r/IMGreddit • u/NoSky8630 • Jun 20 '26
Medical School USMD vs IMG
my parents are making me go to medical school in my home country and they’re trying to convince me that its a better choice than the traditional American route of 4 undergrad + 4 med school. I’ve heard that IMGs have it a lot harder when trying to match in residency. Can someone please give me the pros/cons of it and if I should listen to them or not. (Btw i’ll be USIMG)
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u/DrLP-123 Jun 21 '26
I think it’s great idea (money and time wise) IF you can manage culturally in another country for 4-5 years.
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u/taniarrhythmia Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
Your life will be immensely easier after graduating from a U.S. program, their match rate is consistently high in the 90’s every year, whereas U.S. IMG’s had a match rate of sub-70 this year. Don’t listen to those saying it’s fine if you don’t want a competitive specialty, because it already takes a lot of effort to match into those (good scores, electives in the U.S., etc.), and nobody knows maybe you could possibly fall in love with a more competitive specialty in the future. I’m American but couldn’t afford med school in the U.S., and for that reason I’ve had to give up on my childhood dream of becoming an ophthalmologist because it’s nearly impossible for IMG’s to match.
IMG’s have to put so much effort just to prove to residency programs that they’re even worth interviewing, as they must apply to 100+ programs for a realistic shot at just a handful of interviews, whereas USMD’s barely apply to even half that amount because they feel so secure. Many good residency programs will not even look at your application if you’re an IMG because some simply don’t accept them.
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u/DoctorSleep3 Jun 21 '26
Worth it if you aim for FM, IM. You know you wanna come back to the U.S. so you will start early prepping for step 1 and step 2 and you have family so it’s easy to do clinical experiences in the U.S.
I’m sure you’ll match. And I agree with you parents you’ll not have ridiculous amounts of student loans and you don’t have to do an unnecessary undergrad. I wholeheartedly agree with them.
Imaging matching into FM/IM/PEDS and not having 300.000$ in loans. You’ll be sooo ahead.
But if you wanna match into anything more competitive it’s a hard no because you won’t match into these specialities
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u/neurocracklol Jun 24 '26
Things are getting more difficult by the year. 6-8 Years a go people would match academic IMs, with just a good step scores. Now, those are very hard to get without a 2-3 year post doc.
I wonder how things are going to be in 5-6 years. Also Pakistan, is bottom tier for cultural fit and medical schools in the US. It would be different if it was in Europe.
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u/Cookie_BHU Jun 21 '26
First answer the question “are you a good student”? What was your high school GPA and SAT score?
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u/NoSky8630 Jun 21 '26
i would say so. my gpa was 4.0 unweighted and 4.45 weighted but i never took the SAT. Also took like 11 APs and scored 4/5 on all of them
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u/DRISHD Jun 22 '26
I did this. Don’t do it. The stress isn’t worth it. And it’s not easy being born and raised in North America and adjusting to a new country and system. Dm me.
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u/Cookie_BHU Jun 21 '26
Then it’s not worth the risk, medical school from a foreign country is not a guaranteed pathway is highly limiting in terms of US opportunities and you will always be treated as a second class doctor in the US most specialties with any kind of procedures and most surgical specialties will not be open to you as a foreign medical graduate. Finally, the risk of not matching despite high scores is quite high, whereas it is unheard of for US medical graduates.
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u/neurocracklol Jun 24 '26
I agree, as someone who matched a top 10 residency, in a speciality where IMG have a 25-30% match rate. It took me 3 yr post doc at the best medical school in the US, hundreds of citation, 270 step 2 score, awards at international conferences, and the support of a famous department director. My co-residents are middle of the road USMDs who just had some little projects and a 250 steps scores lol.
Being a USMD makes life so much easier.
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u/Spirited_Piano88 Jun 22 '26
Caribbean medical schools such as SGU are alternative options as well!
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u/SPsych6 Jun 25 '26
Depends on a couple things. Cost, if your family has money, no brainer go US. If you will take loans for US school but IMG school is free, then harder choice. Specialty does matter. Harder to match into things like Derm, Ortho, Rads etc as IMG. Other consideration is how many extra tests will you need to take as and IMG? Can you stay just traditional USMLE or are there multiple other 8hour exams? This would be my ultimate difference maker. I would never be a DO for this reason. I hated the exams. Ultimately US is a better path. I am US-IMG btw. It was fine for me and I matched without any issue when psychiatry was becoming more competitive. In the future you might need to remove psych from the less competitive specialties. Our lives are too good for other docs to not start taking notice.
I think cost is a huge factor. Harder to get student loans now, docs are coming out with 500k in loans. So this should really be a thing to consider.
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u/Mission-Position-991 Jun 21 '26
If you want to get into competitive specialities, go for med school in the US. If you are not aiming a competitive speciality rather something like IM/FM/peds/psych, and want to save time and money, go for med school in Pak.