Why so hard for a "medico" to find work ??

Some things come to mind. How many of his peers got jobs? What was his GPA?

I don't think GPAs matter as much as having connections. It is also important to have a least a speciality. Better if it's abroad.

i know a doctor who applied for a position in a known clinic. every year there are few new openings. she did well and got the job. just before she was due to start she received a call that her spot was given to someone else. that someone else was a kiddo of one of the doctors already working in the clinic. neither good not bright but connected.

lots of folks go to study a subject thinking it will get them somewhere. but if they are of average intelligence and do not stand out there are no jobs for them. i see this in particular with law students who seem to think they will automatically get to work in a nice office and hack up money. but without connections (ma or pa in the business) or without being cream of the crop their chances are low.

I have put two students through medical school attwo diffeent universities, on ein Santiago and the other in SD. after graduating with excellent results they cannot find permanent work and so I am paying for one to do post graduation studies in Argentina. They both told me that you have to know some very well in a clinic or the government to get a job and they also said that they beieved their dark skin was a handicap..Both speak excellent english .

Kipling333 said:

I have put two students through medical school attwo diffeent universities, on ein Santiago and the other in SD. after graduating with excellent results they cannot find permanent work and so I am paying for one to do post graduation studies in Argentina. They both told me that you have to know some very well in a clinic or the government to get a job and they also said that they beieved their dark skin was a handicap..Both speak excellent english .

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US Public Health Service might be a possibility for them if they can comprehend english well enough and are quite competent intheir job. IF they can qualify for a work visa They can get assigned to underserved areas in the US where Spanish tends to be the most preferred language. There are counties in Texas, NM, Arizona, Louisiana and other non-urban areas that have few to none medical practitioners.

Commander Ooh La La said:

US Public Health Service might be a possibility for them if they can comprehend english well enough and are quite competent intheir job. IF they can qualify for a work visa They can get assigned to underserved areas in the US where Spanish tends to be the most preferred language. There are counties in Texas, NM, Arizona, Louisiana and other non-urban areas that have few to none medical practitioners.

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this is good advice ...and remember that dr.s in the us are terrified/appalled at making 250k...have to work a second bis.p.s. im single send a photo of either one...

Kipling333 said:

I have put two students through medical school attwo diffeent universities, on ein Santiago and the other in SD. after graduating with excellent results they cannot find permanent work and so I am paying for one to do post graduation studies in Argentina. They both told me that you have to know some very well in a clinic or the government to get a job and they also said that they beieved their dark skin was a handicap..Both speak excellent english .

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why dont you start your own clinic...obgyn??? and emerg. care 24 hrs first aid...seems to be a rising star in the us.. the cvs chain going to compete...shots, checkups immed care ins coverage etc...

Nice advice thank you..I will put it to the two and get their response. Both felt they needed to have a specialist training to advance ..but that could be done in the USA ..

mexico is another option. i know a young doctor who did his specialty training there.

Commander Ooh La La said:

US Public Health Service might be a possibility for them if they can comprehend english well enough and are quite competent intheir job. IF they can qualify for a work visa They can get assigned to underserved areas in the US where Spanish tends to be the most preferred language. There are counties in Texas, NM, Arizona, Louisiana and other non-urban areas that have few to none medical practitioners.

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Great advice, but it will be nice to have the facts. As someone that works in healthcare in the U.S, I know a thing or two about this. It is impossible to come into the U.S with a medical degree from anywhere in the world and get a job working as a medical practitioner, not even in the frozen tundra of Alaska!!!
As a foreign trained Doctor, your degree will first have to be accredited by the Council of Medical Education( note: a lot of doctor don't make it past this stage......ask the Indians). Once you scale this hurdle, the next will be the USMLE exams. There 3 steps(1,2,3). These exams are very comprehensive, tough, and highly competitive as both American Grads and foreign grads from all over the world sit for these exams. To be successful, you need to score in the 99th percentile in each exam. Also foreign medical grads will have to sit for and pass the english exam ( TOEFL ) There are 4 areas.....speaking, listening, reading and writing.
Once you have passed all steps of USMLE in the 99th percentile and TOEFL as well, you will then be qualified to start applying for residency and attending residency interviews, if invited. Once the interviews are done, you wait for the Match and pray fervently that you match!! Most times, there a more candidates than there are residency slots available.
Next stage is 3-4 years of residency, depending on specialty. It is only after residency training that a Doctor qualifies to practice medicine in the U.S.A. and you can only practice in states where you have been licensed.
Now to work in Public health, you need to have MPh degree preferably from an American University.

Thanks for that information,, i knew there had to be a catch ,but on the other hand there are many Dominican doctors who have trained or been at universities in the USA so the hurdle can be jumped. I think my two students will prefer to stay in a latin country although they speak good english .

Commander Ooh La La said:

US Public Health Service might be a possibility for them if they can comprehend english well enough and are quite competent intheir job. IF they can qualify for a work visa They can get assigned to underserved areas in the US where Spanish tends to be the most preferred language. There are counties in Texas, NM, Arizona, Louisiana and other non-urban areas that have few to none medical practitioners.

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I see Kanata has already elaborated on this situation in great detail as to just how difficult this would be in going from the DR to the US. It is very difficult.

I know of doctors from the US that wanted to work in the DR who found it very difficult to do, but it is easier to go from the US to the DR than in the other direction. Many of the DR doctors have taken additional training in the US, but not necessarily their entire programs there.

In Canada's big cities, we have lots of foreign trained doctors driving cabs as their medical schooling doesn't even qualify them to sit for the equivalency exams. That and the concept that those who attend med school at home get first crack at the job market.

Your beneficiaries may have luck applying to Medecins sans Frontieres if they are prepared to go where the work is.

I know someone who studied at PUCAMAIMA and did it in New York.Yes, she had to go through a process and take tests, but it?s possible.

As for the TOEFL, I know plenty of locals who have passed it, so I don?t see this as an issue if your English is very good.

If one cannot be a medical doctor in rural areas there is still the possibility of Nursing, EMT, paramedic.

They are recruiting alot of.people from the Phillipines who were MDs to be Nurses.on the East Coast.

And TOEFL??????? LOTS of the Indian guys cant speak English and can only get jobs at Public hospitals.

Yodel Gruelsohn, Organ Meatmaster

TOEFL is technically no longer part of the qualification process in the US, - instead English is evaluated in one of USMLE exams. Still a very gruelling process. To say that it's easier for a DR educated doctor to find a job in the US or Canada than in DR is pure BS. There are lots of available positions in DR, even for fresh graduates - 99% of them will *not* be permanent high paying positions in the best hospitals of SD/Santiago though, but one has to start somewhere. Any doctor calling Salud Publica and asking them to place them 'anywhere' will be given a job in a day - maybe visiting campos or somewhere in Dajabon, or as a hotel doctor in Bavaro. It helps if the graduate has a specialty rather than just a 'medico general' but that's extra years to the education process.

And one still has to hustle, just like anywhere. One guy I know, a recent PUCMM graduate, works 3 jobs part-time - he makes 100K/mo. Another fresh grad from UTESA travels to work in the campo for Mon-Fri and returns for the weekend back to Santiago. Another fresh grad from PUCMM, with what I call a 'princesa complex', was waiting for a promised position in Union Medica (top tier hospital in Santiago) but in the end it was given to a wife of someone in the hospital - so she has to suck it up and accept a position in a smaller clinic, or 'be on call' for surgeries (she is anesthesiologist). I know quite a few med grads and they are all either working or studying more.

I can add another perspective to the question of further study in the US. For many years, I have been considered an "adjunct professor" at an East Coast university that has both medical and dental schools. In conversation with the Dean of Students of one of those schools I mentioned a young doctor, a PUCMM graduate, who I know here in the DR. The Dean told me that PUCMM is THE ONLY UNIVERSITY from the DR whose graduates the University will consider when receiving a residency application from a DR professional.

If Kipling's students are not from PUCMM, the chances of acceptance into a program are even poorer.

I hear driving a cab makes a lot more than doctors in DR.

Bronxboy said:

I hear driving a cab makes a lot more than doctors in DR.

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In New York this could be true but in other cities who knows? Besides where is the elitist panache one gets when they say they are a doctor?

Derfish said:

Twice over the years in Miami I hired doctors to spray paint because they were trying to find medical jobs there and couldn't because their foreign qualifications weren't good enuff

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Yea, I met a Cuban woman who was trained in Cuba and was a doctor in Spain but came to Miami to work in Payless Shoes.