Working with an IMG

[smf]

Originally posted by hndrx1a
smf: Universidad UCE...you're inspiring, my friend!

and may The God of your choice bless you,

my friend

hasta que llegue a san pedro de macoris

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[hndrx1a]

Ya fui, y regrese...por eso se lo que pasastes en los a?os ochentas!

 

[smf]

Therefore you share in the enlightenment.

 

[JoeNamaMD]

There definitely is a lot of stigma attached to IMGs in the US, this is mostly coming from the medical establishment who often see IMGs as below US Grads. Much of this stigma seems to apply to Caribbean graduates and those who studied in Medical Schools located in developing countries, its unfair but its the truth. There are foreign graduates at many elite academic hospitals in the US but from what I have seen they usually come from either Canada or Western European countries such as the UK and Germany. There was something in the news about a Stanford physician who was from Austria. I myself know a Cardiologist from the UK who works in an Ivy League affiliated hospital, but then again very few European physicians come to the US, this is so for a number of reasons, the first being that the standard of living in Western Europe isn't too different from the US.

 

[smf]

Pitman -

Good post. The only exception I take is that St. George's started out strong (first class to take the NBME, a guy named Jeff (I forget his last name, but can get it) got the high score out of all takers everywhere...792/800 questions right). This was so strong that, this guy getting a high score obviously meant...that he cheated. So the ECFMG exam was born, until 1992.

The buildings were crap, but the instructor core was there, and they brought their friends.

That guy from SGU took NBME1 trying to transfer to a US school, the allowed route in those days. The then one day ECFMG exam was a different entity.

SGU was proud as well as many IM students and grads. USA organized medicine was less than thrilled. Many politically driven changes have occurred since then.

 

[bambi]

Since the mid-90's, Australia, Ireland and UK, sprouted many 4yr (grad) programs, many from their traditional 6yr systems, and various other isolated grad schools formed (plus more started in the Caribbean), partly to soak up the extra US applicants at the time ($), partly in recognition of the benefits that older, 2nd-career students (college grads) give to medicine in the English system, and in some cases (e.g., Flinders in Aus. if I recall correctly) to help reduce domestic applicants by request of the govt. while saving the schools from bankruptcy. Because many of these were offshoots of established 6yr programs, they escaped much of the stigma factor (plus they benefit from not being seen as "Caribbean resorts/playgrounds", another original indictment against the Carib schools, since most Americans know the islands only as a tourist destination).

-Pitman

4 yr courses are not from the mid 90s, when I first went to uni back in 2003 I think there were only 4 of them in the UK and maybe 1 had already had 1 graduating class. Our traditional courses are 5 yrs, not 6 and today I can think of only 2 separate 4 year schools. Our schools are in no way meant to soak up your applicants, not sure if you really meant this about the UK or just meant the Caribbean schools and worded it badly. Anyway, to say our schools are meant to soak up US applicants is as ridiculous as saying US schools were made to soak up UK applicants.

 

[Winged Scapula]

To be fair, pitman is speaking not only of the UK. The first 4 year graduate entry program in Australia matriculated its first class in January 1996 - that would qualify as the "mid-90s."

He is correct in stating that *one* of the reasons these courses existed with an International quota was the recognition that many US students would come and bring income. It would be disingenuous to not recognize that.

 

[bambi]

To be fair, pitman is speaking not only of the UK. The first 4 year graduate entry program in Australia matriculated its first class in January 1996 - that would qualify as the "mid-90s."

He is correct in stating that *one* of the reasons these courses existed with an International quota was the recognition that many US students would come and bring income. It would be disingenuous to not recognize that.

I think you will find that a lot of the 4 year courses, at least at first didn't even accept international students. None of the UK ones did anyway and some still don't.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I think you will find that a lot of the 4 year courses, at least at first didn't even accept international students. None of the UK ones did anyway and some still don't.

That is true.

However, pitman is an Aussie grad and was speaking from his experience. In Oz, most, if not all 4 year grad entry programs take internationals and always have.