There is no more unique or complex strategy to getting Foreign and International Medical Graduates (FMGs and IMGs) into US residency positions than the impressive path developed by Residents Medical. The 21 year-old organization in Los Angeles, under new leadership, has recently celebrated its many clients matching into specialties across the country from Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Psychiatry, and Pathology.
With over 1000 US graduates going unmatched this year and over 6000 IMGs and FMGs going unmatched the competition is not getting any easier, comments Alec Linarte, Sales Manager of Residents Medical’s Student Services Division that offers residency guidance, paid research fellowships, hands-on externships as well as some of the best USMLE instruction in America.
“We give candidates a chance to prove themselves in a program where we have relationships with Program Directors, Chairpersons of the Department (i.e. OB, Peds, and IM), DIOs or heads of the GME and Primary Investigators of research divisions at university-based residency programs and hospitals,” observes Alec Linarte.
“Residents Medical takes pride in the fact that any one of our candidates we’re helping toward residency is usually at the top of the program after our unique guidance and recruitment strategies,” he says.
Greg Heffernan, Vice President of Student Services and the Hospital Accreditation division that assists hospitals starting ACGME residency programs, echoes Linarte’s observation. “Program Directors want their residents to exude professionalism and good patient care as they represent both the hospital and the residency program,” he says.
“Once we line up a path for our candidates we prepare them with an associate dean and an actual program director so they come prepared for interviews, clinical experience as well as research protocols. It’s a total package. And that’s why Program Directors like our candidates. They have all the ACGME Core Competencies. They know it,” he says.
Linarte states that this year’s match was particularly challenging with more FMGs trying to get into Internal Medicine and Family Medicine, while new US medical students are starting to move into these specialties once dominated by foreign medical doctors. “There were only 246 new Internal Medicine slots and 86 Family Medicine slots created this year and that is barely a dent into the massive amount of applicants for those spots. Plus many program directors told us the USMLE scores are getting higher for applicants, making it more challenging for low or average scoring applicants. This is why candidates come on board with us to get inside the programs to rank,” says Linarte.
All the more reason many IMGs, FMGs and even US graduates are now reaching out to Residents Medical to assist them in getting in. “We are seeing more US grads coming to us for services. We also give FMGs and IMGs the chance they need. ERAS is now becoming a tough “crap shoot” for many FMGs who have no connection but their CV and scores. You need mentorship now.
You need to have the Program Director know who you are. Our candidates are more than just a CV,” says Heffernan, who explains that one of their matched clients was a doctor who had an attempt on CK but whose background in GI research made him a perfect asset to an Internal Medicine Program looking for someone of that caliber.
“This doctor would not have had the chance to let this program know his gifts and match him in unless he came to us and let us introduce him into the system. After I recommended him, they got a chance to work with him and they snatched him up in a minute because they saw his gifts and talents. There is really no other way now to get into residency in this doctor’s case,” he says.
“Get into research with a Program Director in our network, or a Program Chairman. Let them get to know you. Let them mentor you,” says Linarte. “There’s a mass of candidates coming from all over the world now. And scores are critical. If you haven’t taken your USMLE’s then come to us and let us help you get a good score like240 or 250. Don’t risk your most important exams to inferior instructors.
Our tutors must score 250 or better on their step scores. Can any other organization claim that?” he says.
Heffernan agrees. “Don’t be left out. You can be a doctor if you have the drive and commitment. We’re here to help make that a reality and we let you get your foot in the door. Sometimes that commitment and the grace of God is all it takes to change your life,” he says.
Find Residents Medical at www.residentsmedical.com.
Tom Shelley
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