Hi. I'm an international student and I have quite recently begun to seriously consider radiology (in the US, that is). I'm a year 2 and have 4 years until graduation. This gives me a lot of time to prepare for applying abroad. I know that radiology is a highly competitive field, but I feel like if I double down on radiology by year 2, I can make it happen, even at a high level program. I was wondering about a few things though.
There are a lot of fantastic interventional radiologists at my home program. I will start to shadow one next year and plan to eventually turn it into a more clinical observership and an internship eventually. In my home country, rules regarding students touching patients is a bit more lax. With this, by the time I apply for residency, I will probably have a very deep understanding of radiology for a student.
With this plan, I will eventually start to do radiology research (having obtained enough knowledge to do so) and get my name on some publications. On top of that, in my later clinical years I'll go do radiology electives/observerships in the US (Our professor has worked extensively with US physicians and can probably arrange me something). So with this plan, I'm planning on becoming a very competitive applicant with an intense focus on radiology. I'm also planning on taking Step 1 next year to score a good score (will taking Step 1 in year 3, getting a good score and applying for residency 4-5 years later impact me negatively?).
All things considered, if I can execute this roadmap, would you consider me likely to land a top or a high second tier rads program in the US? Or is being an IMG still an almost insurmountable obstacle, like it is in neurosurgery? I recognize that I have to do a prelim year first. Will my competitiveness as a radiology applicant have zero effect on matching the prelim position and should I invest in some internal medicine to land that position as well?
Thanks for the help.
There are a lot of fantastic interventional radiologists at my home program. I will start to shadow one next year and plan to eventually turn it into a more clinical observership and an internship eventually. In my home country, rules regarding students touching patients is a bit more lax. With this, by the time I apply for residency, I will probably have a very deep understanding of radiology for a student.
With this plan, I will eventually start to do radiology research (having obtained enough knowledge to do so) and get my name on some publications. On top of that, in my later clinical years I'll go do radiology electives/observerships in the US (Our professor has worked extensively with US physicians and can probably arrange me something). So with this plan, I'm planning on becoming a very competitive applicant with an intense focus on radiology. I'm also planning on taking Step 1 next year to score a good score (will taking Step 1 in year 3, getting a good score and applying for residency 4-5 years later impact me negatively?).
All things considered, if I can execute this roadmap, would you consider me likely to land a top or a high second tier rads program in the US? Or is being an IMG still an almost insurmountable obstacle, like it is in neurosurgery? I recognize that I have to do a prelim year first. Will my competitiveness as a radiology applicant have zero effect on matching the prelim position and should I invest in some internal medicine to land that position as well?
Thanks for the help.
