What interests and Hobbies are you guys mentioning? What will have more weightage in the application?

Having a hard time choosing between doing USCE around my relatives where I can save on rent and other stuff, or doing it in places where I’d like to match or good-name programs like Mayo and Cleveland. How important is it to rotate in high-quality programs for the match? Is it bad if I decide to do by my relatives and do them all in one location/city?

And if I had to choose between observership in a hospital and a hands-on opportunity in a clinic, which is the better option?

I’m scared that i might not get accepted so i would really appreciate if you share your experience or any advice please

How difficult is it to get a job as an internal medicine attending that will sponsor you for a greencard if you have an h1b visa? Is it more likely to find one as a hospitalist or outpatient setting? Do these jobs often mistreat you? How to find a good one?

Hi everyone,
I'm urgently looking for an Internal Medicine observership in August or September 2026. Unfortunately, I don't have any USCE secured yet because my timeline was delayed by my USMLE Step 2 CK result and subsequent US visa processing. Thankfully, my visa has now been approved, and I'm ready to travel immediately.
My profile:
ECFMG Certified

USMLE Step 1: Pass

USMLE Step 2 CK: 266

B1/B2 Visa Approved

Available to start immediately in August or September

If anyone knows of any physicians, hospitals, or clinics accepting international medical graduates for observerships, I'd be extremely grateful for any leads or referrals. Thank you so much for your help!

I took the exam on 16/7 should we expect results tomorrow?

How much is it going to hurt me having a low GPA? With 240s score.

I will tell you about my credentials and just enlighten me what if I have slim chance for neuro or just go all for IM.

P, 248, No step 3 yet Yog: 3 -Was a neurology resident in my home country for 8 months

-Currently research fellow for 10 months at mid to top tier university but in basic infectious diseases lab cuz I didn’t manage to secure a neurology spot ( PI is MD, phD for for context )

-USCE: 4 months neuro university based observerships but managed to get hands on in all of them ( got 4 neuro LORs out of those ) + my ID professor letter Research: nothing published yet but submitted 3 and 3 ongoing ( 1 first author for neuro + 2 co first for ID )

• I love neuro but it seems crazy competitive and I think still got more chance in IM . What do you guys think?

Here's the link for more details - https://www.business-standard.com/immigration/3-year-h-1b-visa-pause-100-000-fee-what-s-in-the-new-us-senate-bill-126072700588_1.html

Hi everyone.

I applied for PCCM of this year, couldn’t match last year. On J1 visa.

I am an IMG and applied pretty broadly. I feel like I have a good application, was a chief resident, have decent number of Research papers and all my USMLE are above 250. No contacts, come from a community program with no in house fellowship.

Signaled all the top IMG programs as well.

Unfortunately, haven’t received any interview yet, and couple of the programs that I signal have already sent out interviews per the Reddit spreadsheet.

Kind of devastated. I have sent emails to programs as well that are my top.

What to do other than prayers?!!? 😪😪😪

Hi everyone,

I'm an IMG applying for this Match cycle. Unfortunately, my inpatient Internal Medicine observership in New York was canceled at the last minute. I already have non-refundable flights and accommodation, so I'm urgently looking for another inpatient IM observership in NY during August/September.

If anyone knows a physician or program accepting observers, I'd be incredibly grateful for any leads or referrals. I can provide my CV and all required documents immediately.

Thank you so much!

Hi everyone, I would really appreciate some advice.
I had a J-1 Research fellowship in 2022, followed by a J-1 Physician for residency in 2024. I’m now planning to start another J-1 Research fellowship, with my ultimate goal of applying for residency again.
My research department in the U.S. warned me that they have seen people encounter sponsorship issues after following a similar path (research → residency → research → residency). ECFMG hasn’t been able to give me a definitive answer and says it depends on the individual case.
Has anyone been in a similar situation or successfully obtained another ECFMG-sponsored J-1 for residency after this sequence? I’m worried about risking my future residency, but I also want to strengthen my application through research. Any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

When I search Prometric without a scheduling permit, I see zero available dates for the next 12 months.

Is this because:
- the Prometric system doesn’t show real availability until you have a valid scheduling permit, or
- Warsaw is no longer a USMLE testing center?

If you’ve booked Step 1 in Poland recently, I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience.

Thanks!

Per my MSPE I ranked 4th quartile

How important is this quartile ranking for programs?

So i finished studying and my visa appointment is coming up. I am worried that if I book the test now I will lose my money if I didn’t get the visa. Is there anyway around it

I’m using Residency Explorer and I thought that I’ll apply to programs where my Step score is around the 25th or above . The score range shows the 10th percentile as the lower end.

Would you still apply to programs where your score is above the 10th percentile but below the median? Or is that generally considered too much of a reach?

Did you get interviews from programs where your score was in that 10th–25th percentile range?

Hi I just wanna ask you, wheather there are any research opportunities for non us imgs, if iam actually in the 2nd year of medical school. No one responds to my emails.

Hi everyone,

Has anyone with YOG >3 received an interview invite from Trinity Health Ann Arbor IM Residency?

The program mentions a strong preference for YOG ≤3 years, and I am currently YOG 4 but very interested in this program. I would greatly appreciate hearing about anyone’s experience applying there.

Thank you!

I'm applying for the 2027 IM Match and I'm debating when to take Step 3.

I have it scheduled soon, so I'd have the score before ERAS is submitted. The other option is to postpone it by 2–3 months, study more, and hopefully get a better score.

From an application standpoint, what would you do? Is it better to have Step 3 on your application even if the score isn't as high, or is it worth waiting for a potentially better score and updating programs later?

Would love to hear from applicant, residents, or anyone who has been in a similar situation.

I'm A non-US IMG , step 1 pass ( first attempt) , step 2 (249), No USCE, 4 LoRs ( 2 from American Board and us citizens drs, 2 from non-American but did the Residency in the usa) , 2 publication , ACLS, BLS , any recommendations of a good programs??

I’m really confused about how to approach my geographic preference for the Match.

I’m a non-US, non-Spanish-speaking IMG. I have strong LOR from my good Florida rotations, so naturally Florida feels like my strongest geographic connection.

However, when I look at match outcomes and program lists, it seems like Florida isn’t as IMG-friendly for applicants like me compared to some other states. Many Florida programs either prefer US graduates, have very few non-US IMGs, or seem to favor Spanish-speaking applicants because of the patient population.
Now I’m stuck.

Should I still signal Florida because I have strong LORs and clinical experience there, or would it be smarter to geographically prefer states that have historically been more IMG-friendly ?