do you suggest I do? In terms of electives/ research etc.
 
Well - just look at the match data to figure out what kind of IMG's match in your specialty of interest (Main Residency Match Data - The Match, National Resident Matching Program). It does look like non-US IMGs do match both in anesthesia as well as radiology. Obviously , you'd need a decent Step1 and Step 2 score. You'd also want to do away rotations in the US (in your specialty of interest) and do at least some level of research that leads to abstracts and publications. This should also help with getting letters of recommendation from US faculty in your area of interest (of which you'll need 3).
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Well - just look at the match data to figure out what kind of IMG's match in your specialty of interest (Main Residency Match Data - The Match, National Resident Matching Program). It does look like non-US IMGs do match both in anesthesia as well as radiology. Obviously , you'd need a decent Step1 and Step 2 score. You'd also want to do away rotations in the US (in your specialty of interest) and do at least some level of research that leads to abstracts and publications. This should also help with getting letters of recommendation from US faculty in your area of interest (of which you'll need 3).
Thank you for the reply argatroban16. I looked at it but it seems that very few IMGs match in these specialties. I am ready to do stuff to get into my specialty but many people I know are suggesting that I do IM first and then do a good subspecialty, but what they say is fellowship programs aren't willing to sponsor h1b visas these days and so most of the IMGs do not get into an accredited program.
Also, could you please tell me what "decent step 1 score" means in terms of numbers? Also, about the away rotations, I might have time to do only 1 or 2 of them because of various reasons. Also, most of these places require me to be a final year student and there won't be enough time to do research before I graduate. I am torn between these two choices that I wrote in my original question. Please help me out here. Thank you again. :)
 
I'll answer your questions, however they are incredibly premature. I would just recommend you worry about the step first. However, if you're curious:
- I think 240+ is a 'decent' score
- One to two away rotations is usually enough
- You can start doing research now if you want
 
I'll answer your questions, however they are incredibly premature. I would just recommend you worry about the step first. However, if you're curious:
- I think 240+ is a 'decent' score
- One to two away rotations is usually enough
- You can start doing research now if you want
Thank you LyMed. I understand your point about my questions being premature. I guess I'm thinking too far into the future haha. You're right. I should concentrate on Step 1 first.
But I do not think that the question about research was premature. Because I have heard you can apply for a research elective without having taken the Step 1. Should I do research in my home country or doing research under a US physician/researcher would be better. What kind of journals are recognized? But the drawback is that if I do research in Rads now and change my mind after my clinical years, and want to go into, say, Anesthesia, that would mean I'd have to choose a specialty(I meant have a specialty in mind) first, right? Could you guys please answer these queries? Thank you :D
 
Doing research here in the US is better and you may get a letter of recommendation (which is always good). I'm unsure about the STEP1 timing, but I think it may be situational. Your best bet is just to email researchers personally. Publications in most journals is fine and recognized. Doing research in another field is often common, but if you do change your mind, make sure your research changes with it. If however, you only have Rads research and you change your interest to Anesthesia, then make sure you can explain that well in your application. Most directors are understanding of it.
 
Doing research here in the US is better and you may get a letter of recommendation (which is always good). I'm unsure about the STEP1 timing, but I think it may be situational. Your best bet is just to email researchers personally. Publications in most journals is fine and recognized. Doing research in another field is often common, but if you do change your mind, make sure your research changes with it. If however, you only have Rads research and you change your interest to Anesthesia, then make sure you can explain that well in your application. Most directors are understanding of it.
Thank you for replying, LyMed. I appreciate it. :) For now I've decided to concentrate on my step 1 and look for research opportunities. Could you guys please tell me where I should post for getting more info about the latter? Also, another question I had is, for my step 1 prep, will Kaplan videos and lecture notes for all subjects except for pathology(I will use Pathoma for this) be enough to get a decent score? i'm planning to do 2 or 3 months of UWorld and take 3 or 4 NBMEs. Is this a good strategy to get a 240 plus score? Thanks :D
 
I'm not the biggest fan of Kaplan, but you can certainly give it a try. You can try Boards and Beyond, or Osmosis videos which can be found on Youtube. Or, shameless plug, you can check my video course, although it may not be complete by the time you're taking the test. The most common resources used are Uworld, First AID, Pathoma and Sketchy Micro. Those resources are usually good enough. Whether or not it gives you the score you want is dependent on you.

Unfortunately, I can't help you with resources for research opportunities. I'm not well versed in that area.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Top