Hello my friends, hope you are having an amazing day!! ☀️
I will explain 7 possible ways that an International Medical graduate can get research experience in the United States of America. 🇺🇸
𝟏. 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐎𝐑
This is the way most of my friends got their research positions in Argentina and then in the USA. It’s 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 but it’s also the one that 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩.
•𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤? Talk to doctors in your country, in your University or Hospital. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒉𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉, it’s not just in the USA, and the ones that work in research in your country probably know a doctor in the USA that is involved in research too, or knows a doctor that knows a doctor in the USA.
•𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭? 𝑨𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 the doctors in your community, 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 your interest, 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 them your passion, 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 them 𝐰𝐡𝐲 this is so important for you, and that you want him/her to 𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫. Look up what kind of research they work on and tell them some projects and ideas that you can add to his research. 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽: Once you start working with them, gaining their trust, getting publications, it will help you a lot to start getting that research experience, and 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝘾.𝙑. with publications. After some time they will get you in contact you with 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝑺𝑨 that can hire you, or make you publish with them!
𝟐. 𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐒𝐀 🇺🇸
•𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤?
If you are going to North America for a 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 or 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽, you will meet a LOT of people. 🙂
•𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭?
Talk to the doctors, approach them, tell them the same things that I mentioned before.
It’s your opportunity to meet them in person and show them your interest, don’t miss it!!
Don’t go back to your country empty handed!!𝟑. 𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 •𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤? If you know people, or have a family member that is a doctor/ professor, talk to them, tell them how important this if for you and ask for their help. Don't be afraid to approach your aunt that still treats you as if you were 10 years old, or that doctor that you met five years ago and haven't talked for a while. •𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭? Simple, just approach them, being very charismatic, showing interest, passion, and enthusiasm!! 😀
𝟒. 𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐋 𝐃𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐒 𝐃𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐋𝐘 •𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤? Simple, just find the doctor’s email and email them expressing your interest and how you can be helpful! 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭? Make a template email, and send it to as many 𝗨𝗦 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 as you can (Important to check their background, if they are from your country even better!) 😉 •𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥? Go to the University/ Hospital’s website, look for the doctors/ professors that work in the field that you like. If their email is not published, you can get it very easly too. 99% of the times their email goes like this: 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞.𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞@𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥’𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧. Just look at any email from the hospital (Human resources, or anyone’s email), and you will get their domain. Eg, 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗸𝗶𝗻𝘀’s domain is: @jhmi.edu, 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗱 Medical School domain is: @hms.harvard.edu
I got friends from all over the world that got in contact with American doctors doing this, and got a researcher visa sponsored to come and work with them!
𝟓. 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐘 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 All of the Hospital’s have research position posted in their websites. 💻 •𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤? This will work better if you have a 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘢, 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘥, or 𝘜𝘚 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘯. •𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭? Open google and search typing this “𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞” + “𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬” and you will find tons of them. Just apply and wait!!
𝟔. 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐕𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐑 Just like Drake sings: "Started from the bottom, now we're here" •𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤? Most of the Hospital’s have volunteer department. This is in fact the way I got my research position and USCE! You can read it on detals on one my 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔 on my page. Start a normal volunteer job (probably it won't be research related), but 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 in the campus, 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 there, and 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙪𝙥! If they like you they can ask their Department and Human Resources 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂, they will hire you, and if you really really earn their trust they will let you go to the clinic, 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, and sometimes even 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀!! •𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭? Open google and search typing this: “The Hospital that you like” + “Volunteer opportunities” and you will find tons of them. Just apply and wait!!
𝟕. 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧
This is a great website if you know how to use it, you can find research position, clerkships/ observerships/ extenrships, and meet great people
I'll soon make a post on how to use Linkedin.
Now 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮!
I just want the best for all of you, I want you to succeed!!
𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝗠𝗚 𝗮𝗿𝗲!!Important advice
𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁, 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐲.
Every time you approach someone and want to show your interest, always start with the 𝗪𝗛𝗬? then tell the 𝗛𝗢𝗪? and lastly the 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧?
•𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁?
•𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁?
•𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺?
Good luck everyone, as you can see 𝗜𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗕𝗟𝗘, surely it takes times, 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 and 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.
(Even though it actually happens to some doctors who are really important in the field, and people just want their name in their publication). But for the moment we are not one of them.
We have to 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚, 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 for that to happen, but eventually I’m sure that 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘!!Best to all of you!! ❤
Hope my tips help you, I 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙜𝙚, and 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤, by helping other you are also helping yourself
If you find my post helpful I invite you to share it with your friends/ USMLE groups, so it will benefit more people 🙂
Always remember this:
"𝙄𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙮, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙙𝙤 𝙞𝙩."
Dr. Sebastian Arruarana 𝗙𝗯 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲: Doctor Sebas 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺: @doctor.sebas
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