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Obtaining a medical residency in the United States is a dream come true! The U.S. offers the best medical training programs in the world. Most programs offer strong clinical training, academic formation, mentorship, career development, research, innovation, teaching opportunities, and many more. Every year, thousands of physicians, many of those including International Medical Graduates (IMGs), apply for medical residencies and fellowships in the United States. Although it is hard to answer the question of “how to get a US medical residency”, we will try our best to guide you through this daunting process. The “MATCH” application is stressful and can feel quite overwhelming. Undoubtfully, there are many challenges, including multiple examinations, education credential verification, the need to obtain U.S. clinical experience, and other requirements that can be discouraging. However, with the right preparation and guidance, obtaining a medical residency or fellowship in the United States is achievable. We hope that with our experience as IMGs obtaining medical residency and fellowships in the US, we can help you achieve this amazing goal. We have developed a series of publications to help guide you to the right path and hopefully obtain the training position of your dreams.
It is always difficult to understand where to start. Preparing for the application process requires a good understanding of the entire process and the requirements to be obtained. The read is certainly more challenging for an IMG. Fortunately, the number of IMGs achieving residency and fellowship positions every year is encouraging and it has consistently increased every year. This is a fact that can be verified by checking the statistics presented every year by the NRMP (National Residency Matching Program). As previously mentioned, our “Medical Residency” series was created with the main goal of providing a comprehensive and anecdotal description of the residency application process. We started chronologically describing the first to the last steps to be followed to get a US medical residency position. To make it easier to navigate, we have included numbers for each chapter that you can follow orderly.
We will do our best to maintain this information up to date. However, keep in mind that the process changes every year and some of the information may not be the same as previous years. To read more about the MATCH statistics, check the following link: NRMP National Residency Matching Program.
Several factors influence the chance of being accepted (matched) into a residency program. We will explain more about these factors and our recommendations on how to become a stronger applicant in the upcoming posts.
Here are some useful websites with information about the US Medical Residency process:
- ECFMG Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates
- USMLE United States Medical Licensing Examination
- USMLE Forums
We aim to share our experiences with you and hopefully make your road to residency easier. The “US Medical Residency” series will follow a chronological order of the major steps required for applying to a U.S. medical residency, including the application for the ECFMG certification, USMLE exams, the residency application process, and others.
Please, we invite you to read our publications and actively participate by providing feedback in the comments section or contacting us using the contact information provided in the menu. You can use the table of contents published on this page to navigate our content.
Good luck in your endeavors!
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