USCE: Observerships, Electives and Externships for IMGs





USCE; Observerships, Electives and Externships List

What does USCE mean?



USCE means United States Clinical Experience which an IMG get through doing electives, observerships or externships. These usually include shadowing of attendings in the US and getting letters of recommendations to be used in the ERAS application for residency.

Electives are usually done in university programs which have medical students and are usually done during a certain period of the year. To be elegible for electives you must be a medical student.

Observerships can be done any time by any IMG, however, due to the high demand, you need to apply early, sometimes a year in advance.

Externships are longer observerships with more research options and hands-on experience but more expensive and very limited positions in the US.


Does shadowing any doctor or getting observerships through companies count as USCE?



No. USCE should be be done only in ACGME certified residency programs otherwise most program directors will not find the US LOR reliable. USCE should not be done via 3rd parties who seek your money and give you copy-paste LORs which ruin your application.


Where do you advice international medical graduates to do USCE?


The vast majority of the applicants who match do their USCE in ACGME certified residency programs. Most of them will do 1-2 observerships and get average of 2 US LORs. All these programs are gathered by the ApplicantGuide in one list including Observerships, Electives and Externships. The ApplicantGuide team has gathered these programs with accurate links to the application materials from thousands of applicants we coach and help to match each year. This list shows extensive success in placing IMGs into the best programs that provide the best US LORs (United States Letters of Recommendations) which is one of the most important keys to match.


The programs inside this list are divided into 3 divisions:

1-those which allow obseverships and electives in multiple specialties and
   subspecialties.
2- those which offer observerships in certain specialties
3- those which offer Externships.

 You can get this list directly to any PC or free app compatible device:

USCE Observerships, Electives and Externships List





Why should I get this list?



Most IMGs apply to USCE early and the competetion is very high on getting the appropriate spot that suits the travel and budget plans. This list contains almost all the spots in the US (about 200). Most IMGs do get this list and find it helpful.

This list contains all the programs offering United States Clinical Experience for the IMGs and medical students in the form of Observerships, Electives and Externships in almost all specialties including but not limited to Internal Medicine IM, Family Medicine FM, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and gynecology OB/GYN, Radiology, Pathology, Psychiatry, Surgery, Combined Med/Ped, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics, Emergency Medicine, Dermatology and anaesthesiology.