hi...need help!!

[girish]

hi guys,
could u please help??
let me tell about myself first...i am an IMG...got decent scores in mle(step1 99/256...and step 2..99/264)...i have done diploma in medical radiodiagnosis in india (2 yrs of radio experience)....i am interested in a future career in radiodiagnosis in US.....i have come across a few options and i need your help to choose amongst them...
a) join a fellowship...look for residency
b) join int med...look for radio resi
c)do research in radio...lookout for residencies
4) join nuclear med and then switchover to rad

guys i need your help......and could you also please let me know if i meet the necessary qualifications for nuc med residency?
thanks

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[fedupme]

hi

If you dont like nuc med & Int med dont waste your & others time there. Nuc med shouldn't be treated as a back door entry to rads.

If I am not wrong u r girish bathla, MAMC 1999 batch.
My 2 cents:
Finding a fellowship is possible these days in Body imaging/Interventional radiology/neuroradio, doing a fellowship for two yrs makes you elligible for state licence in most of the states in US. Complete 2 more yrs AT THE SAME PLACE, AS A FELLOW OR MAY BE IF YOU ARE LUCKY THEN AS A FACULTY(A total of 4 years at the same place) & you can take Radiology boards.
that makes you A board certified radiologist after spending 4 years at the same place.
.

Also ur scores are competitive enuff ......... you can be elligible for a rads residency,But had I been u I wud have adopted the fellowship pathway.

 

[girish]

hi,
ya right...i am girish from MAMC....just wondering if i know you??
and yes, i do agree with you that there is no point doing something you dont really want.it's just that i had been presented with a few options and i just wanted to explore them.
comming to the fellowship part, to be honest i am inclined towards doing a fellowship, just that there are a few problems.how easy or difficult is it to get a fellowship in the same instritute 4 years in a row???...and what happens if i dont get such fellowships??
and what bout research??

and fedupme, could you please introduce yourself...i have a feeling that i know you!


bye

 

[fedupme]

I've sent you a PM

 

[Imhotep]

Hi Girish:

With those stats, you are certainly competitive for radiology residency. I would recommend that as your first option. You can also apply for fellowship and then hope to get a faculty position-but it is not as simple as fedupme is making it to be. First, you have to get a spot (which isnt too hard). Then you have to get a faculty position (not so easy), then you have to stay in the same institution for four years in order to be eligible to take the boards. Not all states will allow you to get the special license that is needed for the above. In addition, the ABR boards are geared for someone who goes through a U.S. residency, and trying to clear them while specializing in only one aspect of radiology (neuro, MSK, body etc) is NOT going to be easy.

 

[fedupme]

Dear Imhotep I differ in opinion
Doing a fellowship & being board elligible later is definitely not that easy but Its doable.
Radiology residency is definitely not very IMG friendly in general( exceptions are there) & fellowships are very easy to get for an internationally trained individual.
To me doing a fellowship sounds to be a better option any day, I'm not misguiding anyone here but I have 4-5 friends who adopted the same pathway & are faculties in various universities today. One of them got board certified lately. My advice is based on what I have seen.
as Imhotep said Finding a faculty position isn't easy, I dont agree, currently so many universities are in desperate need of faculties especially in Vascular & Interventional radiology, just go to sirweb.org or RSNA career Connection etc etc
Secondly regarding Boards being tough, well that depends on an individual, but its not impossible.

Its definitely a subjective decision, but
Girish you have pretty good scores & getting a radiology residency is possible for you as you have radiology experience in India. IT depends on you what you choose, but again in the end I will say dont do Nuc med or int med just for the sake of it.
thanks

 

[yenchen]

Hi I read it somewhere here inthe forums , hope it helps

You can get an interventional radiology fellowship somewhere without doing a radiology residency. Typically IMGs do this as part of a 4 year scheme to sit for the ABR boards. If you do a fellowship first you will not eligible for the CAQs and it will not count toward a residency if you decide to do one in the future. If you do well in fellowship as an FMG, after fellowship but without an american residency, your job prospects will be severely limited to a handful of academic or VA positions and because you are not boarded or CAQ'd do not be surprised if you are offered a much-lower-than-market salary, even by academics standards.

 

[girish]

hi guys!
thanks for the advice.Imhotep, i agree that my scores aer good, but to be honest, i have seen people who had good scores(230+) and had plenty of experience in rads in india(upto 5 yrs), but still they couldnt get residency in rads...they had to do fellowships first...if there have been any exceptions, i would love to know!
the primary reason that i'm not so keen on applying for rads residency right now is because the programmes here are not IMG friendly, atleast not in rads.
now, the reason why i posted my query in nuc med forum was tht somebody told me that if i do nuc med residency first, i stand a better chance of going into rads than let's say, doing int med.you are a nuc med guy imhotep,honestly, what is your take on the subject....let me also make it clear that i have been exposed to nuc med in india and i find it interesting,it's not that i dont like it and am doin it just to improve my chances
and please dont think of me as someone who is trying to waste everyone's time...i am an IMG and i dont have much idea about what would be the best possible step for me, at the most, my queries might look stupid but i aint a mean guy trying to get into rads by using nuc med/int med as a ladder....it's just that i want to know my options before i make a decision.
thanks

 

[navigator420]

well the op has a "diploma in medical radiodiagnosis in india (2 yrs of radio experience)...." wonder if the fellowship programs would accept it here becoz the diploma( unlike the traditional 3 radiology residency from india )is a degree tht is not eqivalent to a radiology residency as far as i know (ofcourse i could be wrong )

 

[Imhotep]

Girish:

The first question you have to ask yourself is "How bad do I want to be a radiologist in the U.S.?".

About the only thing where I agree with fedupme is their comment re: doing NM or int med ONLY if you have a sincere liking for the fields. While having a NM background can sometimes help to get into radiology (particularly if there is a pgy3 level opening-as having NM training may give you up to one year of credit in radiology), it is obviously not guaranteed. In fact, since residency programs are federally funded in the U.S., NM/IM training prior to radiology residency MAY limit the number of radiology programs who are willing to take you on as a resident, as they may not be fully reimbursed by the federal funding. This is a real issue.

I too know some IMG's who went the fellowship pathway and ended up in academics. Like I said before though, taking (and passing) the 3 segments of ABR (written, physics, and orals) without going through a U.S. residency will NOT be easy.

If you sincerely like radiology, I again suggest that you try to get a radiology spot. It is very competitive, but you appear to have strong credentials on paper (excellent board scores, prior rads experience etc).

If you like academics, and have been a practicing radiologist in your home country for at least 5 years, you may be able to get into a fellowship program/academic position without taking any licensing exams in the U.S. (you'd probably need to verify this information though).

If you truly like NM, you wont have any problem geting into a residency. Please be aware however that starting this year, NM is a 4 year residency (1 yr of internship + 3 years of NM).

Finally, I am not fully aware of the Indian medical system, but you'd need to be a fully trained radiologist in order to be considered for fellowship spots.

 

[dorules]

Girish. I'm a 2nd yr med student preparing for step 1. Would you please share with me how you studied and how you were able to score that high? thank you very much.

hi guys,
could u please help??
let me tell about myself first...i am an IMG...got decent scores in mle(step1 99/256...and step 2..99/264)...i have done diploma in medical radiodiagnosis in india (2 yrs of radio experience)....i am interested in a future career in radiodiagnosis in US.....i have come across a few options and i need your help to choose amongst them...
a) join a fellowship...look for residency
b) join int med...look for radio resi
c)do research in radio...lookout for residencies
4) join nuclear med and then switchover to rad

guys i need your help......and could you also please let me know if i meet the necessary qualifications for nuc med residency?
thanks