by Sarah Riaz

Got the visa yesterday. It was just a matter of 20 mins for me, out of which about 15 were spent waiting in the queue to get my application back, bound with the passport and going through security checks to walk inside!!! I was the 21st person to go inside for finger printing, but the 1st person to get it even before an air hostess who was there on a routine visit and was asked to wait in the next room for them to get back to her. I did not have a formal interview at counters, nothing was checked in my financial documents, only the acceptances.

Here's the whole story: I was told to go to room 2 for my finger printing, as i entered it i took it in at first glance and saw a very, very bored lookin middle aged man standing, yawning widely behind a bullet proof screen with only a sliding window for documents in it. I nodded slightly at him in professional acknowledgement while i entered and then walked to the side of the room to a chair a chair, waiting for my turn and watching the people before me. He didnt talk or greet any one other than the air hostess who he was acquainted with already and his helper guy who was helping people with the finger prints outside the window. When I got to the window he gave the slightest hint of a smile, switched his intercom on and said,

"Hello, and how are you today??"

Me: (surprised) "Oh im very well!!! Thankyou!! how are you?!!!"

him: "good, good, Im good too."

Then checked my application both on paper and in his computer, while I was being finger printed. Then switched his intercom again and asked,

"Are you a student now??"

by Swapnil Lanjewar

Well, once we get acceptance for electives, the next major issue that haunts us is the VISA. Same was the case with me and as I personally knew very few people who had gone on a tourist VISA, I was bit worried about how to proceed. But Medisid’s blog and few others’ guidance helped me long way. So, thank you all for the same!

Well, here are few tips and my experiences, to help people like me who have to start from the scratch.

Getting started-

After getting  approval for electives, log on to https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/USIndia/Index.html and read the relevant pages thoroughly. This will introduce you to the basics of VISA. Next, as Medisid has already mentioned, log on to http://www.immihelp.com/visas/ for even more detailed information. I got all the relevant pages printed and then read them carefully. This makes you feel confident and comfortable about the VISA process.

For scheduling the interview-

 Now that you are aware about the VISA process, you need to start the actual process. (Though all info has been given on immihelp, I will mention the steps I actually went through.)

1) Go to your nearest designated branch of HDFC Bank taking along a good quality Xerox of first and last page of your passport and approximately Rs. 7000/- application fee. You will get 3 receipts, white one, blue and a pink one. The white one will be kept by the Bank and they will hand you over the blue and pink receipts.

2) Filling up the DS 160 form

I am an Intern and like you all here I too am planning to pursue a residency in the US. Coming to the main story, how I got my electives. I have no family in the US and not many seniors or friends to guide me with the process either. Internet has practically been my source of all the info and let me assure you, it is good enough. Through people who have secured electives on these communities, their descriptions, various websites etc I too was able to chart out my plan and thus got electives. But before I begin, let me tell you one more thing. There is no one single source that will give you all the info and neither am I trying to do so. Things change and the so do the policies of the colleges. And no one person can collect all the info at one place. You have to do your own research. You have to search for the best place that suits you and that accepts you. I am describing below my story.

 by Saurav Suman

Hi everyone. I have taken my GRE general test yesterday and I would like to share my experience with you all. Since I have learnt a lot about gre through blogs and forums its my duty to payback. First of all, I am a medical student presently in internship from India. I have given gre for getting admission into MPH course. I scored 1380 (610 verbal + 770 quantitative). Though it is not a great score but I think it’s a healthy one. Now let’s trim the fat and come to the crux. One more thing, if your weak point is quant you will be less benefited by reading this article.

by MediSid!

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants/predecessors." – Sir Isaac Newton.

So during my visa preparation, I got good guidance from immihelp.com, path2usa.com, and of course this website and Umar bhai.
The following is my perception and account of the visa hassles I went through to gain my Visitor Visa for electives. I got acceptance from NIH in mid September and from that time I started preparing for my visa interview. I had researched a lot about the visitor visa before and knew that this process is very dicey. So was very freaked about it as I had some shortcomings. Basically, there are three things one should prove to the Visa Officer during the interview. They are the following in order of decreasing importance.
 

by Anmol Naik

Most of us do know that research invariably plays a very important role in our overall profile-build-up for the USMLE. An aptitude for research goes a long way in boosting our CV, our career and our life as a whole. There are hundreds of journals for doctors to publish their research. But for undergraduate students like us, the journey stops abruptly because 99% of us are not aware of the journals where we can get our work published. Plus the dismal state of affairs of undergraduate medical research in India (and ‘m sure the situation is no better in  other countries of our sub-continent) doesn’t help either.

      I had an aptitude for research as well and took up a study as early as in second year (even before I knew the difference between incidence and prevalence; even before I knew the ABC of statistics!) However, I faced the same problem as to where to submit my studies for publication. Yes, there are a great deal of journals around. But (as Umar bhai aptly said) it is very difficult to get studies published in well-known journals. The more reputed a journal, the more difficult it is to get a publication in it. Hence I started surfing the net for journals dedicated exclusively to publishing undergraduate research. After 2 years of extensive searching, I’v managed to obtain a few trustworthy ones.

by Purav Mody

Electives : An Exhilarating Roller Coaster Ride!! 

Hi Friends!!!

by Vaibhav & Medisid

Transcript is a set of documents given from the college as an assessment of all you have done. It contains all your postings(ward rotations/ clerkships) details.. marks.. etc.. there is not fixed format for it.. Each college has its own format. It is not usually given before completion of your degree. In short, you need a documentation of the clerkships you have done during mbbs and the details of your marks of all your years with a official seal/ stamp on the documents. Thanks to vaibhav for this valuable description!

A sample can be downloaded from the bottom of this webpage, thanks to medisid!

 by Junaid Nasir, MD, MBBS