How I Obtained Clinical & Research Experience in the US

hunter · 04-29-2008, 12:40 PM

hi
can anyone please tell me what is the difference between B-1 and J-1 Visa?And is there anyone with elective experience at MOUNT SINAI NEWYORK?

kimi · 05-03-2008, 11:05 AM

Hey Hasan,

There are not many med schools which accept students without steps or toefl, but the information posted on their website does not mean that they are always going to follow it, I have seen students (without steps 1) going for electives even for the universities which officially require steps 1. So just keep on trying and you will definitely find a position.

You said in one of your posts that u want to do surgery electives at an affordable place. Well if you are planning to go for surgery in the US, you got to be prepared for such expenses!! Money and visa are big issues when you are applying for surgical residency. Because finding a categorical position straight away is quite tough, although prelim is a good way to enter the system but they do eat up 1 year of you J-1 visa (max of 7 years) and you won’t get time for your fellowship. Secondly if you decide to do a research fellowship sort of thing before residency, it is difficult to find a paid position, you will better be able to find positions if you are willing to do work voluntarily.

I did my electives at Baylor and North Carolina in cardiology and gastroenterology.

hunter · 05-04-2008, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kimi

Hey Hasan,

There are not many med schools which accept students without steps or toefl, but the information posted on their website does not mean that they are always going to follow it, I have seen students (without steps 1) going for electives even for the universities which officially require steps 1. So just keep on trying and you will definitely find a position.

You said in one of your posts that u want to do surgery electives at an affordable place. Well if you are planning to go for surgery in the US, you got to be prepared for such expenses!! Money and visa are big issues when you are applying for surgical residency. Because finding a categorical position straight away is quite tough, although prelim is a good way to enter the system but they do eat up 1 year of you J-1 visa (max of 7 years) and you won’t get time for your fellowship. Secondly if you decide to do a research fellowship sort of thing before residency, it is difficult to find a paid position, you will better be able to find positions if you are willing to do work voluntarily.

I did my electives at Baylor and North Carolina in cardiology and gastroenterology.

hye kimi,

do you have any clue about Mount Sinai,do they require step-1 cleared?They do require basic subjects,(that have to be cleared in step -1) cleared at home school,but if some one has cleared some subjects and others he/she is still studying would there be any chance of being accepted.
and how did you obtain malpractice insurance,any useful website regarding this,it would be very helpful if you share that with us, what about Visa which Visa did you get when you first Visited USA?

Thank you.

Faizan@ · 05-07-2008, 01:30 AM

Mount Sinai does not require steps 1 cleared for electives. But the issue is that it offers J1 visa, if you go there on J1 visa,you are bound not to enter the US again for next 2 years once you get back to your home country. B1 is the visa of choice, if you get 5 year multiple visa, u can go there for electives and for your CS exams on that same visa. I would not recommend anyone to go electives on J1 visa, it will waste your precious time becuse you will have to stay in your native country. You should try to find some other university for doing electives, go on either B1 or F1. In which medical college you are?

Mount sinai offers malpractice insurance but try for some other medical school.

hunter · 05-07-2008, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faizan@

Mount Sinai does not require steps 1 cleared for electives. But the issue is that it offers J1 visa, if you go there on J1 visa,you are bound not to enter the US again for next 2 years once you get back to your home country. B1 is the visa of choice, if you get 5 year multiple visa, u can go there for electives and for your CS exams on that same visa. I would not recommend anyone to go electives on J1 visa, it will waste your precious time becuse you will have to stay in your native country. You should try to find some other university for doing electives, go on either B1 or F1. In which medical college you are?

Mount sinai offers malpractice insurance but try for some other medical school.

Apart from Mount Sinai,i have things shaping for me at two other places,so if suppose i get B-1
multiple Visa by doing an elective at either of those places,would i be able to go to Mount Sinai,
on B-1 Visa,or i will have to apply again for J-1 Visa?And if apply again for J-1 Visa would it
effect,my B-1 Visa status?And how much time period is J-1 Visa for?

Faizan@ · 05-07-2008, 09:44 AM

if you get B1 and go for electives, you wont be able to do elective at mount sinai, because J1 visa is their requirement for doing electives. why are u dying to go for mount sinai?? no doubt it is a good medical school but certainly not among the tops. If you get J1 visa after B1 visa, it will nullify your B1 visa status. i dont know about J1 visa but B1 visa takes from 10 days to 4 months to one year, it depends on your luck!!

hunter · 05-07-2008, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faizan@

if you get B1 and go for electives, you wont be able to do elective at mount sinai, because J1 visa is their requirement for doing electives. why are u dying to go for mount sinai?? no doubt it is a good medical school but certainly not among the tops. If you get J1 visa after B1 visa, it will nullify your B1 visa status. i dont know about J1 visa but B1 visa takes from 10 days to 4 months to one year, it depends on your luck!!

Mount Sinai is the only place in Newyork where i got acceptance,and the reason of my prefering it is becausei have relatives and friends in Newyork,so it would have been alot of assistance to me to do elective at Mount Sinai.any how i will try at Cornell because correct me if iam wrong these
are the only two places in Newyork that accept foreign students without step 1.
If you are online then kindly come to the chat room,may be we can talk there,i had to ask few things about jhu,
Thanks

sausi.aiims · 06-18-2008, 04:50 AM

Hi Friends,
I just came back from USA, completing my clinical electives in Johns Hopkins University and another one in New York Medical College (Westchester Medical Center). The US Health System, though really very costly, is really good. People are helpful and very softspoken. Patient - Doctor Dialogue is very friendly.
It had been a good experience altogether working in US medical Setting. I had been on the B-1.
Looking for any questions if anyone has regarding my Experience...

Effieand · 06-22-2008, 12:13 PM

I was just wandering how is it possible to contact directly the faculty of the institutions and ask them about acceptance issues, since in most well-respected universities it is clearly stated that international students who wish to apply for electives should contact with the students' registrar (or whoever is in charge), BUT NOT with the faculty or program coordinators??????

sausi.aiims · 06-22-2008, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Effieand

I was just wandering how is it possible to contact directly the faculty of the institutions and ask them about acceptance issues, since in most well-respected universities it is clearly stated that international students who wish to apply for electives should contact with the students' registrar (or whoever is in charge), BUT NOT with the faculty or program coordinators??????

Yes, you are right Effie. These are the rules, but if you are contacting the faculty directly, and they give a recommendation to registrar to get you an elective under him, obviously Registrar cannot say no. That is the reason, why they say not to contact faculty, so that everything goes through perfect channel, and ppl dont keep disturbing faculty. The faculty under whom I worked, used to recieve almost 15-20 such mails everyday.

Ryan · 07-01-2008, 07:02 AM

hey... thanks for sharing your experience sausi.aiims. you said that the faculty with whom you used to work got 20 emails on daily basis, i wanted to know what was there in your email that he picked you up?? and can u also elaborate in which department you worked in? and what was the level of faculty with whom you worked? as in prof. or assit. prof. or asso. prof.??

sausi.aiims · 07-01-2008, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan

hey... thanks for sharing your experience sausi.aiims. you said that the faculty with whom you used to work got 20 emails on daily basis, i wanted to know what was there in your email that he picked you up?? and can u also elaborate in which department you worked in? and what was the level of faculty with whom you worked? as in prof. or assit. prof. or asso. prof.??

Hi Ryan,
There was a conference in AIIMS (My college) in which i had been working as a volunteer. There I met the professor from JHU as one of the chief spokespersons. In the lunch hour, I met him and told him about my interests in his field and talked to him about my previous experience and my goals. This was merely a 5-7 minutes talk as (obviously) he was very busy with other ppl. Then at last I asked him politely if I could be in touch with him for future guidance. He happily gave me his visiting card. I just got in contact with him through e-mails for next 3-4 months when I finally asked him if I could get an opportunity to have rotation in JH. He mailed the Registrar office and arranged the elective under one of the asso professors in the department.
This is how did I get the Clinical elective.

Keep Trying and keep looking for the opprtunities.
May God help You!
Saurabh

Smeer · 07-17-2008, 01:02 PM

Hey everybody,

I know attaining competitive residencies in the U.S. is getting tougher and tougher by the day, and that in order to stay on top of the game a lot of foreign medical students are trying to get research electives earlier and earlier. I was wondering if it's possible, at least for a Pakistani medical student, to attain such an elective at the end of his/her first year even if he/she doesn't have a record of professional exam results atm. Personally speaking, Professional Exams at KE are held in November and I doubt that they'll have the results and transcripts ready by December when I'm expecting to leave for my next break back to the States. Would it be better to wait until the next summer to shoot for some research or is it possible to get a research spot without any academic record to show?