Friday, July 15, 2005

Passing the last USMLE exam -- Step 3

I received good news over this 4th of July weekend and wanted to share it with you. In order to qualify for an H1-B visa, my residency program required me to take the USMLE Step3 before they could offer me a contract. It was scary thinking of doing step 3 before beginning residency. Did you know that while the pass rate for steps 1 & 2 for foreign medical graduates is in the 80s, the pass rate for FMGs for step 3 is only 56%? I wonder why. I have read horror stories on the web of folks who got 98 and 99 in steps 1 and 2 and then failed step 3. So I was nervous.

Anyway, I found out on Saturday that I have passed Step 3 with a significant margin. I want to encourage all of you out there from MUA and Saba that our schools do deliver the goods. I am proof of that. Keep working hard and you will match in the specialty you want and hopefully, where you want too.

Vijay