International medical grad looking to apply for PA program

[balsam88]

Hi.

I'm posting this question on behalf of a close friend of mine. He's a foreign medical graduate who holds an MD degree and is a current permanent resident of the US. Due to some family circumstances and low chances for residency matching for foreign grads, he's now looking to applying to PA programs, however he's been having a difficult time looking for school who would welcome international graduates into their programs. He already has his degree evaluated through the ECE organization and his GPA was converted to 3.1. He has clinical hours inside the US from working as a medical assistant and a medical interpreter. He would have to retake most of pre-requisites as his classes were more than 7 years old. He's also working on getting his TOFEL test and working on registering for pre-reqs at a local community college.

Is there anyone here with a similar background or if you know anyone with a similar background, he would like some advice on applications or in regards to which schools would be more accepting of foreign medical grads that he might have better chances with. Thanks :)

 

 

[MyNameWasUsed]

He probably should just keep trying to match a residency instead. 

[rev ronin]

6 hours ago, MyNameWasUsed said:

He probably should just keep trying to match a residency instead. 

This is becoming less and less tenable.  Med school slots have expanded faster than residency slots, which haven't, so now IMGs are not even being considered for residencies at all.  They used to be able to match into FP; that's not even reasonably available any more.

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/266610-shortage-of-residency-slots-may-have-chilling-effect-on-next

[UGoLong]

We've had a steady stream of FMGs doing informal internships at our practice and then having us write letters of recommendation. A good number ultimately get in somewhere, but it can take years.

[balsam88]

That's the problem, it takes years to get in somewhere and not everyone is able to wait that long when you have family responsibilities. I've heard several FMG's ending up in the PA route, we just need to know the schools which may consider admitting FMG's better than others. I know some schools are strict about that and do not accept any FMG's.

[Onward&upward]

On 7/29/2017 at 2:13 AM, balsam88 said:

Hi.

I'm posting this question on behalf of a close friend of mine. He's a foreign medical graduate who holds an MD degree and is a current permanent resident of the US. Due to some family circumstances and low chances for residency matching for foreign grads, he's now looking to applying to PA programs, however he's been having a difficult time looking for school who would welcome international graduates into their programs. He already has his degree evaluated through the ECE organization and his GPA was converted to 3.1. He has clinical hours inside the US from working as a medical assistant and a medical interpreter. He would have to retake most of pre-requisites as his classes were more than 7 years old. He's also working on getting his TOFEL test and working on registering for pre-reqs at a local community college.

Is there anyone here with a similar background or if you know anyone with a similar background, he would like some advice on applications or in regards to which schools would be more accepting of foreign medical grads that he might have better chances with. Thanks :)

 

 

By what you have said, it looks like he is on a good track, getting degree evaluated, getting GPA, taking Toefl, taking classes at community college, all these things are required. I would add GRE, shadowing, more HCE with more responsibilities, and make sure his prerequisite GPA is perfect.

As per colleges, any PA program that accepts a Bachelors degree from outside of USA would be a good choice to apply at. So if I was him, I would shortlist at least 6-10 schools that accept foreign degrees and do not require a degree from United states. Unless he has a degree from the US.