Need advice for Venezuelan friend

[Tolen]

I'm an American with a young friend from Venezuela. He was in his fourth year of medical school (which is undergraduate in Venezuela) and recently fled the unrest to Mexico. He is asking me for advice on how to come to the US to work and hopefully, finish his studies. His work experience is in a hospital (for clinical experience) and working as a personal trainer as a gym on the side. He's super smart and yearns to come here and eventually become a cardiologist. What would you recommend his next step be? He's been in Cancun Mexico for about 2 months sharing an apartment and working to get by. Should he try to get refugee status because of the goings on in Venezuela (he's just a student, not specifically a member of a targeted group), a student visa, or what?

Thanks guys!

[Trinity71]

I'm an American with a young friend from Venezuela. He was in his fourth year of medical school (which is undergraduate in Venezuela) and recently fled the unrest to Mexico. He is asking me for advice on how to come to the US to work and hopefully, finish his studies. His work experience is in a hospital (for clinical experience) and working as a personal trainer as a gym on the side. He's super smart and yearns to come here and eventually become a cardiologist. What would you recommend his next step be? He's been in Cancun Mexico for about 2 months sharing an apartment and working to get by. Should he try to get refugee status because of the goings on in Venezuela (he's just a student, not specifically a member of a targeted group), a student visa, or what?

Thanks guys!

If he wants to finish his studies here, he could apply for a student visa.

This is my opinion and not legal advice. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk.

Trinity71

[Tolen]

If he wants to finish his studies here, he could apply for a student visa.

This is my opinion and not legal advice. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk.

Trinity71

If he gets a student visa, I'm wondering what he could make application for school-wise. In Venezuela (as far as I understand) medical school is almost like a trade school and someone can enter med school directly out of high school. Since medical school is a graduate program in the US, I'm thinking they wouldn't take him because he didn't do an undergrad program - so would he have to go back into a regular Bachelors degree program, graduate, then start medical school from scratch? Thoughts?

[NettieL]

He needs to contact the University that he is interested in and ask them which company they use to assess credentials/courses/transcripts. There are a lot of credential/education assessment places, but certain universities only use particular ones (depending on accreditation). After his education is assessed, he can submit that to the school and they will notify him which courses he needs to take to complete his Bachelors degree.

Some gaps in education with internationally educated students, are usually English, US History/World History and others. (Look at the credits and General Education Requirements for a bachelors degree in the state of your choice). Most of these courses (Gen ed courses) can typically be done online, so he will be able to start while he is still out of the country. The only downside to this, is that it is very expensive as an international student.

The information is online. Keywords: International students, credential evaluation, credential assessment, general education requirements, bachelor degree program, pre-med pre-requisites

You can write the MCAT and apply to medical school with any Bachelors degree, as long as you have done the pre-requisite courses as part of your undergraduate/graduate program.

The International student office at the university would be able to give the information you need.

If he already has the equivalent of a US Bachelors degree and he has met all the pre-requisite requirements (courses/credits) for medical school, he will need to write the MCAT to apply for medical school.

Keywords: MCAT, College Board

In the meantime he can get involved in some kind of volunteer work to give him exposure to medicine. The medical school application process is very competitive and they look at these things. He will need letters of recommendation and it would help if it is someone who practices medicine. The GPA for most medical schools is 4.0 (all A's in undergraduate work). If he does not meet the GPA requirement, he can look at D.O. programs which typically require somewhat lower GPA's and MCAT scores and your practice is not more limited than that of an MD. You can also specialise with a D.O. He will only know his course and GPA equivalent after his credentials have been assessed.

A lot of countries have the same educational system where the applicants can go to medical school straight from high school. I'm sure the medical schools in the US are familiar with these and will be able to guide him through the process.

Once he is accepted into a program, he can apply for a student visa. I have no knowledge regarding refugee applications/the process.

[Tolen]

He needs to contact the University that he is interested in and ask them which company they use to assess credentials/courses/transcripts. There are a lot of credential/education assessment places, but certain universities only use particular ones (depending on accreditation). After his education is assessed, he can submit that to the school and they will notify him which courses he needs to take to complete his Bachelors degree.

Some gaps in education with internationally educated students, are usually English, US History/World History and others. (Look at the credits and General Education Requirements for a bachelors degree in the state of your choice). Most of these courses (Gen ed courses) can typically be done online, so he will be able to start while he is still out of the country. The only downside to this, is that it is very expensive as an international student.

The information is online. Keywords: International students, credential evaluation, credential assessment, general education requirements, bachelor degree program, pre-med pre-requisites

You can write the MCAT and apply to medical school with any Bachelors degree, as long as you have done the pre-requisite courses as part of your undergraduate/graduate program.

The International student office at the university would be able to give the information you need.

If he already has the equivalent of a US Bachelors degree and he has met all the pre-requisite requirements (courses/credits) for medical school, he will need to write the MCAT to apply for medical school.

Keywords: MCAT, College Board

In the meantime he can get involved in some kind of volunteer work to give him exposure to medicine. The medical school application process is very competitive and they look at these things. He will need letters of recommendation and it would help if it is someone who practices medicine. The GPA for most medical schools is 4.0 (all A's in undergraduate work). If he does not meet the GPA requirement, he can look at D.O. programs which typically require somewhat lower GPA's and MCAT scores and your practice is not more limited than that of an MD. You can also specialise with a D.O. He will only know his course and GPA equivalent after his credentials have been assessed.

A lot of countries have the same educational system where the applicants can go to medical school straight from high school. I'm sure the medical schools in the US are familiar with these and will be able to guide him through the process.

Once he is accepted into a program, he can apply for a student visa. I have no knowledge regarding refugee applications/the process.

Thanks so much for that info! The US Consulate in Mexico (where he's temporarily fleeing the violence in Venezuela) said that in order to apply for a student Visa, he would need to go BACK to Venezuela and book an appointment to meet with the Embassy staff in Venezuela. That seems an awful burden to send him that long a way just to get a visa to come to the US. Do you guys think that's correct? Would tuition for an international student probably be the same as for an out-of-state student (which is really expensive!)?