International Medical Graduates in the United States

Book excerpt: Thousands of international medical graduates come to the United States to start their career as physicians. Many of them, however, are not aware of the challenges and problems that they may encounter along the way. These difficulties can range from the language and cultural barriers to a lack of confidence and self-esteem. Many students are also unaware of the other career options besides getting into a clinical residency program. As a result of these issues, a great number of foreign medical students remain unmatched into the National Resident Matching Program. Not matching can be devastating for these graduates, both financially and medically. Students often suffer from psychological effects like major depression and generalized anxiety disorder. This book outlines the potential problems faced by these graduates and their possible solutions. Each chapter collects research evidence, interviews and surveys to gather information to work on each possible problem one by one and describes a solution in great detail. Comprised of thirty chapters, each chapter is broken down into smaller sub-sections to investigate the main theme in depth. Issues addressed include the different types of international medical graduates and their lives in the United States, differences in the education system and healthcare system, the triangle of residency, language and cultural barriers, lack of professional contacts, confidence, self-image and self-esteem issues, and restriction to specific fields and career paths. Written by experts in the field, International Medical Graduates in the United States is a first of its kind text that addresses the biggest issues faced by foreign medical graduates in today's world.