Can anyone help me with this topic? This is a significant issue for my girlfriend. Is there a website that she can access from Ukraine?
If you want your lady to be a doctor in the US, not just a nurse, then:
1) She`ll have to bring over to US her Final Medical Diploma translated into English, Final Medical School Transcript...
2) Then, she`ll have to send it all to ECFMG - Educational Comission for Foreign Medical Graduates, - for certification or, let`s say, evaluation.
BEFORE sending her documents to this institution, she should check on a website if the school she finished is in the list of 1400 schools (except USA and Canada). It is called 'World Directory of Medical Schools'. If it is there, then yes, she can start the certification process with ECFMG. The reason for that is to evaluate her academic and practical readiness to obtain a post-diploma education which is called 'Residency'.
3) ECFMG then will send an inquiry to the University where the lady received her Diploma for credentials verification. It takes about 2 months.
4) Meanwhile, she should start to get ready for the exam which consists of few steps. The subjects for the first step (Basic Sciences Exam) are such: anatomy, physiology, patalogy, microbiology, pharmacology, biochemistry and behavioral science.
It contains 350 questions which MUST be taken within 8 hours. There are 7 blocks, 50 q-s each which have to be taken in one hour period. Thus the test- taker has aproximately 1 minute per 1 question. If time expires first, all unanswered questions will be considered as WRONG answers. Therefore timing is very important.
5) If she fails, which gonna be more than likely, she can try to pass it again, but no more than 3 times per year.. This info varies in different states. Some allow it only once a year.
6) During second step (Clinical Sciences Exam) she`ll have to pass following disciplines: therapy, surgery, gynecology/obstetrics, pediatrics, psychiatry, epidemiology and statistics.
It obtains 400 questions which MUST be taken within 9 hours. There are 8 blocks, 50 q-s each which have to be taken in one hour period. Again, it is about 1 minute per 1 question to take. If time expires first, all unanswered q-s will be considere as WRONG answers. Time management again.
In order to pass the test- taker has to answer 55-65% questions correctly. There are passing scores for each test. Since it is a subject for change, please check it at the
www.usmle.org . It is very important to achieve the highest scores possible, as well as to pass it on the first attempt. The scores and number of attempts will be considered while applying to residency programs.
The fees for both exams is a subject for change also. You may want to find out about it at the official web site
www.usmle.org 7) After passing the second step, she`ll get a certificate and will apply for residency. Residency may take from 2 to 6 years, depending on the doctor`s specialization.
During residency she`ll have to complete the third step and then will get a US doctor`s license.
LINKS:
1)
www.russiandoctors.org/forum/index.php (ENG)
2)
www.russiandoctors.org/other/career.shtml (RUS/ENG)
