On getting observerships USCE

Getting that clinical experience
US Clinical Experience (USCE) is exceptionally useful for applications. It enhances your application and lets the program know that you are not out of touch with clinical medicine. It is not an issue for fresh graduates as much as IMgs who have lost a year or more. On the plus side it also allows the candidate to be familiar with medical practices in the US

Know the kind of clinical experience you want

There are few types of USCE. Observer-ship to a university or university affiliated community hospital is the best. It can provide you opportunity to obtain LORs from the faculty. The only way to get these is to NETWORK. It takes a lot of legwork, wiriting mails and making phone calls to bag a place at a teaching hospital. If you get it, its worth it.

Find a way to get some experience
There are a few ways to wrestle an observer-ship. Many institutions do not advertise observer-ship posts. In this day and time of crunch where IMGs are already at a disadvantage from multiple causes, communication and networking go far to bag the elusive observer post.

College seniors: help in many ways

One resource is to get in touch with your seniors who have already matched. Ask them if they have seen observers at their institution. If not then does not mean you cant. Get contact information from them and you can even ask them to vouch for you.

The shotgun spam strategy

Obtain emails of the directors or senior faculty of multiple places all over the US. see this link on finding emails of faculty. Send emails to everyone on the list, requesting an opportunity to observer their clinical practice. Stress how important this opportunity will be for your future. Then follow this up with phone calls. This is more labor intensive but also has a higher yield. 

The targeted snipe approach

Target some senior high value faculty and arrange to have a meeting with them. Dont forget to forward a short resume to the them prior to the meeting. Be earnest about why you would specifically like to rotate through that institution and specifically with them (are they in psychiatry, neurology or nephrology? is it the absolute field of your interest).


Know where your chances are the best

Do not write to program director or coordinator, in my experience they don't have much power over who gets to rotate through what. Correspond with the department heads of program or senior faculty (that are usually NOT the PD).getting clOther way is to shadow a clinician in private practice. This also works but LORs may not be considered as valuable than faculty from academia.