Friday, September 19, 2014

Finally DONE - An update on my journey

Hi!

I just wanted to update my fellow Canadians on my long journey. I visited Canadian IMG in July, right after I was done with residency, and he asked me : " eh man, you have posted in a while on my blog, you should post something", so here I am.

This have been great for me so far. Just to let everyone out there know, YES, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Believe in yourself and you will achieve your goal. I just finished residency in June 2014 (Family Medicine) in the USA, passed my American Board of Family Medicine, and of course passed my MCCQE 1 and 2 along the way (May 2012 and October 2012).

After a few months of debating with my wife, having good offers on the table from the local hospitals near my residency program, and discussions with my father (who is an FP from Montreal), I have decided to stay where I am.  St Elizabeth Healthcare (Edgewood, KY) allowed to be trained as a strong well-rounded physician. I have done countless procedures in the outpatient and inpatient setting, I have moonlighted countless nights as a house doc in residency and still continue to this point (although in much less amounts). The local company has given me lots of leeway in what I envision my practice to be, so I could not be happier at this point, professionally speaking. I have joined one of my co-residents in a outpatient local group practice with 3 other providers and we have a great schedule (8am-5pm, 4 weekdays a week). No weekends, no evenings (except my random moonlightning). This allows to have a well rounded schedule and I get plenty of time for my wife and kids.

My residency program now has 2 residents in 1st year from SGU. I heard they are doing quite well. I am proud of my medical school, it trained me very well and I'm sure Canadian IMG would concur with this. Guys, any questions, any doubts, feel free to comment here and I will respond.

Take care,
Simon

9 comments:

  1. Hi Simon,

    Thank you for the article. It's great to hear that a fellow Canadian having succeed through SGU and post graduate training. I'm a Canadian PGY4 from SGU that is applying for Family Medicine this year as well, and I'm going to get a residency position in the States. In general, how many interviews are needed to ensure a match in FM? I had great scores on both Step 1 and 2, and passed everything on first attempt, but have only received few interview so far (<10).

    Thanks.

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    1. Hi

      I was trying to look back on some data that I had found on the nrmp website, but unfortunately I can't. I remember seeing a curve of " percentage matched" on "y" and "number of interviews on "x".

      The curve kinda flattened out after 10 interviews at around 90-95%. 5-6 interviews will get you around 50-75%.

      Now remember, this is an average. If you're applying to lesser competitive programs and you're a strong candidate, your chances are higher.

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    2. found the link
      http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/NRMP-and-ECFMG-Publish-Charting-Outcomes-in-the-Match-for-International-Medical-Graduates-Revised.PDF-File.pdf

      I was actually a little off. But this is rather complicated. Many factors come to play. Your personality will also play a big role on how the program will rank you, and that is not factored in those pdf files.

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  2. Hello, hopes you will see this since this post is a year ago. I'm a Canadian who went on board to Caribbean medical school and doing my 3rd years rotation now in US. I'm just wonder did you hold J1 visa while you are in USA for Family residancy? If you did, how did you waive for 2 years leaving of the country after your J1 visa? Thank you!

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  3. Hi Jas
    Yes I did hold a J1 visa during residency.
    To waive the 2 year requirement, you need to have an offer in the USA that will get you a waiver and sponsor you the H1B visa. Most contracts are 3-5 years in underserved area. I am currently under the H1B visa after 13 months in practice and my green card application is in the way.

    Underserved only means "where doctors are in need". Primary care physicians are virtually needed everywhere in the USA. I had an offer in 2nd second year of residency and decided to take it. I have no regrets. Feel free to message me if you have any questions

    Quebec IMG

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  4. Hello Quebec IMG,

    A few questions. I am in the same boat you were, Canadian IMG training in a US FP residency. My first question is: How did you moonlight on a J1? My institution doesn't allow moonlighting at all, but i always thought you couldn't moonlight on a J1? Secondly, I am in my third year and looking for jobs, debating on whether to stay or go home. How did you secure an H1B? I always thought you have to stay on the J1 waiver for 3 years in the US as part of the waiver stipulation? Lastly, do you have any advice about headhunters/recruiters or independently looking for positions?

    It is so great to hear about someone succeeding in this journey so many of us are going through, and you certainly give us all hope that we can make it too! Congrats!

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  5. Hi
    1. I have had a lot of questions over the years as far as moonlighting on a J1 and people still seem to be confused despite the ecfmg website being clear on that issue.

    The ECFMG website states you cannot moonlight outside of your program of residency. However, some programs allow moonlighting within the same hospital/program, for extra money. There is no regulation for that as you are working for the same employer. That is completely legal. For that reason, when I applied, I always asked program directors, are there moonlighting opportunities within the program? 4 said yes, and they were my number 1-2-3-4 choices on my ranking list. I moonlighted a lot which permitted me to double my salary in second and third year of residency.

    2. If you are in your third year right now, I believe it is too late to apply in time for a waiver if you want to work starting July or August 2016. I was the top resident of my class and a lot of nearby hospitals were already trying to recruit me early in second year. They paid for all legal fees regarding securing a waiver and the H1B, got me a job (under my own terms) and contract was signed in September of my third year of residency.
    If you have not been searching for a job I suggest you start looking and quick! Unless you plan on taking a year off.

    As far as securing the visas, your employer should take care of all that with their own lawyers. The waiver is NOT a work visa, it is only a "waiver" that permits you to avoid returning to your country for 2 years after residency. Mine was obtained in January of my third year. Your lawyer (through your employer) should still secure an H1B prior to your working start date. I received my H1B in July after residency (for 3 years) and started working at that time. I should obtain my green card by the end of my H1B term (again, done through my employer via their lawyers).
    If an employer tells you that all this has to be done on your own, screw them and do not waste of time, move on.

    3. Location matters, but I don't know your specific situation. Family, friends? Do you have kids? Married? To me, having a safe family-friendly location with inexpensive cost of life was very important. Interview broadly and get specific numbers when they talk about salaries, compensations, starting bonuses, etc.. Don't be afraid to ask. Answers such as " competitive compensations' is not a good sign and you are entitled to get specifics on everything. I would highly recommend you look into busy places where you know you will be very busy and be paid on production based(wRVUs). I could not be happier with my choice.

    Simon

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  6. Hey I'm glad to see someone from Quebec graduated and got residency from SGU !

    I'm also from Quebec (could speak in French but I'll stay in English because this blog is in English). I finish my B.Sc. in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Université de Sherbrooke in April 2016.

    I thought I would become a doctor when I was young but then in Cegep I got a Cote R of 30. So I didn't want to keep trying and trying so I figured another career and I decided to settle for research in science, looking at doing a Master or PhD in the future. As you are probably aware, Université de Sherbrooke is famous for it's co-op program. I did my bachelor of science in 4 years but I did 3 internship of 4 months and 1 internship of 8 months among that (which are NOT counted toward my 90 credits so + 90 credits of coursework and labs).

    After doing this many internships, I decided working in a lab was not for me. I need to see people more than just the 3-8 other people working in the lab that are always busy with their own projects.

    I really want to go into Medicine but my GPA is 3.7 out of 4.3 which is not nearly enough nowaday to even be considered (I think the cutoff was 4.0 2 years ago for Bachelor applicants at USherbrooke). I didn't take the MCAT yet, so I plan on taking it on April 1 if I apply to SGU this year. I think with my laboratory experience + 3.7 GPA which is not too bad I should be competitive for SGU ? What do you think ?

    Also, it stresses me a bit because I don't have money at all for that. Did you get a lot of scholarship ? Did your parents help you or did you get a loan for that ? Can you highlight me on how you managed to financially be able to pay for the program ?

    Also, it stresses me a lot because I've read that since maybe 2010-2011 (I think you graduated in 2011 so maybe you are not aware of the situation), SGU are "weeding out" student much more and the exams got more difficults (with people getting kicked out of SGU for having under 70% in one course without possibility of retaking the course). Do you know if this is true or if people are just complaining and exaggerating facts ?

    Also some people say there are less and less residency available and people will not get match. What do you think about that ?

    I would really love to attend SGU and hopefully I'll join you in the rank of Quebec MD graduate from SGU in USA :)

    Thanks a lot !

    Cheers,

    Guillaume

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    Replies
    1. Salut Guillaume,

      With a good MCAT score you would be competitive. You would definitely get in with a score of 29+, and anything above 25 would make you competitive with that GPA.

      I did get a partial scholarship, I did save A LOT of money during College and high school, and my parents helped me a bit as well. I know some friends who could get a government loan and a loan from most major Canadian banks. From what I have heard, it shouldn't be an issue to get your tuition covered since SGU is well known.

      SGU does weed out people. But let me tell you one thing. I have met many people, and some actually did not care about being successful, partied a lot, did not study appropriately. They fail exams, and they get dismissed from the school. What did they expect?

      There are many tutors available to help out (Canadian IMG was actually a tutor for a bit), people who fail and seek help have a lot of resources available to succeed and SGU provides you with the tools to be successful. Some people are not cut for the intensity of what medicine requires. If you are a hard working student and passionate about your goals, you will be successful. Don't worry about the bad apples, they are a minority.

      It is also true that there are less residency slots available to IMGs. More American schools opened in the last 10 years and the residency slots did not proportionally increase since. The same thing happened in the early 90s and then they increased the number of positions. I do not know the future. Read the statistics yourself on NRMP.ORG and draw your own conclusions. You'll read a lot of different opinions but numbers won't lie.
      SGU has arguably the best track record of any non-LCME medical schools in order to match into an American residency.

      I took a leap of faith, so did Canadian IMG, and despite what many people told us we are now both licensed physicians. I speak for the both of us by telling you that if we could go back in time, we would do it again.

      Simon

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