z***0
发帖数: 153 | 1 今天看到一个美国AP写的How Can IMGs Match in US Residencies，觉得不错，转给大
家看看。
For many reasons, pathology residency programs tend to garner a large number
of applications each year from international medical graduates (IMGs). As
assistant director of our program, I'm often asked to help IMGs increase the
visibility and appeal of their applications.
IMG applicants may be former medical students and physicians trained outside
the United States who are engaged in research and wish to step back into a
clinical role using their translational science acumen. Applicants may also
be US citizens who trained abroad.
The bitter truth is that, regardless of whether it's warranted, some program
directors have negative preconceptions about the "quality" of IMG training.
This stigma extends to IMGs who are US citizens.
These prejudices are usually based on anecdotal encounters or even less
experience, making an already complex application process more difficult by
an order of magnitude. Such roadblocks can be particularly frustrating for
incredibly driven, intelligent, competent "nontraditional" applicants.
What can IMG applicants do to improve their chances of securing interviews
at US training programs?
Basic strategies center on 2 principles: Provide potential program directors
with as much data as possible, and market yourself aggressively to a
focused group of potential residencies. The main points to address as you
assemble your materials are the strong quality of your clinical knowledge/
skills and familiarity with the specialty.
Provide Key Information
Each year, I look at hundreds of residency applications, at least 70% of
which are from graduates of schools outside of the United States. I do not
hold a particular bias on the basis of where a person trained.
One challenge that I have with IMGs, however, lies in the unknown. Graduates
of US medical schools that are accredited by the Liaison Committee on
Medical Education (LCME) tend to have gone through a more-or-less
standardized curriculum and have been tested through comparable evaluations.
That means in reviewing transcripts and dean's letters, I can compare
apples with apples and know that an individual graduating with an MD has (at
least on paper) a basic medical knowledge base.
In contrast, it is somewhat harder to get a sense of IMGs' medical reasoning
abilities and procedural skill sets from standard outside documentation to
compare with the US application pool, especially if the interval between
training and application is prolonged.
This is one area in which additional data are useful: Provide reviewers with
as much information demonstrating your abilities as possible.
Strong performance on all applicable parts of the US Medical Licensing
Examination (USMLE) goes a long way toward underscoring your fund of
knowledge in a form that is comparable across all applicants. USMLE scores
are one of the first things I look at when reviewing an IMG's application.
Have these scores in hand before you apply.
Letters of recommendation from US physicians are key to exemplifying your
medical reasoning and interpersonal abilities. These letters should be from
physicians with whom you worked closely. When you solicit letters, be sure
to ask the authors to comment specifically on your clinical abilities and
provide examples. This is particularly critical if some time has passed
since graduation (and, if this is the case, consider extensive shadowing or
clerkship experiences).
In addition to the requisite specialty-specific letters, at least 1 glowing
letter from a US clinician that speaks to your medical abilities goes a long
way toward telling a program director that you have the skills necessary to
succeed in their program.
Make specific mention of your clinical abilities in your personal statement.
If you have been out of clinical medicine for a while, state explicitly why
you want to reenter training in your specialty, how your additional
nonclinical experience makes you a stronger applicant, and how shadowing
sharpened your clinical abilities. | z***0
发帖数: 153 | 2 Provide Key Information
Each year, I look at hundreds of residency applications, at least 70% of
which are from graduates of schools outside of the United States. I do not
hold a particular bias on the basis of where a person trained.
One challenge that I have with IMGs, however, lies in the unknown. Graduates
of US medical schools that are accredited by the Liaison Committee on
Medical Education (LCME) tend to have gone through a more-or-less
standardized curriculum and have been tested through comparable evaluations.
That means in reviewing transcripts and dean's letters, I can compare
apples with apples and know that an individual graduating with an MD has (at
least on paper) a basic medical knowledge base.
In contrast, it is somewhat harder to get a sense of IMGs' medical reasoning
abilities and procedural skill sets from standard outside documentation to
compare with the US application pool, especially if the interval between
training and application is prolonged.
This is one area in which additional data are useful: Provide reviewers with
as much information demonstrating your abilities as possible.
Strong performance on all applicable parts of the US Medical Licensing
Examination (USMLE) goes a long way toward underscoring your fund of
knowledge in a form that is comparable across all applicants. USMLE scores
are one of the first things I look at when reviewing an IMG's application.
Have these scores in hand before you apply.
Letters of recommendation from US physicians are key to exemplifying your
medical reasoning and interpersonal abilities. These letters should be from
physicians with whom you worked closely. When you solicit letters, be sure
to ask the authors to comment specifically on your clinical abilities and
provide examples. This is particularly critical if some time has passed
since graduation (and, if this is the case, consider extensive shadowing or
clerkship experiences).
In addition to the requisite specialty-specific letters, at least 1 glowing
letter from a US clinician that speaks to your medical abilities goes a long
way toward telling a program director that you have the skills necessary to
succeed in their program.
Make specific mention of your clinical abilities in your personal statement.
If you have been out of clinical medicine for a while, state explicitly why
you want to reenter training in your specialty, how your additional
nonclinical experience makes you a stronger applicant, and how shadowing
sharpened your clinical abilities. | z***0
发帖数: 153 | 3 Market Yourself
The other front of the application battle is marketing. As an IMG, you may
have to be more aggressive in selling yourself than you realize.
To maximize your chances of being invited to interviews, apply to as many
schools as is logistically feasible. However, pick a handful (5 or fewer) on
which to concentrate the majority of your marketing efforts as early as
possible. This allows you to focus on a finite group of potential future
employers.
When you pick residency programs, consider looking where alumni of your
medical school are. Your predecessors' success at a given institution or
program suggests that its program director may think highly of your medical
school, and this could increase your odds of interviewing.
When you have selected your top picks, do as much research on the
institutions and departments as you can. Get a feel for their academic and
practice strengths and weaknesses, and practice verbalizing how you believe
you would be a good fit.
Next, be as visible as possible. Contact the program director (by phone if
possible) before the application period opens. Tell him or her about
yourself, why you are applying to the program, and for them to be ready to
receive your application. This sort of "preinterview" can help your
application stand out from multitudes of others.
An "audition rotation" at your top choices is also always recommended.
Remember that being known to the program as a hard-working team member with
good clinical skills will usually trump looking good on paper. In addition,
these experiences provide an excellent opportunity to gather stellar letters
of recommendation.
After you submit your application, follow up with the program coordinator to
ensure that your materials arrived, and ask when and how decisions are made
for offering interviews. Finally, ask one of the individuals who wrote a
letter of recommendation -- preferably someone who knows you or the
institution well -- to contact the program director. This will again help
keep your name on the minds of the residency program personnel and lend a
personal touch to what is otherwise another piece of paper in a file.
One thing that I have noticed is that the curricula vitae of some IMGs are
heads and shoulders more impressive than those of US graduates. For example,
it's uncommon to have published in Nature or Science, but last year at
least 5 of our IMG applicants did!
The different training and experiences that several IMG applicants had was
equally as astounding and made for rich personal statements -- for example,
setting up an HIV clinic in rural Africa (which was more impressive than
being the president of an internal medicine interest group).
Do not assume that your application is inferior. Speak up about your
experiences that will make you an incredible resident. By providing as much
key information as possible and marketing yourself effectively, you have the
potential to have a fruitful interview season. | t******a
发帖数: 408 | 4 Extremely helpful for us, as CMGs.
Thanks a lot! | m******r
发帖数: 1904 | | T****t
发帖数: 616 | | u****g
发帖数: 90 | 7 Thanks for sharing! Best of luck! | C******r
发帖数: 790 | 8 nice article.
Thanks for sharing! | m**********3
发帖数: 706 | 9 Mark! Thanks for sharing |
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