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medical school interuniversity transfer

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nyanch1

New Member
Hi, am a DV 2015 selectee and my interview isscheduled at the end of this month. I am a final year medical student at a Kenyan university and the green card time span won't allow me to finish my studies. Is there a way I can apply for interuniversity transfer or I justhave to go to the US and then come back tofinish?
 
You may have enough time if you are in your final year.

You have six months to activate the visa from the time of your medical. And then you have a year after activation to make the final move. So just under 18 months to finish off and then make the move.
 
You're better off finishing your final year in Kenya. When your visa is issued, visit the U.S. to activate your LPR status before the visa expires (all things being equal, the visa is typically valid for 6 months). Then go back home to finish your studies before making the final move. You should be okay to stay back for up to one year following the initial activation without running into the risk of being deemed to have abandoned your LPR status. However, if you will need to stay back for more than one year, then you need to make sure you apply for a re-entry permit before departing from the U.S. during your activation (first) trip to the U.S.
 
EmilyW said:
You may have enough time if you are in your final year.

You have six months to activate the visa from the time of your medical. And then you have a year after activation to make the final move. So just under 18 months to finish off and then make the move.
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How does one activate the visa?
 
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Thanks that was helpful. And once in the US, will I be allowed to practise as a doctor having trained in kenya?
 
nyanch1 said:
Thanks that was helpful. And once in the US, will I be allowed to practise as a doctor having trained in kenya?
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Obviously not. Medicine is one of the fields where one can enter the U.S. with a foreign issued degree/certificate and use it to start practicing directly. It's a highly regulated field. Take a look at the link provided by Emily above for further guidance.
 
If it's any consolation, I know a number of people who qualified as doctors outside the U.S. and are now practicing happily in various states , in some cases in highly specialized fields and in others just as GPs. It seems that if you are able to get a medical degree to start with, that passing the required conversion/certification exams should be quite straightforward. Good luck!
 
Thanx Emily and mom. Susie that's encouraging.how did they go through the tranition? I hear it's along process? Did they just do the exam or there's more?
 
nyanch1 said:
Thanx Emily and mom. Susie that's encouraging.how did they go through the tranition? I hear it's along process? Did they just do the exam or there's more?
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I think it varies by state, you'll need to check the requirements for licensing of foreign qualified applicants by state. If I'm not mistaken, if you're final year you won't have done your internship/residency yet either so you will obviously also need to factor in the time for that before you can practice.
 
nyanch1 said:
Hi, am a DV 2015 selectee and my interview isscheduled at the end of this month. I am a final year medical student at a Kenyan university and the green card time span won't allow me to finish my studies. Is there a way I can apply for interuniversity transfer or I justhave to go to the US and then come back tofinish?
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Congratulations. You should be fine, but just a thought consider doing US medical council exams as soon as you finished your final exam in Kenya, so you can start practising in The USA. The exam consists of 3 parts of 8 h each (total 24 h), depending on the score level you can apply for residency.
 
nyanch1 said:
Thank you all for your help, I appreciate. Kchemist, is the US council exam taken before internship?
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Yes you can take Medical council exam after you earned u r degree. As far as I know internship is not a requirement, (I know one of my relative who didnt do the internship is now doing the exam). But I think US exam will be easier if you have internship experience but since u r preparing for the final exam of u r country I think US exam would be easier for you (provided that you have not forgotten the materials).
 
kchemist said:
Yes you can take Medical council exam after you earned u r degree. As far as I know internship is not a requirement, (I know one of my relative who didnt do the internship is now doing the exam). But I think US exam will be easier if you have internship experience but since u r preparing for the final exam of u r country I think US exam would be easier for you (provided that you have not forgotten the materials).
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He will need internship (called residency in the U.S.) to practice as a doctor. So will your cousin. http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/education-careers/becoming-physician.page?
 
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