Who doesn’t want to have a doctor in the family? Here in the Philippines where we put much premium on academic degrees, it is something that brings great pride to the family. To have a family member establish a successful medical practice in the US is a great honor indeed. It also promises better opportunities and (hopefully) a brighter future for the next generation.
But things like these don’t come easy. From what I gathered, one really needs to invest a lot of time, effort, and finances to reach this goal. It started with an almost silly and vague question from me. But my online buddy, Dr. Joel de Guzman (rehabdoc), generously shared his experience about what steps to take to make it as a US-based doctor. The discussion happened at my second Multiply site, but I was granted permission to repost it here. I feel it is an interesting and informative topic.
Read on. I hope this repost will serve as a challenge to those who dare to dream. 
mtsally said
“Boring? Gosh, I don’t think one can get bored with so many things to do before one can practice as MS in the States. Assuming that everything goes as scheduled and without delay, how much time does this whole process take before an MD can set up a private practice there?”
rehabdoc said:
Hmmmm.. tough to answer that question since there are a lot of pathways to get there. I have to have a starting point and an end point.”
Start; HS graduate March 2007 dreaming to become a doctor in the US
BS Biology (most common) – 4 years
Med school – 3 years didactic plus 1 yr clerkship
Internship – 1 year. At this point, he/she just finished his internship and it is already April 2016. he will take his Philippine boards in August 2016, and the results will come out somewhere around November 2016. So roughly 9 years 9 months give and take 2 months. Let just round it off to 10 years.
Next question is, does he/she have a visa? Tourist visa, good chance. Greencard – better chance. Citizen – Best chance. No visa,…depends on the embassy..I dunno..but miracles happen.
Why is visa became so important? If you cannot go to the US for a residency interview, you dont stand a chance.
Lets just say, for some reason he has a greencard/US citizen. So he does not need to do the internship in the Philippines. So He/she went to the US right after graduating from med school. He has to take the 5th pathway(1 more year of medschool and 1 year of sub internship) and that is around 2 years. After that he/she is considered a US graduate. School starts here on September so he/she will be finished by August 2017. By this time, he/she had finished doing USMLE steps 1 & 2 and is eligible for residency interview which starts from Mid November to late February. Let us say he wanted to be a family practitioner, then that is 3 years of residency. He/she will starts on July 1 2018 and finish on June 30, 2021. There is a 3 to 6 months lag time before you can get your state license. So he/she will probably get his license on December 2018. You said private practice? Well, he/she need to get his/her own malpractice insurance, DEA number, CDS number, medicare, medicaid,npi, get affiliated with a hospital, put up a clinic/rent a space..etc..another 2-4 months. So it is already April 2019.
So the final answer is……Roughly 12 years since finishing HS.
Others:
US citizen/greencard holder who stayed for 1 year of internship in PI. 11 years but…lesser chance of getting a residency than the person above…unless he/she has a very high grade in USMLE steps 1 &2, and had a good interview.
No visa…even if you get an invitation from university hospital/ training hospitals here in the US, if the US embassy there in the Philippines would not grant you even a single entry tourist visa, your luck will run out. Once they(embassy) found out you are an MD and will try to get a visa, chances are…pray, miracles happen.
HS graduate who took up nursing/PT/OT/MT as a pre-med course then went to med school. better chances of getting work here,& get a greencard. But need to finish a 2 -3 year contract. Roughly 16 years.
And the Finale and probably the most common scenario..an MD who took a 2 yr nursing course. Got a greencard, got a job as a nurse but needs to finish his/her 3 year contract. 18 years since HS or 9 years minimum from graduating from med school in the Philippines..
Some might not agree with the number of years give or take a year or two. But obviously, a nursing job is the way to go.
Advantages of taking up nursing:
1. Become a legal resident. As a legal resident, you dont need to think about overstaying. Preparing for the test, taking the test, matching, interviews takes time…how long..could be as short as 2 years and as long as…forever.
2. Its a work that pays, and pays well. Exams, review materials, review class, plane fare, hotel fare for interview cost alot of money.
3. US medical experience. One of the question which they ask during interview period is, do you have any US medical experience? Working as a nurse is next to being a doctor as having a US Medical experience.
4. Letter of Recommendation. Interviewers prefer LOR from US doctors. When you work as a nurse, you can easily get an LOR from an attending.
5. If you get to work in a university hospital, it is a big help to know somebody who could get you at least an interview.
It’s a relief I took engineering, ha! (honestly, when I applied for US VISA here in Korea, I was only asked one question, what? you’re a research engineer? how did you do that?…ok my mistake, that wasn’t just one question, but a collective one. But just the same, it didn’t take me a minute to secure a 10-year multiple VISA).. but that’s probably a different case. Afterall, I have no plan of working in the U.S. (in denial… hahahaha, I have dreamed about it eversince my younger years) … well, apparently, I’m detouring my vision towards U.K. (goodluck to me!)
Take a headcount. I think there are a lot more migrant doctors in the US than there are research engineers. I wish you the best in your quest to conquer the English shores. God bless and Godspeed!