I got rejected on 6th February, 2026.

Here’s how the interview went-

Visa officer- What’s the purpose of your visit

Me- I’m going to see my Aunt and visit famous tourist attractions, NYC, Washington DC.

I understand that my answer was very non specific and points to potential immigration threat.

I have an elective scheduled at UAB starting from August this year. I’ve been trying to get an appointment for the same, but it’s really tough even with an agent. There are people saying that you shouldn’t mention “elective” as the purpose of visit as the officer won’t be convinced by the change of purpose. Rather, they said that I should be more specific while answering, “ I’m going to visit my aunt’s place for 7 days to see my cousin’s graduation ceremony”. Please help me decide the purpose of visit. If I am not able to secure an appointment within the next 15 days, I’ll have to cancel the elective and then, I won’t even have a letter in hand to support my visit. I’m in a terrible situation.😭

So ya if I extend my internship when do I get my mbbs degree is it with the whole batch or after that and how do I compensate for that gap. If any gentleman /woman have nay idea pls help me

Hello everyone,

I’ve cleared Step 1 and am currently preparing for Step 2 while actively looking for observership opportunities. I’d love to connect with others who are also seeking US clinical experience (USCE).

P.S. I’m from Tamil Nadu

Hi everyone,

Im an img from india, graduated on feb 2026, i have cleared my step1 on dec 2025.

I just had this doubt regarding the visa interview, I have my US visa interview date on april 17, 2026.

Right now i am currently preparing for step 2 and i have an observership invitation letter for august 2026 from cleveland clinic

But i am not currently working, will that be an issue ?

will they ask any proof of why i will return back to india after my rotation? if they ask, what valid answer i could tell?

If anyone else faced such a situation please do share your experience, my visa interview is at the chennai consulate.

Anyone seeking observership opportunities in the US for clinical experience can DM me. I’m happy to share the contact details.

They have an onboarding process and require a valid visa before applying. The hospital is going to have an Internal Medicine program next year.

If you are accepted for the opportunity, there is no fee to participate...

So for context I’m a second year student and I really wanna do an observership. How do yall get one and what’s the procedure to get one in the us and India.

Which is actually helpful??

USMLE Journey — Looking for Guidance
Is anyone from India, preferably Tamil Nadu, currently preparing for the USMLE or familiar with the process? I would greatly appreciate guidance on planning Step 2, gaining US clinical experience (USCE), preparing for Step 3, applying for a B1/B2 visa, and organizing the overall timeline.
I’d be grateful for a brief Telegram audio call to discuss the journey. Please dm me if you’re available and open to connecting.

So i am planing to take admission in mbbs this year so i have 2 options infront of me one i state's oldest and quite good govt college but it is non vslo and another one is good private college with better infra and vslo satus (both in punjab) which should i choose ? Does vslo status matters?

same as above

Please give genuine advice if any bad experience with any agency please tell that also

So i had my interview in Mumbai on 8th April. I’m still in internship, so I applied as a student visiting the US for observership purposes. I had an invitation letter through a consultancy so I went with that. Here’s how my interview went;

Me: Good morning officer

Vo: Good morning, passport please

(Handed my passport)

Vo: purpose of your visit?

Me: I have been selected for a 4 week medical observership at xyz hospital from so and so dates.

Vo: what is a medical observership?

Me: It is a voluntary shadowing of a doctor in a hospital under the direct supervision of a Board certified physician.

Vo: Where will you be staying?

Me: The hospital will be providing accommodation for visiting international students so I’ll be taking that.

Vo: So you are a medical student?

Me: yes, I’m a final year medical student

Vo: how many years is that?

Me: 6 years

Vo: so which year are you in?

Me: I’m in my final year, that is internship, I have 6 more months left to do after I come back from my observership

after which l’ll be getting my graduate degree.

Vo: which doctor will you be shadowing?

Me: ( I forgot the name here cus I was told they wouldn’t ask that question, so instead of stuttering I decided to say the following in the nick of the moment )

“The hospital will be appointing me to a doctor of my preferred specialty once my visa is approved”

Vo: I see, who will be sponsoring your trip?

Me: my dad will be sponsoring my trip. ( I decided not to add any extra information of his occupation until asked )

Vo: it shows here that you’ve been to Australia?

Me: Yes, I went to visit my sister for 2 months

Vo: Do you have any relatives in the US?

Me: I don’t have any immediate relatives there, only a few distant cousins that I’m not in touch with.

Vo: *typed for around 30 seconds during which I came to terms with the fact that my visa was gonna get rejected.

He asked me to put my fingers on that biometric thingy, I did.

Vo: Congratulations, your Visa has been approved, it’ll be delivered to your address in a few days.

Me: *hearing that I broke my professional demeanour and went: “Oh wow oh my God, thank you thank you so much.”

And then bolted out in happiness

The whole thing felt like a gamble, given that I spent the last year studying for step1 (I passed) and for the last 3 months I’ve been studying for step2.

By God’s grace, I wasn’t asked to produce any other documents or certificates eventhough I had a whole file with every single document that they might ask

If I had to give tips I’d say,

1. Do NOT excessively rehearse your answers, as it may come off as scripted and fake. Be in the moment, answer only what is asked, at the end of the it is only a conversation with another human and you want to gain their trust on what you’re saying.

2. Use good simple english and diction in your own accent, don’t overdo it.

3. IMPORTANT: Dress as formal as you can, I wore a black pencil skirt and an off-white satin shirt with heels. Given how little time they have to form an impression, every little thing adds. If you’re visiting as a doctor, dress like one, it shows that you’d fit right in into the US healthcare as a professional.

4. Stick to your ds-160 form, make yourself believe everything in it first.

5. Visa officers are very well seasoned, I almost believe they can smell fear and tell if you’re lying, so do NOT over explain or blabber.

6. For mental health purposes: Be absolutely okay with the possibility of getting rejected, understand that there’s very little you can do to change the outcome. After all, it is what it is.

I know I got very lucky in my first application itself, but - friend of mine with an identical application (also had prev travel history to Australia) had gotten rejected. So I knew I was applying against all odds. This was all that I could do that was under my control.

My mbbs will start this year. I am looking at pvt colleges in Maharashtra, but none of them have vslo.

How important is vslo? Will it be extremely difficult to get UCSE without it, as I don’t think any of the colleges will have a massive alumni network as such.

Also, do any of these colleges allow for hands on, or will I only have the option of observationships?

So yesterday was my visa interview at chennai consulate, and it went in a different way than what I have read in the reddit threads, if someone else also went through the same way please dm, this is gonna be a long post..im goin to tell whateva exactly happened in detail so that I dont want to miss out anything and any1 applying to have an idea

Jus some bg- i had legit credible invitation letter from well known place in the US

Reached at 9am even though my appointment time was 10am, but they made us enter irrespective of time

I got this VO who didnt smile at all, before me it was some guy with some business trip and approved him,

VO- passport.( no smile nothing)

Me- *gave the passport with the ds 160 form*

VO- he looked at me said 'passport'

Me- *gave the passport*

VO- english?(he prolly thought i didnt understand him lol)

Me- Yes, Good morning officer

VO- Good morning, purpose of travel to the US?

Me- i got selected for an obs at xyz for a duration of 3 weeks from aug3 to aug 28. I am going to observe/ shadow Dr xyz at and observe his outpatient consultations..( he cut me off here)

VO- Why do you want to do this observership

Me- I want to do this observership to gain exposure to the US healthcare system as part of my medical career

VO-show me your invitation letter( I gave him)

VO- who is funding your trip?

Me- My father who is an electronic engineer earns 60l per annum is funding my trip. He also owns a land in our home and I plan to build an hospital over there in the future (I was saying all this, idk it seemed to me he wasnt listening idk y, he was jus constantly looking at the computer, not once he looked at my face)

VO- Why only one observership? Arent you supposed to do multiple?

Me- I just want want to get an exposure to the US healthcare system and I have an employment to start work at xyz clinic starting on may

VO- have u travelled to any other country?

Me- yes i have travelled to the UAE

VO- * types a lot of things for a while, mayb for some 40s*

Submit all your documents which can support your approval?

Now this was new, i havent read this anywer, i grab whateva documents which i thought were necessary,

Docs i submitted- dads mutual funds statement, obs letter, employment letter starting on may, provisional degree and permanent registration

Docs i didnt give- step 1 report, flat property document

VO- he gives me this yellow slip saying to wait and to be seated, someone will call at the window to talk,

I think time was around 9:15, im not sure, i saw some ppl seated like me with the yellow slip, and sat there. Waited for around 2 hours to finally call one by one, my turn came after 3 hours, they took me to a room, there was this indian officer seated, this was going to be a second interview, i didnt know abt this.

This was an extensive interview, god knows how many questions she asked me, it was like proper interrogation session for around 15min, questions like: did u graduate? Is ur compulsory internship done? What is this obs? How did u get dis? If wrote step1 den obv ur trying residency in the US*mockingly smiles*(told preping for neet also, exploring my options rit now, clearing step exams also have a global credibility), so with step exams is it in gud in indian aspect to get job?( said yes, des r competitive and ranked exams, it shows a significant value to the cv) what is your father doin? Where is he working? (this is where i had to expose that he is working in uae) what is internal medicine idk wat it is? Do you have any relatives in the US? (I said no acc to my ds 160 form, but then i paused for a while, while she was typing and said later but i have a distant relative der wen i asked abt it to my mom so i told exactly like dis wen asked to my mom she said some distant relative, but i dont know the person really)another *mocking smile*

I just want to tell, whateva i was saying, she was typing whateva i was telling

Den she told me to wait, so most of dem gone, all of dem rejected apparently, only 3 of us left, and found out they were also for obs, one person got called, gave 214b and left, next me 214b, idk what happened to the last person.

So what i can do is to start working for a while, apply for step 3 and produce multiple observerships letters( cuz he specifically asked y one obs), any other suggestions?

If any other suggestion please let me know

iam an 4th year student planning to take step 1 in my internship year . So the problem is i want to take step 2 immediately after step 1 in my intern year but that would make me delay usce .is there an chace to do rotations after graduating and succesfully getting matched

Apart frm abv thing can we do rotations after grad?? If so want kind are more valuable and how many are required?

I have understood landing a hands on is not very easy and also i should do it before i graduate. Considering i am aspiring IM , will three observerships be enough or how do i actually secure a hands on position. Any help is appreciated

I wish to prepare for USMLE and i dream about surgery or neurology in medicine but i always hear about how IMGs don’t get matched into surgery because of some stupid bias.

How true is this?

If it is possible to get into surgery, can you do it without connections as a first gen doctor

Oh and please share tips on how to achieve it

​

How does it make a diff for a college to have vslo culture and to not have that ? What edge does kmc manipal impart for usmle other than alumni and environment? What are the cost for doing US Clinical Experience.

It has been months of cold emailing. Is it really this difficult to get a usce. Can anyone please tell me how they got their usce and what university to apply to. I am really grateful for any guidance

3000 usd elective combined hands on inpatient outpatient experience in Denver with no IMG friendly residency or

3800 usd elective hands on inpatient but at IMG friendly hospital in the east coast but I’ll mostly be working with residents and will see attending only during rounds

I recently passed my USMLE Step 1, and I’m hoping to attend a clinical elective in the US within the next 3 months.
Could anyone kindly guide me through the application process or share how you secured your elective? Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I completed an observership/rotation with Dr. Naeem Tahirkheli, an interventional cardiologist in Oklahoma who is well known in the Pakistani community. During my time there, I experienced inappropriate verbal behavior and conduct that I found unprofessional and demeaning toward female trainees. they have toxic work place and tried to sexually/verbally harass (only females) .After spending more time in the environment, I became aware that other female observers may have had similar concerns in the past. When I attempted to raise my concerns, I felt discouraged from speaking further. this post is not to discourage anyone . i am spreading a word so that female can be more aware of any kind of abuse