24/02/2023
Fellowships in US 🇺🇸
Courtesy Syed Ali Raza on My Medical Career
By Anoshia Afzal MD 📄
Eligibility requirements:
➡️USMLE Step 1&2
➡️FCPS or MD ( Completed )
🚫Remember your scores in USMLE does not matter for it so you can pass with minimum scores (easily doable ) and then can apply based on your local post graduate qualification‼️
♻️There’s this “reverse pathway” that gives you a chance to get fellowship training in USA if you didn’t match (or didn’t apply) for residency. You can get a fellowship and later go for residency match if you intend to stay/practice in United States (you have to complete USA residency to be eligible for US board certification and to able to practice independently). If you don’t want to repeat residency then you’ll have to go back to your country upon completion of fellowship training.
➡️How to become eligible for reverse pathway?
-USMLE (ECFMG certification is required to qualify for fellowship training)
-Most programs also prefer you to have step3 taken before starting fellowship because some states will require you to have unrestricted license for fellowship
-Residency training in home country (FCPS Part II cleared)
-US clinical experience (preferred)
-Research (preferred but not required)
Some fellowship specialties enter into a fellowship match (similar to the N**P residency match). Some specialties participate in the San Francisco (SF) match, while other fellowships do not participate in any program (you have to email programs individually to find out). Some fellowships are easier to get (for instance, neurology subspecialties like movement disorder fellowship, nephrology or non-ACGME accredited fellowships) whereas some highly competitive ones (like interventional cardiology) are difficult to get.
🛑The bottom line is: you still have a chance if you really want to get training in USA (provided you’re ECFMG certified and have finished residency training in your home country) so don’t give up and try to get it via reverse pathway!