Need some help please

[nailay]

Hello everyone.
I have graduated from a Caribbean school in Feb 2012. My STEP 1 score is in 70s and STEP 2 is in 80s. I am planning to apply in FM and psych. Currently, I am working with a family medicine doctor in his private practice in order to obtain a LOR since I did not get one during my clinical rotation with FM. I have been interviewing and performing PE on pts in addition to helping my doctor with minor procedures.
I wanted to know if I could use this experience as an internship/externship or observership? I really do not want to write it as an observership because then my LOR is going to be weak since my doctor cannot comment on my clinical skills. Also can we do an internship in a private practice?
One more question please, Do I need to mention my clinical rotations on my ERAS application to show the programs that I am an IMG with USCE?
Thanks in advance guys.

[devildoc8404]

That doesn't sound like an observership, technically, because according to your description you are hands-on with patients. Observerships are hands-off.

Not sure what you mean by "an internship in a private practice", but internship/residency is almost always matched into through ERAS. You can complete a Family Medicine internship/residency, but it needs to be under the auspices of a residency program and not under a private practice. There are some residency programs that do not go through ERAS, but they are still residency programs and not freestanding private practices.

Definitely mention your USCE specifically. There was someone here on VMD last year who did not mention their USCE, thinking that it would be obvious to the PDs, and they ended up with no interviews at all. As I recall, they had decent USMLE scores and were otherwise competitive, too. Make no assumptions. Mention everything. Be clear. Get good letters. Apply very broadly. This process isn't getting any easier.

[nailay]

Thank you for your reply devildoc8404.
I meant to ask if people can do an externship in a private clinic (instead of hopsital settings) while waiting for residency and show that they were active. Since I am currently going to a private clinic and was wondering if I could put this experience as an externship on ERAS?

[devildoc8404]

Aha! Yes, big difference between externship/internship.

Of course it counts as experience, and a letter from the doc will be a US letter... but it is my understanding that this is generally not as well-respected as USCE at a residency program with a letter from an actual PD. Still, it's a darn sight better than sitting on one's tushie eating Cheet-Os and watching people crash their bicycles on YouTube.

[nailay]

Lol... Thanks a lot