us nurse to Pi MD

Silverdragon102, BSN · Mar 20, 2008

got a question... if i do my MD in the PI, will i be able to do a residency in the US?

As any foreign MD will tell you it is very hard to do residency in the US and you will have to pass exams that I am aware of.

lawrence01 · Mar 20, 2008

got a question... if i do my MD in the PI, will i be able to do a residency in the US?

If simply being able to do is what you want - yes. You will also have to do your Medical Internship in the US as well.

I also see no problem doing your medicine proper in another country. That is for learning fundamentals anyway and mostly for passing the USMLE to be able to be a General Practitioner and go on for a Residency Program for specialization. How one actually practices medicine solely rests on what is learned during the Residency Program, IMHO.

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Mar 20, 2008

Are you an MD who studied to be an RN and is currently employed as an RN? Just the like the others said, there is nothing that can stop you from starting a residency program in the US as long as you pass the steps towards USMLE. The visa you carry can affect your chances as well. If you have a green card already then all you need is to pass the exams and find a slot in a residency program. Otherwise, a J-1 Visa is usually issued to foreign residents and this is only valid during the training period of being a resident. This visa does not allow you to be employed in your specialty in the US once you are done with residency. Also, being a foreign graduate can affect the chances of you getting into the specialty you want. US graduates are usually first priority for specialties that have a high volume of residency application.

Which brings me to the next point. I am not making an unfair assumption about your situation since I have no idea what your circumstances are. I would just like to add that this is probably the reason why hospitals in the US are suspicious of Filipino MD's who become RN's. If nurses who were once MD's were hired by US facilities to augment the so-called nursing shortage here, then I think it is quite unfair to these facilties that some are just using the nursing route as a steppingstone to segway into practicing as an MD in the US. That's not really helping the nursing shortage isn't it?

lawrence01 · Mar 21, 2008

Are you an MD who studied to be an RN and is currently employed as an RN? Just the like the others said, there is nothing that can stop you from starting a residency program in the US as long as you pass the steps towards USMLE. The visa you carry can affect your chances as well. If you have a green card already then all you need is to pass the exams and find a slot in a residency program. Otherwise, a J-1 Visa is usually issued to foreign residents and this is only valid during the training period of being a resident. This visa does not allow you to be employed in your specialty in the US once you are done with residency. Also, being a foreign graduate can affect the chances of you getting into the specialty you want. US graduates are usually first priority for specialties that have a high volume of residency application.
Which brings me to the next point. I am not making an unfair assumption about your situation since I have no idea what your circumstances are. I would just like to add that this is probably the reason why hospitals in the US are suspicious of Filipino MD's who become RN's. If nurses who were once MD's were hired by US facilities to augment the so-called nursing shortage here, then I think it is quite unfair to these facilties that some are just using the nursing route as a steppingstone to segway into practicing as an MD in the US. That's not really helping the nursing shortage isn't it?

I think he or she is a US Citizen and worked in the LTC as LVN and currently studying to become RN.

If I get it right, s/he plans to do the opposite of what you are saying. She or he plans to enroll in a Medical School in PI and then go back to the US to do the residency program there.

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Mar 21, 2008

I did realize that after I started reading the OP's previous posts. In that case, a US citizen who received an MD degree from a foreign medical school will still be considered a foreign medical graduate. Although the visa situation will not be an issue in this case, applying for a residency in specialties that are highly desirable will be more difficult for someone in this category than someone who is a graduate of a US medical school.

lawrence01 · Mar 21, 2008

If you are really serious about it you can google and look for sites specializing on it, such as ecfmg.org and imgi.net.

Good luck on your endeavors. :wink2:

jonRNMD · Mar 21, 2008

got a question... if i do my MD in the PI, will i be able to do a residency in the US?

Yes.....Yes.....Yes......

jonRNMD · Mar 21, 2008

I would just like to add that this is probably the reason why hospitals in the US are suspicious of Filipino MD's who become RN's.

state your source for this statement please.......

suzanne4, RN · Mar 22, 2008

Many have been, that is for sure. And for several reasons:

But be aware that this is not the case for all but what has happened in the past. And there is much documentation on it as well.

1. Physicians overstepping their boundaries as now being nurses, but essentially writing their own orders for what ever they wish to do for the patient.

2. Not having the skill set that they should have gotten when they were in school in the first place. Not seeing this as much in the past year or two, but when some of the second courser program first started, such as the well documented issues with the West Negros program.

3. And thirdly, they do not want to invest in a nurse and their training to have them leave mid-way thru their contract to continue on with internship/residency when they can get a slot.

It is actually quite expensive to train a new nurse, there are many variables that are incurred. Not just salary, but the costs of getting them to the US and thru immigration as well as the training time that is involved, as well as payment of the time of the educators and preceptors. All told average cost of employing and training a new nurse is actually about $40,000 US.

suzanne4, RN · Mar 22, 2008

As mentioned already above, when you train in another country, whether you are a nurse or not, and you have even US citizenship, you are always going to be considered a foreign grad and be required to meet additional testing and examinations and requirements to be able to get the license in the US.

Licensure and immigration are two very different things when it comes to actually being able to get a license to practice when one is done with their training.