Thread: ECFMG, Residency & California Approval

I've read lots of posts, and I want to make sure that I am coming to the correct conclusion regarding the new 5th year pre-internship:

You have 4 years at UAG, 1 year at NYMC. You are awarded a degree from UAG which allows you to apply for residency via ECFMG.

If this is correct, please let me know.

I have some other questions:

1. I have felt that students at UAG had an advantage for residency over students at Carribean schools because of the fifth pathway program. Now, I feel like students are equal to Carribean grads, but they just have an additional year of loans, experience, and they are bilingual. How do you feel about this? Was there an advantage? Has it disappeared?

2. On the California approval list, it states "Some recognized medical schools that teach in their native language are opening English language medical school programs. The English language programs are not recognized unless specifically stated." There are two listing for schools in Guad and neither of them denote the English language program: Autonomous University of Guadalajara Faculty of Medicine & University of Guadalajara Faculty of Medicine. Is the school not considered an English language program since the last two years are in Spanish? Or is the school not approved?

So let me guess this straight, you are spending your 5th year in MX? Is 8th semester part of the 5th year, or does 5th start after 8th semester?

Originally Posted by NYC2UAG

What does it mean to pre-match? I thought every graduating med student finds out where they will be doing their residency on match day.

That is true for graduates of US schools and students who participate in the match. The prematch is when an IMG is offered a position outside of the match. Officially, it is against the rules for US seniors to accept a position outside of the match.


"Although the majority of PGY-1 positions in the United States are filled through the Match, a significant number of IMG applicants obtain positions outside of the Match. For example, while 4,563 IMGs obtained PGY-1 positions through the 2007 Match, 7,225 IMGs entered PGY-1 for the 2007-2008 academic year."

This is from: The ECFMG(r) Reporter. An E-Newsletter for International Medical Graduates Pursuing Graduate Medical Education in the United States. Issue 137 - April 2, 2009

I started in 1st semester, like everyone else

Do you mean what was my year of entry? I started in the fall of 2005

Originally Posted by que_loca

What class did you start in?

lol... okkkkk

Now, answer my question about 8th semester and the 5th year that I asked above! Thanks!

I only ask, cause I would consider going here, but I don't think I'd want to be there for 5 yrs.

You will be in school for five years if you chose UAG. You can do all five years in Mexico or you can do four years in Mexico and one year in the US.

A limited number of students do co-ops in the US during the fourth year, so it is possible to only go 3 years in Mexico.

It is less expensive to stay in Mexico.

Originally Posted by Reepicheep

the Titulo is now awarded after the internship (in US) or internado (MX)...the 6th year is only required if you want to practice in Mexico, otherwise it isn't required. If you really want to come back to take the licensure examination, by all means do your 6th year...otherwise, take the 5 and run with an authentic signed, sealed, delivered Titulo. With it, you apply through the ECFMGs match as a foreign graduate, not as a US grad through the 5th Pathway. As for the Cali situation, I belive that has changed, but you should check with their medical board to be sure. After all, the info on the web is great, but if nobody updates their sites, it is no better than a 1963 encyclopedia. Thus far I have several friends who are starting their residencies in Cali next month (somewhere in LA, UCSF, etc.) without any issues, but they did go through the last year of the 5th Pathway too....either way, they are telling me how much UAG is recognized and respected by the doctors they interviewed with. All of them pre-matched, btw, so their stats probably aren't showing up in the percentages of first round matches...something else to consider.

That's very encouraging for those who wish to practice in Cali. =)
I would guess that even though the 5th Pathway is dead, those residency admissions folks over on the west coast still admire UAG grads so the FMG status really wouldn't make much of a dent.

Originally Posted by que_loca

5th pathway is still going on? I thought it was over with... when is it supposed to end then?

It ends this year.

Originally Posted by rasputindoc

The UAG is the OLDEST foreign medical school with CA approval. What makes you think it is going to change? The program in itself hasnt changed, only the venue to get an MD. All California care is the standards of education and they havent changed. On the contrary, they are better than 30 years ago. It is just paperwork

Go Rasputin! That sounds very logical. If UAG provides some of the best doctors in Cali, why would Cali exclude them?

Originally Posted by acgtacgtacgt

Exactly. My class was the first to not have the fifth pathway. To say that the AMA screwed us hard would be an understatement. They literally lied to us by supporting it when we entered, and then ending it half way in. The ethical thing would have been to end it in 4 years from notice (so no one enters with false promises). However, the AMA made it clear they have no regard for me or my class, and that they have no ethics, and care only abpout themselves. May the AMA rot in Hell where it belongs.

They will reap what they sow.

Why would 8th semester be in a fifth year? There are two semesters per years. 8th semester is the second semester of the 4th year, like any other school that does semesters.

Fifth year is for "internado", and is AFTER all the academic classes. You must do 5 years to get the MD degree from the UAG to practice medicine in the USA.

Originally Posted by que_loca

lol... okkkkk

Now, answer my question about 8th semester and the 5th year that I asked above! Thanks!

I only ask, cause I would consider going here, but I don't think I'd want to be there for 5 yrs.