Background.
I’m studying medicine in Ireland, currently in the 4th year of a 6 year course.
I have no real intention of ever working in the US or Canada.
We’re recommended to sit the USMLE part 1 exam at the end of this year, if we wish.
Sitting the exam would require a lot of study and some financial outlay.
Is it really worth it?
I know it would be another feather in my cap, but since I don’t really want to go to North America, it could be a waste of time and money.
What do you think? Sit the exam “just in case” or wait and see if I ever actually need it.
I’m poor and lazy and my gut tells me that I shouldn’t do it. But I’ll probably feel guilty and regret it when other people have their USMLE I certificates.
A little help please.
Out of curiosity, what would be the point of taking step I if you don’t intend to get fully licensed in the US? Relatively speaking, that’s the cheap, easy part (the other two steps are ridiculously expensive and quite a lot harder, trust me), so it’s not like it would put you that much closer to being licensed should you decide to emigrate. Do people actually go to the extra time and expense just to be able to say, “You know, I’m also a third of the way licensed to practice in the States”? The mind boggles.
Personally, I don’t really see the benefit. I doubt very seriously there’s such a glut of doctors that you’ll have to leave the country to find a job, and while it’s possible you’ll fall in love with a Yank and want to move, it’s not all that likely. And in either of those cases, you’ll just have to take the cheapest, easiest of the licensing exams on top of the other two. The only way I see it being of any real use to you in the forseeable future is if you think you might want to do a residency or fellowship here.
That’s kind of what I thought.
But there are several US students who seem to be of the opinion that no sane person would choose NOT to do the exam.
I’m more of the opinion that no sane person would choose to practice medicine in the US…
Well, if they’re from the US and intend to return to the US, then yes, they’d be incredibly stupid not to take the test. Of course, you have to keep in mind that these are often students who couldn’t get into US medical schools for one reason or another. Since they’re effectively going with Plan B, they’re more likely than the independent observer to think that any sane person would want to train and work in the US.
If you ever change your mind, and want to spend a year or three in the US, you’ll find the USMLE incredibly difficult to sit for after you’ve been out of school more than a year.
The system here is different, we have MAJOR exams 3 or 4 years after qualifying, which you spend the years after internship studying for (I know people who have memorised textbooks for this). If I can pass the reg exams, I reckon I could do the USMLE if the need arose.