An IMG's Road to Residency | Ep 02: What I wish I knew before going to Med School (in the PH)

Alternate title: What I wish I knew before becoming an International Medical Graduate
This is the continuation of my college tips video from my other channel (that should really be on this channel instead, but lack of foresight, what can you do). That video will be linked at the end of this one if you're curious (see the end screen).
And, tl;dw this is essentially the script I followed:
1. Where do you want to practice - for me, I wanted to practice in the US, but I also wanted to make sure that in the future, when I’m able to retire and return to the Philippines as an Ex-pat, I want to be able to practice medicine there (even as a general practitioner with a small rural clinic somewhere near the beach or something)
2. How decided I am that medicine (aka being a doctor) is right for me - this is easier said than done of course, because how would you really know unless you’ve experienced it first-hand
3. How high the cost of reneging on the Return Service Agreement will get (considering inflation and change of administration) - is it really worth it? (Honestly… still cheaper than being in hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt in the US)
4. The existence of other known medical schools in the PH that have connections and alumni networks in the US that help students who are just like me, WHILE you’re still in medical school
5. Start your network early. This is what my medical sorority is, other than my home away from home while I’m in medical school, it’s a giant network of doctors practicing in so many countries all over the world that, for the most part, would do whatever they can to help their own. Something I'll definitely do when I get to that position myself somewhere down the line.
6. The way of living in Manila, specifically around UP Manila area - visit it first, actually live there for a couple of weeks to get a feel for how one functions in that area
7. The state of the Philippine General Hospital
8. 5 years is a looooooooong time - especially if you’re in a long distance relationship; but we stood the test of time. That long distance boyfriend I only got to see for a few weeks at a time every 6 months (except for the pandemic of course), yeah, he’s my husband now.
9. What specialty I want to pursue - cutting specialties? Best of luck (to us D:), unless you’re in the top whatever percent, have brilliant scores, and good connections and publications, with a well rounded CV, you might have a chance.
10. How hard I’m willing to work to get to where I want to be in the US - when I asked for advice from a professor and some med students in UCLA before I decided to follow through with my decision, they said it was a bad idea. That it would be so much more work and it would be so difficult to get into residency in the US, blah blah, blah. At that time, I took it as a challenge. To prove them that I can do it = reality check? It’s still really hard, even without the inherent prejudice against foreign med school grads, because of how many hoops you have to go through; so unless you’re willing to go through ALL of that, to end up in some residency that you probably climbed your way out of hell to achieve, then more power to you. In the end though, nobody ACTUALLY cares where you got your degree or your training (not unless you want to stay in academe or be in prestigious whatevers); all the average Joe patients will care about is whether you can help them or not, and at the end of the day, the very core of medicine, from country to country, doesn’t change, you learn and do your best to serve your future patients, to care for them, heal them, be the best doctor you can become for them.
Thanks for watching. Please like, share, subscribe if you're so inclined. See you in the next one!
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Chapters:
00:00 - intro
00:48 - vlog start
01:16 - 1. Where do you want to practice
02:09 - 2. How sure are you that you want to be a doctor?
03:55 - 3. The return service agreement (RSA)
10:35 - 4. Networking after grad in other med schools
12:44 - 5. Networking with the school's alumni early
13:59 - 6. What life is like in Manila
16:51 - 7. What it's like to work in the Philippine General Hospital
19:07 - 8. How long 5 years is
20:37 - 9. What specialty do you want to pursue?
22:57 - 10. How much effort it takes
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