I know the USMLE is tough, but that’s the only ‘practical’ option that I have. You may say “MRCP?”, yeah, but where am I going to work with it? Working in UK is almost impossible.

Working in the gulf region is a good option but only after getting the board degree from the US. However, on the long run, any gulf country does not give you a valid future simply because you never become a neutralized citizen. You always remain a visitor. You are discriminated against in gulf countries. You pay double the amount of electricity charges the aboriginal citizen pays. You’re always prone to being discharged from the country at any time. Quite mean if you ask me.

While in the US, you become a neutralized citizen with a valid American passport in a certain and known period of time, and you receive all the rights an American-born citizen gets.

I agree with you that the USMLE is not the easiest thing to take, and many of my friends are being turned off just for the monstrous reputation. But believe me, if you’re really serious, if you have the time, the patience, and the ‘money’, it will probably work out well for you.

Anyways, welcome to my blog, Omar!

You may be right that it isn’t difficult to pass but I assure you that it is difficult to find a residency due to some reasons:

1. Your Score plays an important role and the problem is that upon you pass a step you CAN’T RETAKE the exam, so it is only one shoot.

2. It is a universal competition with doctors from all over the world.

3. Officially, there is no discrimination according to race,sex or age. But I can tell you that being an Egyptian isn’t a positive thing on your CV.

I am not trying to depressing you but I just wanted you to consider other options if you didn’t manage to get a residency like working in Gulf region as USMLE does magic in those countries….Finally goodluck.

I write these articles for my people to read. If no one reads them, it’s okay. It’s enough that I wrote them. That’s the least thing I can do.

No, Teacher Assitant stands for Ostaz Mosa3ed here, not mo3eed. May be it’s a “demonstrator” as Dr K’s said above, but I prefered to keep it as it is “mo3eed” in order to make it feel unique because I’m talking about a fu**ed up type of demonstrators here.

Thanks Manar for your comments!

No, I don’t think it’s that difficult. I mean since there is a known system of applying; the USMLE, I just need to get prepared for it. A lot of my colleagues pass the exam every year and eventually go to work and live in the US. Over 5000 doctors from around the world are accepted into the medical system in the US every year through the USMLE and Residency programs.

Anyway, God help us all.

I went through the same system that you are talking about in Egypt but in Engineering rather than Medicine, where I took my BSc and Msc and was the first of my class for 5 years and as you stated became a “Mo’eed”.

I took my PhD from Canada and am living and working here for around 10 years now. I agree with most of what you said in your artical. Get prepared mentally that here in North America it is relateively difficult to get into the medical field.

Here are a few things to put in your artical:
“Mo’eed” is called “demonstrator in English.
“wasta” is not related to paying money, it is related to personal connections