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+--- Thread: is it high time to say ppls not to pursue usmle? - helpmepls (/showthread.php?tid=613083)
is it high time to say ppls not to pursue usmle? - helpmepls - ArchivalUser - 09-10-2011
Friends,
should we inform our juniors that USMLE is not a viable option in the coming years? Because the number of american graduates are increasing and the trend will continue and also the Caribbean grads too. Now I think the IMGs with visa requirement should think twice before thinking about usmle and usa residency, especially who are graduates of 4yrs or older.
What you say?I mean even after so much sacrifice, this pathway is not worthy at all. So much risk in investing your energy, money and everything.You need to put your golden career on the edge.
0 - ArchivalUser - 09-10-2011
even if you suceed to have a residency slot, you are not certain whether you can have a desired fellowship. The surgery and all other high end subjects are almost closed now for IMGs. So why it is worthy to pursue a medicine career in usa? I mean you, me or everyone could be a star in our nation. Now sacrificing everything, we come here and if we fall in this situation, then it's better not to come to usa.
From the perspective of lifestyle, at least I can say, I am not in usa to have a good life. I need to learn and thats why I am in this country. If I can't learn or don't have that opportunity to learn, then whats the use of wasting my precious time here? They are rejecting our application so easily, can you believe it? Are those programs who are rejecting us, really worthy to do that? I don't know. If I would have known that this will be the trend today, then definitely I would not have chosen this track, which will give me nothing but a life full of frustration, anxiety and ultimately even you get a residency slot, that will be a bullshit track. I mean you can think in India about a position in AIIMS and a position in some unknown rural program. Right?
I need your input here. If we can reach a consensus that this residency is not at all worthy, then we will try to stop the flow of our precious graduates from coming here.
1980 - ArchivalUser - 09-10-2011
I agree......
0 - ArchivalUser - 09-10-2011
eventhough hurts a lot to read this post, but I think the situation is heading kindda like that to a dead end. Let's see how others think about this.
0 - ArchivalUser - 09-10-2011
agree 100%
0 - ArchivalUser - 09-10-2011
yup agree 100%
0 - ArchivalUser - 09-10-2011
This reminds me what happened in the uk,around 2005-2006.there was large I flux of Img,at a point one post was attracting 1000application.the government stepped in and stopped it.they changed the immigration policy and foreign doctors were left out .most people went home .others to Ireland ,carribeans,Australia and South Africa.these doctors are doing well and happy.few doctors in the uk are doing well as well.
My point guys is.there are other countries to pursue medical career. Ireland is in dare need of Img .
Don't waste ur life applying for residency year by year or flipping burger.relocate to a greener pasture or ur countries and apply from there.life is too short to waste it earning peanuts after years of struggle with all these difficult exam.
Thanks
0 - ArchivalUser - 09-10-2011
@helpmepls and others..
You all are correct in some way..but then a fact remains that People DO secure residencies, and even fellowships. The real question is..how many of them, and if all this is worth the efforts..
Just to comapre, even in India, probably no more than 10% of all med grads actually secure post graduation they want, and I know of people who wont stand a chance in any of the post graduate entrances here, but made it in USA.
So my advice will be...try everywhere..in your country..abroad..any where.And take up whats best on offer. USMLE route in my openion still remains a viable option for those IMGs with sufficient money power and even better for those with no visa needs. It is very evident that your intellectual capabilities are only one part, and not so significant one in this entire process, and a lot many other factors; with you having no control over them, ultimately decide your outcome.
0 - ArchivalUser - 09-10-2011
USA was never better. In early 90's IMG match rate was~20%
Total number of IMG entry is alltime high now. This is the golden time for USMLE(at least silver time if you compare with the time in last decade when match rate was even higher. Definitely this is not the worst time in history).
Surgery is being easier, not tougher.
One reason programs can(actually have to) reject us is our desperation. On an average IMGs apply to 100 or more programs and programs get 100 times application compared to number of spots.
I saw a program requesting IMGs not to apply if minimum criteria is not met. I did not apply to that program as I did not meet only 1 criteria out of 10. I would not even need money to apply to that program. But usually we do apply, just to take a chance.
Let us be modest to programs. When we become desperate to get an IV, they become desperate to reject. When we desperately apply to 250 programs PCs become helpless. What would you do if you see that there r 5000 applications, each application 50 pages(5000*50=250000 pages) and u have 30 spots?Would u read all 250000 pages or filter them. You might be very generous but I would filter.
When we do not filter programs according to criteria, programs have to filter us.
The glass is half full, not half empty. It should never be totally full. If it were I would not come to USA, I like the challenge.I do not know what I will think tomorrow. But until date I feel happy to see the positive changes that this track brought in my life. It taught me patience and tolerance.
0 - ArchivalUser - 09-10-2011
hmm.....maybe.
Another reason why USMLE isnt such an attractive option for future IMG generations especially from countries like India and China is the fact that the USA isn't simply the economic superpower it used to be. USA has almost static growth, with even another recession looming. That will mean that even if the US picks up growth in the future, by the time it does so, it will have lost atleast a decade of economic growth. India and China on the other hand are booming!!!Given the option, I would never invest in real estate in the US. India on the other hand is good 4 real estate.
Probably ours will be one of the last generations to be in the fringe, ie to be in the US when its still number one. It serves us good, coz we can always go back by 2050 whn India will as big an economy as the US[even with all the corruption]..
all this, provided we get into residency.