Gyn000 Posted August 31, 2021 Report Share Posted August 31, 2021 Question for upper-level residents or staff: I am a PGY3 in OBGYN and planning on moving to and practicing in the United States. I am wondering if anyone on this forum has done the same and would be appreciative of any information regarding what sort of timelines I should be following. It seems a bit early to be job-hunting but on the other hand I feel like the process takes some time and that there must be some things I need to start doing in preparation. Any and all advice/info is appreciated! Best Gyn000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearded frog Posted August 31, 2021 Report Share Posted August 31, 2021 Generally people start looking at the start of their final year of residency. At this point in your situation you have hopefully researched your desired state's licensing board requirements and have completed or are about to complete any USMLE exams needed or are preparing to write the US board exams, if required, along side the royal college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shikimate Posted August 31, 2021 Report Share Posted August 31, 2021 If you have your USMLE, it might be useful to have your FCVS file ready. You don't need to have completed residency to apply for state license. Some states like Texas are notoriously burdensome for license, so better start early than late. If you just need a cheap license in any state, say for purpose of American board, Pennsylvania is a good option, very cheap and pretty fast IF you have all your documents prepared in advance. zoxy and JohnGrisham 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoxy Posted August 31, 2021 Report Share Posted August 31, 2021 3 hours ago, Gyn000 said: I am a PGY3 in OBGYN and planning on moving to and practicing in the United States. May I enquire why? Is the OBGYN job market in Canada poor? My understanding was that OBGYN in the US is far more OB heavy than in Canada, where family physicians handle a lot of the OB load. Accordingly, there's a corresponding poorer lifestyle in the US when compared to Canada for OBGYN. I don't think the pay is that much better either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted August 31, 2021 Report Share Posted August 31, 2021 4 hours ago, Gyn000 said: Question for upper-level residents or staff: I am a PGY3 in OBGYN and planning on moving to and practicing in the United States. I am wondering if anyone on this forum has done the same and would be appreciative of any information regarding what sort of timelines I should be following. It seems a bit early to be job-hunting but on the other hand I feel like the process takes some time and that there must be some things I need to start doing in preparation. Any and all advice/info is appreciated! Best Gyn000 Learning about the process early, is very important! More informed you are and understand the visa process and employment processes, less of a chance you get taken advantage of - especially given the wide range of US employment opportunities. I assume you have a personal reason for the US? Geographical preference? Have you taken USMLES or will you rely on LMCC? Fellowship plans for the US? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyn000 Posted September 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2021 From what I have read so far, only 6/50 states require the USMLE for licensing, so long as you are US Board certified. I plan to write the US boards following the Royal College exam. Zoxy, I believe that is a generalization. The job market in the US is more heterogenous I'd say in terms of what your practice looks like, especially considering the model of healthcare (private as opposed to public). It also depends on what sort of centre the practice is located in. Obviously larger centres will have higher obstetrical volumes. I know several OBGYNs in the US that have gyne-heavy practices and get compensated quite well. My decision to look abroad has nothing to do with availability of jobs here. Thanks everyone for the feedback. I will continue to look into requirements Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoxy Posted September 2, 2021 Report Share Posted September 2, 2021 38 minutes ago, Gyn000 said: From what I have read so far, only 6/50 states require the USMLE for licensing, so long as you are US Board certified. I think its 10/50 but it doesn't really matter. I linked a document that lists each states' licensing laws. Anyway, you will need all three USMLEs for getting an H1B visa for work. While the LMCC may be sufficient for getting a state license, it won't do much good if you can't legally reside and work in the US. Of course, the need for the visa assumes you're not a US citizen or Green Card holder. If you don't need an H1B visa then the LMCC will do. If you do go on an H1B, be aware that if your country of birth is India or China, it may take decades to get a Green Card. 38 minutes ago, Gyn000 said: I know several OBGYNs in the US that have gyne-heavy practices and get compensated quite well. Are they sub-specialists or just regular regular OBGYN? When did they start practising? I know that Gynecologist Oncologists and MFM sub-specialists are well compensated in the US. I think they're relatively competitive fellowships to get. https://www.ama-assn.org/sites/ama-assn.org/files/corp/media-browser/public/img/licensure-comparison-imgs-usmgs_1.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyn000 Posted September 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2021 Where does it specify that USMLEs are required for H1B? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoxy Posted September 2, 2021 Report Share Posted September 2, 2021 11 minutes ago, Gyn000 said: Where does it specify that USMLEs are required for H1B? US immigration law specifies. Merritt Hawkins is the biggest medical recruiting firm in the US. Page 8 of the document I linked specifically talks about Canadian physicians. https://www.amnhealthcare.com/uploadedFiles/MainSite/Content/Staffing_Recruitment/MerritHawkings-WP-International Recruitment.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyn000 Posted September 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2021 This is not completely accurate though. I know someone who just moved to Seattle with an H1B visa and does not have USMLEs. Although she did say that the process of getting the visa would have been a bit easier had she had written the exams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoxy Posted September 2, 2021 Report Share Posted September 2, 2021 2 hours ago, Gyn000 said: This is not completely accurate though. I know someone who just moved to Seattle with an H1B visa and does not have USMLEs. Although she did say that the process of getting the visa would have been a bit easier had she had written the exams. This runs contrary to everything I've heard and read. Are you 100 percent sure they got an H1B and not some other type of visa? There are many types of visas. An O1 or J1 would also enable someone to work in the US as physician. The J1 as a resident or fellow only. I would believe that Merrit Hawkins being the biggest physician recruiter and consultancy firm in the US would know its stuff. I've listed a couple of law firm websites that also corroborate the need for the USMLEs to get an H1B. Every single fellowship program that I've looked at also requires the USMLEs for H1B for Canadians. https://www.murthy.com/2019/08/08/canadian-physicians-and-u-s-immigration-policies/ https://cbkimmigration.com/health-care-workers/licensure-credentialing-2/ https://www.practicematch.com/physicians/career-resources/physician-immigration/canadian-physicians.cfm https://icahn.mssm.edu/files/ISMMS/Assets/Education/Residencies Fellowships/Non-Immigrant Visas_2018.pdf https://college.mayo.edu/academics/residencies-and-fellowships/admissions-and-benefits/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyn000 Posted September 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2021 Yes I am sure. She is board-certified, has a Washington medical license and is on an H1-b visa and did not need to write her USMLEs. Maybe I need her immigration lawyer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingmaker Posted September 12, 2021 Report Share Posted September 12, 2021 If you have a research-oriented resume, you can consider applying for a EB2 NIW visa, which 100% doesn't require the USMLE at all. It's a permanent residency visa that you can get without actually having a job offer. Question: don't you need to complete the USMLE for insurance purposes? I thought most insurance companies that hospitals use require you to pass them? I was told that the only place that didn't require them were academic centers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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