Dr. Pagalavan's USMLE post

Recently on Pagalavan.com, there was a post on how medical schools in Malaysia are planning to host USMLE courses. Most certainly there would be a nominal fee for students to undertake these courses. However, I highly doubt that these courses would be successful, because not everyone can be teaching USMLE. You will need expert faculty members from the U.S., who have served in the board which determines what kind of questions are on the USMLE examinations, and how to tackle them.

As such, my personal opinion is that it is better and cheaper for you to get the Kaplan video lectures than attending these USMLE courses. Melaka-Manipal recently tried conducting one for almost RM 15,000.

If you would like to find out more about how to prepare for the USMLE exams, please do refer to the topics I have written in the past.

To all of you who are currently studying for the exam, keep on working hard, and don't give up. The journey may seem long and hard, but if you persevere, it will all be worth it in the end.

- Jamie-

Results of the 2013 NRMP Match (What are my chances)

- by Jamie

I have been requested by Lau (one of our commentators) to provide information on the 2013 Match results which just concluded recently.

The match process is where all the applicants for the residency position in 2013 will know if they get a spot or not, and also where will they be heading. In the U.S., all residents begin the same in July. There is only one "intake" per year. This is to ensure a structured education environment, where everyone starts work at the same month, and their progress is monitored over the next 3 years. This is unlike the system we have in Malaysia, where house officers start all year round, and is not really monitored as they go through their training.

The NRMP (National Residency Matching Program) released the results of the 2013 match. I will just touch on a few specialties which are popular among Malaysians.

Internal Medicine
There are a total of 6,227 internal medicine positions available. 50% were filled by US-graduates, and the other 50% were filled by foreign graduates.

General Surgery
There are 1,185 general surgery training positions available. 80% were filled by US-graduates, and 20% were filled by foreign graduates. Other than that, there were also 1,278 preliminary (1 year) surgery programs available. 35% were filled by US-graduates, and 65% were filled by foreign graduates.

Pediatrics
There are 2,616 pediatric training positions available. 70% were filled by US-graduates, and 30% were filled by foreign graduates.

These numbers may seem confusing, but in simple numbers, how many foreign grads got a training position in total? About 7,000 foreign grads from all over the world.

This year (2013), foreign graduates were more successful than previous years. The match rate increased by 7%.

Many various sources will discourage your pursuit by making statements out of the air. I am only here to show you the truth based on solid facts. You can refer to the match statistics yourself. I have included the data below.

Data : http://www.nrmp.org/data/advancedatatables2013.pdf, http://www.nrmp.org/pressrelease2013.pdf

FAQ#1: regarding the technicalities of USMLE exam

- by Jamie

Some questions which I received from Dr.N :

1) Yesterday i've already go to the ecfmg website  and signed up for an account in order to obtain an id, which i was informed maybe takes around 5 days. But what i want to know is, is expiry date applied for the id or password? because i still have to wait for a few month to go from now to register for the exam, as i only will be able to pay for the test after i start to work  by end of this april or may. If an expiry date applied, how long does it lasts?
As far as I know, obtaining the USMLE ID need not be followed immediately by registration for exam. So don't have to worry about this.

2) Just like you explained earlier, usmle consist of three steps, and what if someone fail one of the step, for example if someone has already passed excellently in step one, but he/ she did'nt do well in step 2, so should he/she just repeat the step 2 only or repeat the whole stuff?
The thing with the USMLE is that you shouldn't take the exam if you don't feel prepared. This is what the American board has decided. The most foolish thing to do is taking the exam when you are not prepared. Hence, if you pass it, the score sticks with you for the rest of your life, whether it is good or bad. You only get to resit the USMLE if you fail the exam. However if you fail, there will already be a mark in your USMLE transcript.

3) ..and how long is the time gap between one step and another?
You need to take the Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 2 CS within 7 years of each other.

4) I also want to know if there is any coach center for the usmle candidates in malaysia or it just totally a self-prepared  examination?
Melaka-Manipal recently tried hosting USMLE course preparation. They charge about RM 14,000 for the Step 1. You can also try signing up for the original Kaplan course online - which will cost you about RM 6,000 per step.

5) Where can i get the u world question or bank question? is it available in any book stores?
USMLE World is an online question bank. It consist of 2000+ questions, with amazing explanations. What makes it so special is that they format the style of the questions exactly like the real exam. The font, the colour of the background, the highlighting and crossing mechanisms, the calculator function and everything else, follows the ACTUAL format in the real exam. In fact when you take the real exam on your test day, it would feel like just another day of doing questions in USMLE World.

6) My next question is that i was told, for the test registration, there are two ways, online registration and offline registration. the offline registration i must get my medical school to make it for me. Can you give me a detail about this?
What I know about this is that recently, the ECFMG has made it such a way that medical schools can register for it online. However, this requires your medical school to be part of the EMSWP - some fancy web portal for medical schools. The traditional way of registering for the exam is via the "offline" method, where you print and fill up the documents, send it to your medical school, and have them mail it to the U.S. If you want to know more about registering for the exam, you need to read this from certain USMLE forums, or just go through the extensive data in the USMLE website.

Cost of the USMLE examinations

How much does the USMLE Step 1 cost?
$790 (exam fees) + $170 (international test delivery surcharge)
You should check the latest exam fees on the official USMLE website

How much does the USMLE Step 2 CK cost?
$790 (exam fees) + $190 (international test delivery surcharge)

Where can I sit for the USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK?
In Kuala Lumpur, or even surrounding countries (Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand). Basically any prometric center. You can search this information by googling "USMLE Prometric Center"

How much does the USMLE Step 2 CS cost?
$1, 375

Where can I sit for the USMLE Step 2 CS?
In the U.S.

How much does a return ticket to the U.S. cost?
A trip to New York and back to Malaysia is about RM 3,000+ in total - in a 3-star airline (eg: China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines). 5-star airlines will cost you up to RM 6,000 for a return ticket.

First postage of USMLE Kaplan sets

- by Rachel

It was really crowded in the post office today, and I survived! Managed to post two sets of materials, the first was a Kaplan Step 1 and 2 CK set, and the second was a Kaplan Step 1 set. Almost died carrying a total of 20+ kg boxes to the counter. The Makcik almost broke her back when she lifted the boxes from the weighing machine to the storage site.

I hope the two owners of the new Kaplan set will use the DVDs and lecture notes well - and do well in the USMLE exams!

Two boxes of materials for the two owners who ordered them!

(if you would like to get a set for yourself, look at the "Get USMLE Materials" page)