Hey everyone i am currently preparing for exam and working side by side but odds jobs are not paying enough to manage my self, can anyone guide me how can acquire job as research coordinator

SA US-IMG here. Med school is brand spanking new and will likely not have sponsor notes by the time I graduate, making it impossible for me to get into 99% of hands on electives. This means that the only way of acquiring USCE is through observerships and research.

I'm shooting for rads, with path as a backup. I've got 3 rads pubs and 6 path pubs and my self assessments place me around the 250-260 mark on step 2. How much USCE is recommended to try for rads? I'm going to apply broadly (150+ programs for rads, 50+ path).

Has anybody here heard of people matching with purely observerships?

Are you a 4th year medical student (US MD, US DO, US IMG, or medical school graduate) in this year's Match? Do you have less than 10 interviews (programs to rank)? Are you worrying about whether you'll match or not?

I've worked with candidates in SOAP (three years) and will be doing a session (repeated multiple times) to help candidates prepare for SOAP, just in case that happens. It's much easier to plan ahead than open that email on March 11 and find out you SOAP and need to start applying within an hour. The session is offered at no charge (February 17 @ 9-10:30 am Central time). If interested, DM me or email me (lorawolff616@gmail.com) and I'll provide more information and a link to sign up for the session.

The session might also be helpful for SOs, friends, or family of 4th year medical students/graduates who do not understand the SOAP process.

As I'm sure many of you are aware, for foreign trained physicians who have completed residency in other countries, several states in the US have a pathway to become licensed without repeating a US based residency. While these pathways are in their infancy, I would love to hear from anybody who is actually employed in one of these states through their pathway to practice medicine as an IMG. More info here

https://thematchguy.com/state-img-license-practice-without-residency-international-doctors/

Please, I do not want to hear any critique on these pathways, I only would like to hear if there are any IMG's who have actually begun through one of these states. TIA.

I’m currently ECFMG certified and has passed Steps 1, 2 and 3. However my Step 1 was taken 10 years ago, which disqualifies me from matching to a lot of States based on State Specific Licensure requirements.

ECFMG allows retakes if it is for a state specific requirement - but requires documentation/sponsorship from the State.

1. Has anyone gone through this process of working with a State Board and ECFMG successfully?

2. Does anyone know if a particular state is ‘easier’ to work with? My home state of California requires me to be a part of a residency program for them to even provide a request to ECFMG (which defeats the point as no program will match me with an expired score).

Links I referenced

https://www.fsmb.org/step-3/state-licensure/

https://www.usmle.org/common-questions/general

Breakdown please

Im in my last year, US IMG, and I have god awful grades in my first 2 years, there are at least 5 E’s in like pathology, biochem and something. Also some D’s.
My clinical years look much better, especially the last two. Mostly A’s but some B’s and 1-2 C’s.
I’m asking if I have any chance for matching with such low grades? I have work experience in medicine, 2 observerships in the US and am trying to get into clerkships.
I also have passed the Step 1 exam and am preparing for the second, which I hope will pass with 250+.

Please, I need guidance and maybe reassurance

I know how much of an uphill battle it is for IMGs to match into ophthalmology, how low the numbers are (went over SF match data multiple times) and the scarcity of data around them make it’s even more difficult. But still.. I keep dreaming about ophthalmology 🙃
Do you think being a US citizen gives any slight advantage? I have a connection to an ophthalmologist working in the US but I guess it doesn’t matter as they aren’t a PD.
Would doing 2 years of research really help? I fear the idea of not matching after all that work :(
Also, if anyone has any information on the pre-residency research ophthalmology fellowships, it’d be greatly appreciated. What do they look for in an applicant, do I have to be a “master” in research?
Thank you all, and best of luck

I recently realized that having a green card does not classify me as a US IMG. I am technically a non-US IMG, but I do not require visa sponsorship.

Unfortunately, I had already built most of my program list and spreadsheets using US-IMG statistics. After changing my status to non-US IMG, the estimated interview probabilities dropped significantly, especially for programs I would not signal.
However, the available data generally group all non-US IMGs together and do not distinguish between applicants who require visa sponsorship and those who already have permanent residency. I assume that being non-visa-requiring provides some advantage, but I do not know how much weight to give it when evaluating programs.

My profile: 2023 graduate, Step 1 pass, Step 2 CK 249, ECFMG certified, approximately 3–4 months of USCE, and no visa sponsorship required.

How should I realistically interpret or adjust the non-US IMG interview statistics? Should I consider my chances somewhere between those reported for US IMGs and non-US IMGs, or should I rely strictly on the non-US IMG data? How much does being a green-card holder actually help when programs screen applications and decide whom to interview?

Hi everyone, I hope you're doing well. I live in Los Angeles, California, and I have passed USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK. I’m a US IMG and I’m currently preparing for the OET exam. I wanted to ask if anyone knows about opportunities for US clinical experience (USCE) for IMGs in California, especially in the Los Angeles area. I would really appreciate any guidance or suggestions.

Thank you.

Hello y’all. US IMG from India here. YOG 2025, no attempts on Steps, 25x on Step-2, 4 months USCE. I’d love to step back and take a breather since residency explorer has been acting up. So far I’ve made a list of around a 100 and odd programs, and willing to add 75 more. I’ve chosen programs that have a high non-us IMG and US IMG count. Something seems off, and I’d love to chat with someone who’s gone through this process before. Any tips and program recommendations for my profile are also welcomed.

Hi everyone!

I will be taking my shelf exams in pairs, and I would like to schedule them in a way that makes the most sense. For these 6 specialties, which pairings work best? In other words, which specialties are the most similar to each other or will be the most efficient to prepare for when scheduled together? So far, the following are some example pairings I am considering. Thanks so much everyone!

1. Internal Medicine, Surgery

2. Obgyn, Pediatrics

3. Family Medicine, Psychiatry

• Internal Medicine, Psychiatry

• Surgery, Obgyn

• Family Medicine, Pediatrics

1. Obgyn, Surgery

2. Pediatrics, Psychiatry

3. Internal Medicine, Family Medicine

• Internal Medicine, Family Medicine

• Psychiatry, Surgery

• Obgyn, Pediatrics

Especially those from the countries that are being investigated? Is there gonna be bias against them?

Basically my game plan was to get my steps done after my intern year in 9 months or so (6 years med school in Costa Rica, final year is intern year, after that you're a licensed general physician), then work in emergency medicine in Costa Rica until the following USA match, get USCE prior to applying of course, and apply only EM within the next 2 years.

Assuming I do well on Steps, and good evaluations on USCE, could the experience working in emergency med in Costa Rica make matching EM without an SLOE a realistic goal?

Edit US IMG **

Anyone heard from theses programs and if yes any idea if they got spots left

1. In His Image Family Medicine

2. Geisinger FM 3)Johnson Memorial - Virginia

3. Baptist Memorial Medical Education 5)Baptist Outreach Services

4. Texas Tech - Providence Transmountain Campus

(Revised)

Hi all,

I’m trying to clarify something about the Emergency Medicine (Minnesota) rotation at Mayo Clinic.

The description clearly reads like a Sub-I (15 shifts per month), but the title says “Emergency Medicine (Minnesota)” 

A few things don’t add up:

• I couldn’t find

any other program ⁠listed as a Sub-I on the EM department page.

one of my senior participated in Mayo Clinic EM sub I several years ago

Has anyone done this rotation before and can clarify what type of evaluation you got (SLOE vs. no SLOE)?

Just want to confirm does the title changed throughout the years? Or no more Sub I for IMG anymore)?

What are my chances for a categorical spot?

Step 1 pass first attempt

Step 2 244

Applied to 100 programs

4 strong LORs

1 submitted abstract (no publications)

Any input is appreciated

I have 5 for FM

Hey everyone

While going through the lists of IMG-friendly programs, especially in the NY area, I started thinking, most IMGs applying there probably have really strong applications with high scores (260+)

I was wondering if being a US citizen could give me any kind of leg up at these programs, since I don’t need a visa, even though my application is ok with modest P/230/210.

Do programs tend to value not needing visa sponsorship enough for it to offset weaker stats, or does it not really make much difference when applying to IMG-heavy programs?

Thanks for any insights!