your opinions pleeeeassee...

[studentdoc29x]

hello.

i hope everyone can give me their inputs.

I'm an MS3 in the philippines and WILL DO PG1/internship after graduating. So far i'd like to work in the US. I'm interested in Internal Medicine, i've done my readings in all the requirements to get accepted into a US program, and i found out it's very costly to go thru the whole process of kaplan reviews, exams, flying to the US, flying interstate for the interviews, etc etc. I'm only an average student, with no US clinical experience, so i think i'd have a hard time getting into a residency program. But my concern is more on financial funding, i'm afraid that somewhere along the process after all the exams my financial support will run out of money

Now my question is... if worse comes to worse and i can't get into a residency program, what is the outlook of working as a General Physician? At what kind of places can i look for work? Do they even have GPs in the US? or must US doctors have FP or IM training? Because in ASIA, GPs are almost useless in terms of finding work and financial stability. Can you please tell me more on what i can do working in the US as a GP?

Thank you

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[Winged Scapula]

hello.

Now my question is... if worse comes to worse and i can't get into a residency program, what is the outlook of working as a General Physician? At what kind of places can i look for work? Do they even have GPs in the US? or must US doctors have FP or IM training? Because in ASIA, GPs are almost useless in terms of finding work and financial stability. Can you please tell me more on what i can do working in the US as a GP?

Thank you

The outlook for finding a job and then getting reimbursed for your time with patients without a completed residency is practically nil in the US.

We no longer really have GPs. While you are licensed to practice medicine once you have completed Step 3 of the USMLE, in reality, no hospital, private practice or clinic will hire someone without a completed residency. The problem is that MediCare (the US government program for the non-insured) will not reimburse someone without residency training, many hospitals will not give you privileges (ie, you can't admit someone) without being Board Eligible (which require the completion of a residency), etc.

Therefore, essentially you cannot work as a physician, seeing patients and getting paid for it, without a residency. Some may say you can work, but realistically, its doing "odd jobs" and isn't working as a physician.

I'm not sure why you think you need to take Kaplan - there are plenty of non-US trained physicians who pass the USMLEs without taking a review course. However, it is true that it is expensive to apply for residency, get your ECFMG certificate, etc. Perhaps you may find working in the Phillipines for a couple of years, saving some money and then applying will work best for you. Or consider a loan, or taking a research job here in the US while studying for the USMLEs, saving money for applications, etc. There are ways around money troubles without resorting to a dead end job (ie, a GP in the US).