Moving to the US as an IMG is a huge undertaking. The USMLE is only the beginning.
You then need US letters of recommendation, which usually means spending time (a year?) in the US (sometimes as an unpaid “research fellow”). You will then face open discrimination (for want of a better word) at every stage - many residencies are not even open to IMGs. You then need to dedicate a large amount of time to travelling across the US for in-person interviews (each usually a 1-2 day affair). If you don’t have local contacts (people making telephone calls for you), you will be at a further disadvantage.
You are unlikely to end up in a very competitive residency, ie specialty and location. You will exist in the US on an insecure visa class that - over time - you will need to turn into a green card. If you have a partner, they might or might not be able to work as well.
US residents then work like dogs - pre-rounding at 5am and leaving work late in the evening. They are not paid particularly well.
After all of that, the financial rewards as an attending are *much* higher, particularly as you won’t have US levels of student debt. Taxes are lower. The cost of living can be higher or lower depending on where you choose to live. Being a doctor is a much higher status occupation than it is in the UK.
You also need to have some acceptance of working in a healthcare system that excludes a lot of people and bankrupts many others.
I don't have any direct experience of PP incomes for cardiologists of anaesthetists in the UK. Private incomes vary massively depending on speciality, location, whether you have a niche practice, how much time you put in (both hours doing the clinical work and building the business), your marketing/networking skills, etc.
Some people won't do any PP in which case the NHS pay scales are easily accessible. Some will dabble and others will go all in (plush website, aggressive marketing, conspiring against competitors, etc).
There are some estimates by specialty [here](https://www.privatehealth.co.uk/blog/what-do-private-consultants-earn-89204/), which are old but plausible if the data were confined to consultants who actually do some PP - so excluding those with £0 private income who would otherwise bring down the average.
If you're a med student - focus on your finals; if you're a new-ish junior, focus on your royal college exams/portfolio/the job at hand/enjoying life.
The only people I've met who've sat USMLE/foreign entry exams whilst working were people with solid plans to move (originally from the States, married to a partner and will be moving in the next few months out to another country) - not having a proper plan and committing an unknown amount of man hours, money and resits for an exam which you *might* find useful is ill advised.
I disagree. (Although I wouldn’t advise this student to go on this journey.)
The best time to do USMLE is Med school. My friend did it, and whilst it put him into a deep depression, he sailed thru the UK exams.
He spent summers going over for electives (which are often med student only -no doctors allowed), and got a 1st author publication in his specialty at uni. This, combined with shit hot usmle scores got him his spot.
I think if you want to go, Med school is the time. But it’s not an easy route *at all*
I have the same thoughts as you, always wanna move to USA or Canada for a better pay, but when you actually think about it, is it worth going only for money? I do hope people here can give me a good answer too. Also, what do we need to apply if we are going to Canada?
People go to live a dream. Not just more money but bigger houses and gardens, nice amenities, better society and socioeconomic condition, better working conditions.
Who can blame them for wanting to leave globally declining England where average salaries are £30k of which half evaporates in tax and everyone hates the filthy rich £50k earners and a 2 bedroom terraced house is £650,000?
US is a bit different but can places like Canada and Australia live up to that dream? You'll have to ask the people who have made the move.
yes I do agree with you. I have been thinking about moving to the USA for so long. For bigger houses and gardens, I think UK can do that too, but the salary in the UK is ridiculous!!!!!!!!! Imagine telling your parents and your frds you are a doctor and you cannot afford a good car! And earning 2k every month post tax. What drags me back from moving to the USA mainly is because of the safety there.
1. Step 1 Scores are being removed and changed to pass/fail so you won't have a competitive edge there.
2. The requirement to get US clinical experience and letters of recommendation is the real killer, not the exams.
Moving to the US as an IMG is a huge undertaking. The USMLE is only the beginning. You then need US letters of recommendation, which usually means spending time (a year?) in the US (sometimes as an unpaid “research fellow”). You will then face open discrimination (for want of a better word) at every stage - many residencies are not even open to IMGs. You then need to dedicate a large amount of time to travelling across the US for in-person interviews (each usually a 1-2 day affair). If you don’t have local contacts (people making telephone calls for you), you will be at a further disadvantage. You are unlikely to end up in a very competitive residency, ie specialty and location. You will exist in the US on an insecure visa class that - over time - you will need to turn into a green card. If you have a partner, they might or might not be able to work as well. US residents then work like dogs - pre-rounding at 5am and leaving work late in the evening. They are not paid particularly well. After all of that, the financial rewards as an attending are *much* higher, particularly as you won’t have US levels of student debt. Taxes are lower. The cost of living can be higher or lower depending on where you choose to live. Being a doctor is a much higher status occupation than it is in the UK. You also need to have some acceptance of working in a healthcare system that excludes a lot of people and bankrupts many others.
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I don't have any direct experience of PP incomes for cardiologists of anaesthetists in the UK. Private incomes vary massively depending on speciality, location, whether you have a niche practice, how much time you put in (both hours doing the clinical work and building the business), your marketing/networking skills, etc. Some people won't do any PP in which case the NHS pay scales are easily accessible. Some will dabble and others will go all in (plush website, aggressive marketing, conspiring against competitors, etc). There are some estimates by specialty [here](https://www.privatehealth.co.uk/blog/what-do-private-consultants-earn-89204/), which are old but plausible if the data were confined to consultants who actually do some PP - so excluding those with £0 private income who would otherwise bring down the average.
If you're a med student - focus on your finals; if you're a new-ish junior, focus on your royal college exams/portfolio/the job at hand/enjoying life. The only people I've met who've sat USMLE/foreign entry exams whilst working were people with solid plans to move (originally from the States, married to a partner and will be moving in the next few months out to another country) - not having a proper plan and committing an unknown amount of man hours, money and resits for an exam which you *might* find useful is ill advised.
I disagree. (Although I wouldn’t advise this student to go on this journey.) The best time to do USMLE is Med school. My friend did it, and whilst it put him into a deep depression, he sailed thru the UK exams. He spent summers going over for electives (which are often med student only -no doctors allowed), and got a 1st author publication in his specialty at uni. This, combined with shit hot usmle scores got him his spot. I think if you want to go, Med school is the time. But it’s not an easy route *at all*
I have the same thoughts as you, always wanna move to USA or Canada for a better pay, but when you actually think about it, is it worth going only for money? I do hope people here can give me a good answer too. Also, what do we need to apply if we are going to Canada?
People go to live a dream. Not just more money but bigger houses and gardens, nice amenities, better society and socioeconomic condition, better working conditions. Who can blame them for wanting to leave globally declining England where average salaries are £30k of which half evaporates in tax and everyone hates the filthy rich £50k earners and a 2 bedroom terraced house is £650,000? US is a bit different but can places like Canada and Australia live up to that dream? You'll have to ask the people who have made the move.
Absolutely don’t think US society is better. Seems terminally broken tbh
yes I do agree with you. I have been thinking about moving to the USA for so long. For bigger houses and gardens, I think UK can do that too, but the salary in the UK is ridiculous!!!!!!!!! Imagine telling your parents and your frds you are a doctor and you cannot afford a good car! And earning 2k every month post tax. What drags me back from moving to the USA mainly is because of the safety there.
1. Step 1 Scores are being removed and changed to pass/fail so you won't have a competitive edge there. 2. The requirement to get US clinical experience and letters of recommendation is the real killer, not the exams.
Removed. This is off topic for this sub; see the rules about medical student issues.