IMG Friendly Pediatric Residency Programs 2018

Matching into a US residency program is a tough thing to do these days. It is especially tough for international medical graduates. Just over 50% of the international medical graduates who apply to the match successfully obtain a position. This creates a huge amount of anxiety and stress through all four years of medical school. You sacrifice so much while in school and having such low chances of getting a position makes it feel even more daunting than it already is. That being said, thousands of international graduates do get a spot every year and there are lots of things that you can do to strengthen your application and help your case. The residency application process is lengthy and costly, so knowing which programs to apply to can be half the battle. You literally pay for every program that you apply to. Many IMGs are applying to several hundred programs which can cost thousands and thousands of dollars. You also have the expense of traveling for interviews, so anywhere you can save money helps a lot. Applying “smart” is very important. There are more than 200 pediatric residency programs in the country. Doing research to ensure you’d even have a shot at a program is the best way to make sure you aren’t spending unnecessary money. 

Before getting into my list of IMG friendly programs, I’ll caution you to be careful with programs in NYC. The state of NY has a “12 week rule” that states that any student who does more than 12 weeks outside of their home country are not eligible for medical licensure or residency in the state. There are exceptions that can be filed but it gets sticky. A simplified explanation and a list of exempt schools can be found here: http://medclerkships.com/new-york-states-12-week-clerkship-rule-explained/

This list is just meant as a guide to get you started. It is important to research the programs you are applying to in order to make sure they will be a good fit and that you meet the requirements. In your program search, you might notice that a lot of the big name hospitals (Cleveland Clinic, Harvard, etc) do have several IMGs on their roster. This might make it tempting to apply, but it's probably smarter to save your money. Most IMGs that match at these programs have connections there. That being said, if you score very competitively on boards (higher than 245 on both), I'd say go ahead and give it a shot! Another variable to consider is your location...programs often consider those who are native to the area that the program is in. If you are from the USA, be sure to apply to any programs that are near your home town!

The interview trail is fun, but exhausting! You travel a lot in a short amount of time. My biggest regret is not having enough time to truly get a feel for each of the locations I visited - it just wasn't possible. I definitely had a few favorite interviews. LSU in New Orleans definitely won for best food. They had a dinner the night before that the residents cooked homemade food for and it was to die for! They also took us out for a great lunch on interview day. Geisinger was the most friendly and hospitable. They made me feel at home right from the start. They provided a really cozy hotel room and thanked us repetitively for making the trip there. University of Buffalo had the most impressive facilities! They just opened a brand new stand alone children's hospital that is absolutely incredible. University of Arizona was definitely the prettiest place I visited...I am a sucker for those mountains!

Programs that were nice enough to grant me an interview:

William Beaumont Hospital - Royal Oak, MI
University of Buffalo - Buffalo, NY
Sinai Hospital of Baltimore - Baltimore, MD
Louisiana State University - Shreveport, LA
Louisiana State University - New Orleans, LA
University of Arizona - Tucson, AZ
Marshfield Clinic - Marshfield, WI
UConn School of Medicine - Hartford, CT
Michigan State University - Flint, MI
Geisinger Health Care - Danville, PA
Maimonides Medical Center - Brooklyn, NY
New York Medical College - Newark, NJ
Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine - Staten Island, NY
SUNY Upstate - Syracuse, NY

Programs that other IMGs were invited to interview at (I know people who had interviews at these places personally):

Lincoln Medical Center - Bronx, NY
Texas Tech - El Paso, TX
St. John Providence - Lansing, MI
Brookdale University Medical Center - Brooklyn, NY
St. Barnabas Health - Brooklyn NY
Flushing Hospital Medical Center - Flushing, NY
Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center - Bronx, NY
St. Peter's Medical Center - New Brunswick, NJ
University of Texas Medical Branch - Galveston, TX
University of Florida - Pensacola, FL
SUNY Downstate - Brooklyn, NY
Case Western Reserve University - Cleveland, OH
NY Presbyterian Hospital - New York, NY
Richmond University - Staten Island, NY
Monmouth Medical Center - Morristown, NJ
Homer Stryker School Of Medicine - Kalamazoo, MI
Icahn School of Medicine - New York, NY
Mount Sinai Hospital of NY - Elmhurst, NY
Nassau University Medical Center - Easy Meadow - NY
Driscoll Children's Hospital - Corpus Christi, TX
Jersey Shore University Medical Center - Jersey Shore, NJ
Woodhull Medical Center - Brooklyn, NY
University of Kentucky - Lexington, KT
East Carolina Vidant School of Medicine - Greenville, NC
University of Florida - Jacksonville, FL
Tulane University School of Medicine - New Orleans, LA
Hackensack University - Hackensack, NJ

As I said before, this list is definitely not exhaustive. It is meant to be a place to start if you don't know where to. Best of luck! I will be posting more match tips soon :)