FAQ #5 - about ERAS, Certification, Electies, and Housemanship

I'm now a second year medical student. I'm going to take USMLE Step 1 soon and although it's a little early for me to ask, do we have to complete Step 2 CK & CS in order to participate in ERAS?
There is no absolute rule that you need to have Step 2 CK and CS for ERAS. However, MOST of the international graduates will be ECFMG certified when they apply for the match. Hence, in order to be competitive, you need to get the ECFMG certification. To get ECFMG certification, you need the Step 1, Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS.

How do I plan which hospital to go for my electives?
You need to do extensive research online, and make a list of all the hospitals which provide elective opportunities for international students. List down the pros/cons, including pricing, requirements, location and so on. It should take you a few days to do this, but it will be worth it. I would recommend that you google “Freida”, where you can find a list of all the residency programs in the U.S.

Also, if you do residency without completing internship in Malaysia, will you still be allowed to work in Malaysia? From what I've heard, if we don't complete internship in Malaysia, we will have to start from being a houseman even after we've specialise elsewhere. Is that true?
Not true. When you return to Malaysia, you can choose to apply to universities or to the government. Most foreign trained specialist will apply to work directly into universities, be it local university, or private. Hence, most work in UM medical center, UKM medical center and so on. These are under the Ministry of Higher Education, not the Ministry of Health. There are also those who work directly with government universities without medical centers like UNIMAS, and even local private universities . If you want to “berkhidmat kepada Negara”, you can apply to work with the government. However, the downside is : there is a chance you will be posted to some rural area where there is not enough support staff and equipment for you to fully utilize and contribute your overseas training. There is also a chance that you need to do “housemanship” training in Malaysia. I know of one story a few years ago where an Anesthesiologist trained in the U.K. who returned to serve Malaysia’s Ministry of Health, only to be asked to complete housemanship. He immediately packed his bags and left to work in Singapore. However, there are also many who were not required to do housemanship again. I think it all depends on your luck, and who you know. My suggestion is that if when you return and the government wants you to do housemanship again, just reject their offer and work in UM Medical Center or UKM Medical Center. If you spend more than 10 years overseas, you can also immediately work in private hospitals.