i’m a MS3 at St. George’s University, wondering if anyone knows which residency programs are fmg friendly and which aren’t?  i’m planning my 4th yr electives and i don’t want to waste my time doing a rotation somewhere that doesn’t even consider fmg applicants.  step 1 - 261, high class rank, in the process of starting research with a neurosurgeon.  thanks.

Hope this message didn’t come too late. So a few things. You certainly don’t want to be wasting your time but it’s hard knowing where they will be FMG friendly. And even if they are, the fact that a program has recently taken an FMG may just lower your chances at getting a residency there, they may not want another FMG for a while just because of what it looks like on paper.
Besides that speculation I think the best thing to do is to e-mail program directors letting them know personally that you are interested in their program. I had to e-mail many and did not get too many replies, but in the end it worked. I would go to the best program you can go to, so you can get acquainted with the residents, get letters from well recognized neurosurgeons, and maybe get your foot in the door on some abstracts or write ups. It’s pretty nice when your hard work pays off and you have some good people to back you up and mentor you along the way....

I always took the time to research the places I wanted to go to and had to first convince MYSELF that I belonged there. Once I did that, I looked around at potential places that could get me placed there once I finished. I wanted to be in a place with older people, meaning a lot of medical alarms. There are, of course, plenty of opportunities out there. Good Luck!

redseward - 12 December 2010 05:09 PM

i’m a MS3 at St. George’s University, wondering if anyone knows which residency programs are fmg friendly and which aren’t?  i’m planning my 4th yr electives and i don’t want to waste my time doing a rotation somewhere that doesn’t even consider fmg applicants.  step 1 - 261, high class rank, in the process of starting research with a neurosurgeon.  thanks.

SUNY Upstate
Henry Ford

AUAgrad - 10 February 2011 08:55 PM

You certainly don’t want to be wasting your time but it’s hard knowing where they will be FMG friendly. And even if they are, the fact that a program has recently taken an FMG may just lower your chances at getting a residency there, they may not want another FMG for a while just because of what it looks like on paper.

Sound advice.  Not sure there is such a thing as FMG friendly.  Find a program that you suits you and do everything you can to match there including rotating there and possibly doing research with faculty at that institution.