Usmle

[lllllllllll]

ok so if I'm a dual citizen going to med school in canada... lets say I do my residency in Canada and then want to do a fellowship or work in the US, would I need the usmle? I wouldn't need a visa to work there because I'm already a citizen... so would there be any point in writing it? 

[indefatigable]

ok so if I'm a dual citizen going to med school in canada... lets say I do my residency in Canada and then want to do a fellowship or work in the US, would I need the usmle? I wouldn't need a visa to work there because I'm already a citizen... so would there be any point in writing it?

Regulations vary by state I believe - so you'd have to check individual state policies for Canadian licensing. Probably not a bad idea to consider writing mle, since could give option for residency and easier to do in Med school than later.

[Jagxjr]

Hello guys;

 

I will start Medicine in the U of S after a month. I am thinking seriously to start studying the USMLE step 1. The question I have is that, will the CMGs be treated as an IMG in the residency matching in USA ????

 

Thanks

[JohnGrisham]

Hello guys;

 

I will start Medicine in the U of S after a month. I am thinking seriously to start studying the USMLE step 1. The question I have is that, will the CMGs be treated as an IMG in the residency matching in USA ????

 

Thanks

No. You will be fine as long as you're a strong applicant. You will still need a visa if you are a non-US citizen, but being a CMG will still be favourable compared to IMGs generally. 

[ukmedstudent]

Hey all,

 

Currently a first year med at Dal and am looking at potentially writing the USMLE to keep my options open in the future. While I plan on studying for the test, I'm not sure if I'm going to actually write it. I just feel it would be helpful in terms of rounding out my knowledge. Has anyone done this in the past as a Canadian med student and did you find it helpful? What factors went into your choice whether to write or not?

 

Thanks,

 

C. 

Exactly what I thought! I see USMLE as a way to revise my preclinical year knowledge but it surely is expensive! 

 

I am still deciding whether to write USMLE but several things I am considering is cost and time!

Cost of buying USMLE books, registering, flying to US for exams, etc. 

Time spent revising for USMLE; opportunity cost! could have spent the time reading the resources that my medschool recommends

[daftjustice]

i wrote it and did well (>260)

Holy dicks - that's not just well...that's amazing! Especially if you did it during residency. I've heard that for most people it's nice to be able to do it during a dedicated period (like when they have the summer off.)

 

Did you find that your clinical experience up until that point made the clinical knowledge in Step 1 stuff easier? BEcause I can't imagine that having to go over all that biochem was a pleasure to do during residency

[Dermviser]

>260 on Step 1 is foolish. Bossman right there.

 

It's suppose to be harder come residency as you forget all your basic science. Guy is probably a genius tbh

[ukmedstudent]

i wrote it and did well (>260) but that was after i graduated during residency. might not be applicable to you. 

 

it takes a lot of effort to do this but its very possible. i started studying in october and sat for it in april. it requires heavy understanding and memorization skills, which you have since you got into med and sound very ambitious.

 

i used red-dit and sdn to find strategies for studying. but study the way that works for you. i wrote out summaries of concepts over the course of studying and did recall on a whiteboard for the hard memorization stuff a few weeks up to the exam. but what i did wont work for everyone. just do something that you think will work.

 

ufap is key. that is usmleworld, first-aid, and pathoma. 

 

you are in your first year so nothing is going to make sense to you so dont try preparing for it yet. i think that if you were to buy those resources now it would be a waste of money. 

 

i would start heavily preparing when second year starts. dal is a four year program. write step 1 after your first year summer, and take step 2 along with the mccqe1.

 

if you have any other qs pm me.

 

Wow that's a great score! I too am considering to write usmle but it seems like it's gonna cost me alot of money

how much money do you spend on those resources

[JohnGrisham]

Wow that's a great score! I too am considering to write usmle but it seems like it's gonna cost me alot of money

how much money do you spend on those resources

You can get most of the resources for free, very easily online. Everything aside from UWORLD you can get online. I won't say how, since thats probably against the TOS of Pm101, but again, VERY easy.

 

The only thing you would have to pay for is the USMLE exams themselves, and a UWORLD subscription. IF you really were tight on money, you could even get the UWORLD in screenshot form, free online. But that's an invaluable resource that would be well worth the subscription fee to use it's platform properly.

[daftjustice]

I almost never climb on a high horse regarding digital content but I would highly recommend that you do not illegally torrent or download pathoma. sattar is the man and it's really not expensive (100$ when I bought it last year) to buy his resource.

[GrouchoMarx]

I almost never climb on a high horse regarding digital content but I would highly recommend that you do not illegally torrent or download pathoma. sattar is the man and it's really not expensive (100$ when I bought it last year) to buy his resource.

 

agreed. sattar could charge 1000 for it but chooses to be generous instead. buy pathoma. youll learn more from pathoma than you will from your schools pathology course guaranteed.

[F508]

Is pathology heavily emphasized on the USMLE? Why do so many people recommend having an extra reference just for pathology?

[daftjustice]

Pathology is pretty heavily emphasized. Expect to have to differentiate between diseases based on histology slides they show you [a) renal path :'( , b)the slides tend to be of the sort where if you know it, you know it].

 

[JohnGrisham]

I almost never climb on a high horse regarding digital content but I would highly recommend that you do not illegally torrent or download pathoma. sattar is the man and it's really not expensive (100$ when I bought it last year) to buy his resource.

Can confirm, purchased Pathoma - but i also downloaded the video series too since I wanted offline access.  But you have to purchase the subscription to get the book regardless.

[JohnGrisham]

Is pathology heavily emphasized on the USMLE? Why do so many people recommend having an extra reference just for pathology?

Pathology is huge on the USMLE, unlike in most canadian med curriculums

[F508]

Ughh what proportion of the exam questions would you say involve pathology?

[JohnGrisham]

Ughh what proportion of the exam questions would you say involve pathology?

A very large part, like 40%? Check SDN for more accurate info.

[F508]

Ok, thanks!

[GrouchoMarx]

Pathology is huge on the USMLE, unlike in most canadian med curriculums

 

I cant understand this shift.

 

med curriculum has shifted too far into focusing on psychosocial aspects of medical practice to the exclusion of the pathophysiologic basis of disease. i cannot see the logical reasoning behind this.

[JohnGrisham]

I cant understand this shift.

 

med curriculum has shifted too far into focusing on psychosocial aspects of medical practice to the exclusion of the pathophysiologic basis of disease. i cannot see the logical reasoning behind this.

Because there isn't much in the way of standardized testing in Canadian schools? I guess because they don't have a common equalizing exam focused purely on basic science, then there is less incentive to go too in depth - especially when most people will learn what they need to learn in clinicals or residency etc.    Sure theres the exit exam at the end of canadian year 4 - but from everything i hear, that isn't a very good exam and mostly just a checkmark/making sure you know enough to pass(though i've also heard this has changed recently in scales etc..)

 

So, since the US has the USMLE Step 1 that tests mostly basic science, schools generally try to prepare you for the contents - which is alot of pathophysiology. Canada doesn't have an exam like that, so they can let it slide a bit more on not having to cram down minutae that most students will forget.

 

Who knows, that's my uneducated response. Also, there is only so much time in curriculums - they feel that being able to be a good communicator is more important than endless minutae of pathophysiology, which to be honest has its upsides.

[F508]

I just noticed someone said considering taking time off to fly to the US to take the USMLE.. you can only take the exam in the states?? I thought there were test centers in Canada?

[Lactic Folly]

Not for all steps of the USMLE (which consists of 4 separate exams).

[F508]

Oh ok, phew. I remember seeing test centers in Canada, so was confused.. thanks!

[Med0123]

Step 1 and Step 2 CK can be done in Canada, Step 2 CS and Step 3 are done in the US only.