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Hi all,
Need some serious advice. I graduated in 99. Planning to give step 1 for the first time by october this year. It is my understanding that you need 1) Good scores 2) US clinical experience 3) Should be a fairly recent graduate and 4) Preferrably have a greencard (as a lot of programs are hesitant to sponsor visas) to get a residency. At this point I have none. But I know that if I focus and work hard that maybe I can get good scores. But I still won't have the other three if I start applying next year. Please let me know if I stand any chance at all in trying to find a residency given my background? I have a master's degree and my big dliemma is if I should just start looking for a job with that or still go ahead and invest time, energy and money in doing step 1/2 ? Yes, I am interested in getting back to the clinical side, but it seems really hard at this point.I am sure that there is some of you that will have some good advice for me at this point. Your help is appreciated.

Thanks
99

dear 99

IF U WANT TO SWIM U HAVE TO JUMP IN WATER FIRST.
i am in the same boat as u.99 grad/masters in surgery/no usce/no visa and i intend to take step 1 and 2 in june.aiming to get surgery anyhow! having said that let me mention that ive an excellent accademic record and i left super specialization in plastic surgery just to achieve my goal.
my advice to u is..judge yourself! nobody except u can tell ur chances of getting residency! if u really reallywant it,u will get it!!
not all programmes go for recent grads!!
usce is desirable but not a must....u can go for observership/externship/research!!
get good resources,study hard and there will be no reason u will not get good score.aim for 99
and lastly visa problem.......deal it when it comes.this is not the time to think about visa
hope this helps!! GL

99,
You're still young and can fight to obtain what you really want to do in your life.
I agree with the surgeon's opinion:" jump in water first if you want to swim, to enjoy the water !". Do you love to swim ? Are you a good swimmer ? No kidding !
As for me, I love to swim a great deal, but unfortunately, I've never had such a chance to swim all year round and quite often.That's it. I could swim a whole hour in water, without any breaks, believe me. I don't know why I've started speaking nonsense, I'm not making fun of you or anybody else, don't worry.
Yes, it's worth fighting for a residency training in the U.S. You don't need a green card or USCE in order to get into a residency program. All you need is to pass your exams with a good score. The higher score the better for you to be chosen by residency trainning programs.
Good luck on making the wise choice.
matoka

Thanks GL and matoka,
Ur words are inspiring!! While I know that a residency is worth all the hard work...i just seem to keep asking too many "what if " questions. Anyway, this time around I think I am going to take the plunge and hopefully one day I can come back and motivate others who are in my situation. Its really good to know that I am not alone and would definitely appreciate input from others in my situation
99 grad/ no usce/ need h1 for residency / planning for next yr's match.

99