Medical Thread

[Toramana]

We had this question as well in my day. There was the joke about "physics for poets" versus hard 100% engineering physics. In general, we as the engineers had to take the calculus intensive brand and escalate up to DiffEQ. The requirements are not strict in that the going to NYU and doing the premed physics or the engineering physics is acceptable.

The committees dont really have that much time to scrutinize whether "physics 103 -i.e physics for poets" is harder or easier than "Physics 253 - Engineering Physics" because the former doesnt say "Physics for poets next to it." Intra School and University the committees may know. SO if you go to Boston U and take the easier one their committee members may be familiar with that trick you pulled.

However, the blunt answer to your question is that all the Engineering requirements nearly satisfy their request 100% of the time except in the case of Bio courses that engineers may take (they should take the one the premeds take).

Thanks Barakzai for information/explanation. It helped indeed.

[pashtun_rise]

This is a great thread.Took hours to read each and everything except for the long threads by barakzai (sorry man!) esp the ones regarding preq of medical school etc.I would like to know about MRCPCH req and the books,fees etc.Although i ve collected books and studied some,still in process of studying yet i do look for further guidance so that i could pass it in one shot if not than in 2nd.But i wanna pass it for sure.M determined.InshAllah....I would also like to know about the application of MRCPCH in various countries...esp in gulf countries or malaysia,china,thaiwan,singapore etc.

Also i would like to know any other exam in regarding paeds in malaysia or in gulf countries.Thanks for the barakzai and admin brothers for such useful thread...and their love for pashtun community.

[BarakzaiAbdali]

This is a great thread.Took hours to read each and everything except for the long threads by barakzai (sorry man!) esp the ones regarding preq of medical school etc.I would like to know about MRCPCH req and the books,fees etc.Although i ve collected books and studied some,still in process of studying yet i do look for further guidance so that i could pass it in one shot if not than in 2nd.But i wanna pass it for sure.M determined.InshAllah....I would also like to know about the application of MRCPCH in various countries...esp in gulf countries or malaysia,china,thaiwan,singapore etc.

Also i would like to know any other exam in regarding paeds in malaysia or in gulf countries.Thanks for the barakzai and admin brothers for such useful thread...and their love for pashtun community.

Will talk to you tomorrow my friend. In the mean time tell us what MRCPCH is?

[pashtun_rise]

Will talk to you tomorrow my friend. In the mean time tell us what MRCPCH is?

Its a consultancy course regarding paeds in UK...but also applicable in various countries.Just like MRCP which is about medicine.Quite simple in process...but at the end a bit difficult regarding PACES for which i think i may go to UK for training.I am in the initial phase...that is preparing for part 1.The training for PACES...may be in dubai (i d like to ask that).The training is in less time...but quite effective.


I am a bit late in this exam after my graduation...due to various reasons like financial,marriage,then the wrose conditions of wars etc.Also it depends alot on choosing a country where my hubby can also go along with me (he is also dr).The problem arises when we both have to go side by side not only in personal lives but also career_wise.So inshAllah m hopeful.I am still collecting information so as to make it easy for me and my family.

[BarakzaiAbdali]

Canadians rejoice; from two new colleagues of mine I have learned that the university of Vermont is very receptive to Canadian applicants. Though Vermont is beautiful rural land - and the emphasis is primary care; a larger number of these graduates go to top notch residencies and specialties irrespective of the schools goals. Graduates go into elite institutions all over the US.

Since they are a US medical school the pathway makes getting US training accreditation a lot easier!

[pashtun_rise]

Yeah i know that...they have an easy access.So does for us too...but i am not interested in west...

[Hakim Khan Urgonai]

Is anyone here a trained psycologist or psychiatrist?

It would be interesting to speak with them.

[BarakzaiAbdali]

Salamoona,

Salutations to all of the Lesser Eid (Da Kochnai Akthar Umbarakay tamamo tha wayma)

Three generally nonpartisan organizations dedicated to enhancing standards and equiping medical schools in Afghanistan:

http://www.afghanmed.org/president/
http://afghanmedical.net/?p=445
http://www.ampaa.org/Achievements.html

Probably the most effective organization for the diaspora to work with; Doctors without Borders.

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org...?ref=main-menu

Work with the above organization can be done at many levels and the link is to the internship, paid opps, and volunteers page. The Doctors Without Borders group is probably the best route for aspiring American Afghan future physicians to begin involvement with the watan before even starting school. This works out well for both the student and the hewad as the student will demonstrate unique initiatives as an applicant, and Afghanistan gets help from its diaspora in a way befitting it.

The Bill Clinton Foundation noted that there is quiet a bit of hospital waste where many usable (still even sterile) equipment gets thrown out. That foundation collects such goods and ships them to countries in need. This same approach can be undertaken by the above or other organizations.

As Afghan American Physicians increase in numbers, they should, during training, note the specifics of medical instrumentation and facilities crucial to practicing their specialty. For instance, GI doctors know that colonoscopes and a functional endoscopy suite are paramount to their day to day practice. These groups can then form sub-societies (e.g. Afghan Gastroenterological Society, Afghan Surgical Society, Afghan College of Cardiology, etc) and provide first hand guidance for hospital and clinical design. This, in turn can provided targeted and efficient collection of supplies and funds. For example, one Indian pulmonologist was kind enough to give me a a spare bronchoscope which probably cost a pretty penny. However, since it was utilized in a concluded research effort and sterilized, he felt happy to turn it over. Such equipments can be bundled and sent back home, being mindful that the compatibility of some sort has to be established with the electrical power voltage delivery (American products run on 120 V versus many nations running on 220 V). Bedside bronchoscopy (internal video assisted examination and sampling of the lungs) can then be done in hospital using the aforementioned device.

Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a specific Pashtun Physicians Society. The Pashtuns on each side join their home country's prominent organizations instead of starting an organization to stand specifically and solely for developing the lar and bar Pashtun areas. For instance, APPNA, the American Pakistani Physicians organization hosts Khybar Medical Graduates as a subsection:
http://www.khyberwatch.com/forums/sh...rking-for-Swat

It would be advantageous for Pashtun Physicians to organize and cross fertilize their efforts. Such a group would contribute to unity across the durand line and would also ensure that wealth and equipment are targeted to Pashtun areas and Pashtun students. A subsection of such a society could address women's health initiatives in a culturally respectful fashion.

Would the physicians in the forum be amenable to starting the Worldwide Pashtun Physicians Association? Initial efforts could start here at PF and then we could beg the help of the computer savvy Admin and Mods to move to an independent site if the efforts prove to be A) Reliabne and B) fruitful in 2 years time.

[Admin Khan]

With 10,000 views, I commend Dr.BA for his efforts, and hope he can continue to educate our future potential Doctors.

[BarakzaiAbdali]

Congratulations to our brethren on the recent December 5th specialties match day. Make an intention to do good with what God has given you and remember that the long term goal should be to organize. No one will help us rebuild our region except our own - and what you acheived is the first step to self sufficiency.

Those of you who attained your goal; mubaraksaa. Those of you who did not; do not be sad - some of you came from abroad from villages in the most destitute of places and have improved the quality of your lives hundreds of folds. You will still have the chance to practice in a generalist field, and learn evidence based medicine. Remember, Ossler was a generalist and what he did for his country was invaluable. At his root, every good specialist must remember his generalist roots so that he does not treat only an expression of the patient's underlying ailment.

The American healthcare system is changing in front of our very eyes. I heard a renowned epidemiologist physician (leader of cardiac outcome studies) speaking the other day about how outcome measures that may be inappropriately conjured by politicians will change the way we practice for the worse. Up until this talk I lived under the illusion that the American economy remains with a few dents but overall very healthy. In reality, this leading light in our field said in the coming years the NIH budget will dip into the single digits. Remember, in our era of training we saw 20 billion dollar budges; the decline into single digit funding is ominous to say the least. What does this mean for academic medicine (i.e. physicians based in major medical centers as clinicians, researchers, and teachers) - it means that we must prepare for a time of "famine" in which the ability to be resourceful will ensure survival and productivity. Alternative sources of funding from the private sector will start to make a difference but may come with more strings attached. On the one hand, some of that prior $20 billion may have led to excess and waste but at the same time, the fact that the most industrious and powerful nation in the world has decided to sustain a war economy indefinitely puts on hold potential medical advances that the NIH has fostered in the past.

As generalists - you will be very versatile and able to switch easily into a purely clinical arena and still not be limited to the mainland of the US.

Remember, there are good years and bad years for the fellowship match - identify your weaknesses, be honest about your chances, and then consider reapplication. On the other hand if your home's economics indicates that you need to start working as a physician - the field remains replete with jobs for Internists including the new burgeoning field of hospitalist medicine.

[BarakzaiAbdali]

Restarting this. Here is an recent news article for interested sisters:
Women make better doctors than men, researchers claim - Telegraph

If you are motivated to enter medicine and get pushback from males regarding who would be a better physician and who ought to serve the role, male or a female - you can reference the aforementioned.

Thats a bit simplistic since the article discusses age related practice changes, and that both sexes have similar practice profiles at a younger age, but it raises interesting points regarding the natural nurturing role of women and their meticulous nature serving a very useful purpose.

This being said, the current physician-scientist profile remains heavily male oriented with Braunwald et al still leading the pack.

Another interesting article to ponder over regarding the choices American women make and their general trajectory away from STEM majors:
STEM careers not drawing women, despite their aptitude

More to come as we resurrect this thread. The coming topics will focus more on what to do when you enter the system to advance in the ranks.

[BarakzaiAbdali]

Here is Medscapes most recent release on physician compensation:

http://www.medscape.com/features/sli...on/2013/public

For those interested in particular specialties who want to intersect their interests with the economics of reality and land somewhere in the middle, go to slide 2.

With the Affordable Health Care Act taking place, it will be interesting to see how this data shifts in the coming years.

Here is an Al Jazeera article by a physician from the extreme end of the spectrum seeking to nationalize our system:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opi...653308300.html

I think what can be taken away from her article is that the economic forces will not yet dismantle the gain for the various players in the system:

"As economist Dean Baker writes, we will continue to pay high prices for medications, medical devices and physicians."

So for those that have portended doom for others seeking to practice within the US system, the Affordable Care Act may not be the nail in the coffin, but rather a sustenance.

[Da Bannu Mazdigar]

I had heard that you can skip USMLE step 1 and can directly appear in step II

How much true is this?

Considering this isnt it better to appear in step II if the above is true First and than Step I as the Step II subjects are the most recently studied.While the step 1 include Anatomy,Physiology,Biochemistry,pharma and patho.All of them in Pakistan are studied within the first 3 years of MBBS (except for special pathology)

I would really consider USMLE once i complete my MBBS.

[BarakzaiAbdali]

I had heard that you can skip USMLE step 1 and can directly appear in step II

How much true is this?

Considering this isnt it better to appear in step II if the above is true First and than Step I as the Step II subjects are the most recently studied.While the step 1 include Anatomy,Physiology,Biochemistry,pharma and patho.All of them in Pakistan are studied within the first 3 years of MBBS (except for special pathology)

I would really consider USMLE once i complete my MBBS.

Not true as far as I know. The rare exceptions to going through the whole process that I have seen were prominent brain surgeons or other specialists trained in other countries that the major centers (e.g. Mayo Clinic) were trying to expedite into the system.

Generally, every one from foreign grades to American grads have to go through USMLE Step 1 for now.

What you may be hearing about is the whisperings of a revision that the board plans on doing regarding combining Step 1 and Step 2 into one test.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2801977/

To date as far as I know Step 1 stands as the main segregating hurdle for us all. It is "The Decider" or the joke about it is that it determines whether you will be doing skin exams and reading radiology versus relegated to a life in the boonies of family practice.

I do not know, but generally the boards are timing triggered and to progress you have to have taken one exam to take the next one in line. The one that you can juxtapose is the Step 2 CK which you can take before or after Step 2 CS.

Most of the 50 states require the 3 steps in total to award a basis license.

Subsequently, most foreign graduates go through an internal medicine pathway to get to their subspecialty. If they do this, they have to take ABIM exam which boards them in Internal Medicine. They have to pass this to take the sub specialty boards.

[BarakzaiAbdali]

I stand corrected. I did some research and now you can take the steps in any sequence:
United States Medical Licensing Examination | USMLE Bulletin | Eligibility

Subspecialty boards are still sequenced though.