Pathways to Radiology as an IMG | Match Advice & ABR Alternate Pathway

[@jaystarkey]

Great video! I am the alternate pathway director at OHSU. Some information/answers to questions: 1) Nuclear medicine is no longer required as of late 2022 2) Steps 1 & 2 are required for ECFMG certification, additionally Step 3 is required for an H1B visa 3) We seem to be in the minority, but support an H1B visa for our fellows (thus require all 3 steps) 4) Many talented non-US IMG radiologists have had flourishing academic careers!

[@YashaGuptaMD]

Thank you!!!

[@NapasTirasawasdichai]

Hello Dr Starkey, I am Napas, an IMG radiologist from Thailand. I am interested to apply at OHSU ABR pathway and I am trying to reach out to the program co-ordinator in the website. Would you mind if I can contact you for some questions regarding to the program at OHSU? Thank you in advance.

[@neveralone111]

Great video Dr Gupta thank you.. Just a note on the alternate pathway.. IMGs need to look for visa options too..most of the programs offer only J1 visa ..IMGs need to ask/ request the program directors/ Institution for H1 visa..after completing 4 yrs of different fellowships to stay back in the US on a J1 visa one would need to work at a J1 waiver job/ undeserved area for 3 years at one go else return back to home country for 2 years and then apply for jobs with H1 visa ..Waiver jobs are usually not academic Institutions/ big centres and usually require a more general radiology practice.. In my opinion getting the alternate pathway isnt the issue its the visa..given a choice I would suggest doing a residency over the alternate pathway as most state licenses also have a criteria of minimum years of accreditation I.e 2/3 of the 4 fellowships need to be accredited,which is very hard to get..the residency is accredited so one doesn't face this issue.. For the alternate pathway the Usmle scores don't matter (pass is sufficient) vs residency, where scores usually matter.. All pros and cons need to be taken into consideration.. As an img one would invariably need to do 1 or 2 years of paid/ self paid research years to get the US letter of recommendations and good research work to add to cv , 4 years of alternate pathway, 3 years of j1 waiver job followed by long term green card related stuff after that.. As far as I know University of Seattle, Upenn , Boston University, University of South Florida, Wake forest, Ohio state University offer the alternate pathway directly.. Another important point is nuclear medicine needs to be one of the fellowships so one must apply to programs which have it.. And also check with the institution/ program directors for each of the 4 fellowship year before joining the program, there have been instances where 2 or 3 year fellowships have been completed and one doesn't get the final year..then you would need to start over again as they need to be done in one institution. If one is interested in a certain subspecialty then would advice to take that fellowship in the end..

[@pankitwadhwa5203]

Hi Dr. Gupta!! Thank you so much for such an informative video. Being an IMG aspiring to become a Radiologist in the USA, your content is always inspiring and fun to watch. Thanks for all the efforts you put into creating these videos.

[@YashaGuptaMD]

Thank you for the support!

[@MukeshGupta-hl6be]

Very simplified and informative video. Thank you for such a wonderful video. Plz upload such videos in futue so that we can learn more .

[@bringmetheh0riz0n1]

Really looking forward to this!!

[@muximaginedemux]

Hiii Dr. Yasha…… thanks for sharing this ……. I was looking for possible ways to do my radiology from US…….. At present I’m Indian medical student………Really appreciate your work for ur videos……..because for even a small video it takes lots of work…….. All the best 👍

[@juliamolisani3321]

Thank you so much for this video! It's helping a lot of people. Indeed, the information in the ABR seemed quite confusing to me. There's been a change in the rules recently and the four years are not necessarily consecutive anymore, right?

[@mohammadarifulislam4292]

Eagerly waiting

[@張睿恩-o4k]

thank you for this information

[@pradeepjayantha5247]

Hi, Dr. Guptha I am a Sri Lankan Medical graduate who is doing MD in Radiology in Sri Lanka. Is there a way to enter Diagnostic Radiology in USA once after completion of the MD (3 years of training ) without obtaining the license ( which requires further two years of training in local and overseas)

[@riniabraham3287]

Thankyou so much for your efforts…really appreciate…

[@YashaGuptaMD]

My pleasure!

[@stematw]

I'm very curious about how much an ABR alternative pathway can earn in USA, specially who already did residency in other places, because there's no way we have economies for like 4 years of training. Does the universities that do that program pay a scholarship? how does that work?

[@melodyrider8263]

Mam more info about ABR pathway needed mam plz do a separate video plz

[@kafge7798]

Thankyou Dr Gupta! I have a question. For the alternative pathway you must have step 3 completed. Do we have to do Step1 and step 2 as well for alternative pathway?

[@uniquesome1]

Thank you so much!

[@doaamagedabdollah8526]

Hi Dr Yasha....I really appreciate your effort...I want to ask you about how I can study for subspeciality ....I finished my master degree in diagnostic radiology from Egypt 5 years ago and now, I'm working in KSA....can you advice me to get my subspeciality anywhere

[@Rosetubeable]

Dr Gupta thank you for this information. I am interested in applying trought the alternative pathway. But I am just applying to the USMLE. Do you know if i need to validate my Radiology certificate for the USMLE or only mi MD certificate? Thank you for your help.

[@ML-zb7gq]

Thank you Dr. Gupta! My biggest worry is that I graduated from medical school in 2010 (12 years ago). After I completed my Diagnostic Radiology residency (2012-2016) I did an Interventional Radiology fellowship (2016-2017) and was working as an attending in Spain. For personal reasons we moved to the US, I'm 36, just took step 1 and I'm starting to prepare for step 2. I initially considered the Alternative Pathway, but I'm worried about how that would limit my working options after. I would prefer to do the residency again and have a fellowship from an ACGME credited program. Could I be a competitive applicant to match? What do you recommend for "transitional" year before entering a radiology residency? Thank you for your wisdom and advice.

[@vafamammadova-damirchiyeva5781]

I had almost the same experience. Also passed Step1 and start my Step2 preparation.

[@shiwaliverma2171]

Hy mam , i done my bachelor's degree from india in radiology technologist. i want to ask is this degree is acceptable in Usa to get a good job .

[@MisterAudiobass]

Hi Yasha! Yash here hahaha, really really respect the effort you put into this video, some absolutely golden information here, I’m a non-US IMG applying to IR in 2023! Look forward to more of your videos, all the best 👌🏽

[@YashaGuptaMD]

Thank you for watching!! Best of luck!!! 😃

[@aminkhan7252]

Hi yasha, really enjoyed the video, I am a non-us img hoping to apply in september 2022, I actually haven't graduated yet, hope that's not a bad thing.

[@YashaGuptaMD]

Less time off usually is a good thing :) good luck!!

[@aminkhan7252]

@@YashaGuptaMD thankss

[@aminkhan7252]

And do you think scores in the 250s and 240s for step 1 and 2 is ok, considering the slight drop off?

[@drphaninaiduruthala]

Hello mam..nice video ..should i get high scores in MLE steps to for alternate pathway or just passing is sufficient?

[@YashaGuptaMD]

High scores are better!

[@prashanthchittireddy4944]

I finished my md anaesthesiology in India this year and finished my step 1 in 2018 nov can I start for step 2 mam?

[@rashmibavdekar-thakur2580]

Can you please share the list of U.S Medical schools/ Universities that offer the Alternate pathway for board certification

[@YashaGuptaMD]

Unfortunately I don’t think a curated list like this exists.

[@drmaulikvooora]

Hi, dr yasha, tried to reach you via twitter, i have some specific queries, How to send them? Btw very informative content.

[@YashaGuptaMD]

I responded :)