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US TripSecrets, Tips and advices

This piece of information is mainly focused to first time travelers to US for their CS exam, electives or
observerships. I am also first time traveler to US but have learned and observed few things which I want
to share. I had many questions before travelling here and only found proper answers when I experienced it
by myself. I hope this document will answer your questions.
First of all do not panic and get nervous if it is your first trip outside the country, you are educated person
and you can figure it out where to go and how to resolve some issue and if you are stuck somewhere
people around you can help you out (not everybody is bad) and secondly you can access internet
anywhere and Google maps and all such stuff can also help you.
Secondly all those steps of immigration are not difficult; if you have valid purpose and proof for your
visit and you are speaking truth nobody will make some issue for you. Polio certificate is said mandatory
but nobody checked my polio vaccine status in my entire journey. If you have to carry some medicines
you can carry with you, just carry a valid prescription from your doctor as well, I carried some ointments
for myself and I was not asked for those and neither anyone checked, carry proper amount of medicines
with you if you need them because medical services are expensive here.
When you land at any airport of US you will find bus service, subways, taxis services for your
destination. They have volunteers there at airports who can help you and make your decision to save
money and time and there are directions written everywhere so you can figure it out by yourselves as
well. Brochures are always available for timings, fares and route which you can get from the airport
volunteer stalls.

How to carry cash?


You can keep some amount of cash with yourself, and do carry some change with yourself as it will not
be problem for you afterwards. I tried my UBL Wallet debit card here and it is working so you can
withdraw it from any bank, or you can carry any credit card. Other option is you can make account in any
local bank, which is very simple and you will also be provided with ATM card. Bank cards are really
helpful here because at times you dont have change so cards can help you out and there are machines at
subways, markets and other stores for payment so its better to have a valid and working card here.

Where to stay?
There are lots of affordable places where you can live here. I m enlisting here those which I found here:

Houston: baymount and Venetian Inn are very famous, they are affordable and u can have 400500$ per months expenses of room if shared with 1-2 partners. Also there are hostels available
there at Houston but you will find many CS partners and medical students in these two hotels
Chicago: you can find many affordable hostels, search them online. A guy named Ron sattar also
can provide you some place for living at expenses of 200$ per week if you need room alone and
150$ per week if room is shared (you can find e-mail here at alumni group). There is HOPE Joliet
house also available, organized by Pakistani physician dr. sameer shafi. Its 1 hour away from

chicago but nice place to stay and charges are around 300-500$ depending on number of people
living there. There is also separate apartment for girls there with all basic facilities.
Detroit: APPNA house can accommodate you, you have to e-mail to farooq bhai, concerned
person there, you can find e-mail from facebook APPNA House detroit group. Charges are 100$
but place is always overcrowded, its 4-5 hours away from chicago.
Philadelphia: You can find APPNA house there as well and charges will be 100-200$ I think
Newyork: You can find APPNA house there as well and charges will be 200$. You will also find
many seniors there as well, so if APPNA house is overcrowded you can request them for few
days stay with them.
I have also heard about APPNA house in New jersey for girls also, but I dont have much
information about it

Where to give CS exam?


All centers are same in terms of exam standard but difference is whether you will find live study partner
and any guidance there or not. Mostly people take CS at houston or chicago because you will find many
live study partners there. It is better to arrive 2 weeks before your exam here in USA or 1 month as per
your preferences but 2 weeks are must because studying in Pakistan is not very helpful, you will many
things when yo arrive here. For chicago center people go to detroit for preparation but place is very
overcrowded, another place is HOPE house joliet but you have to search for a study partner here. Other
centers are also good but it depends whether you have study partner there or not and you can affordable
options to stay there or not. People attempting CS in Philadelphia also stay at APPNA house newyork and
go Philadelphia to give exam.

Electives/Observerships/Externship:
If your medical student you wont find difficulty in finding suitable electives place, you can e-mail the
programs for your electives. But problem comes when you get graduated, so here are few secrets and
thing that I found here:
1. Two things are important here you have to apply at least 10-12 weeks before your starting date of
observership there at any hospital that is ACGME accredited and offering residency positions (THE
BIG SETUPS) and other thing is you will find many great pakistani physicians who can provide you
observerships/externships at their clinics (SMALL SETUPS). The difference that I found here is big
hospitals LORs have big value as it is from proper residency training program and you can develop your
contacts there while doing your rotations. But in the end, any good LOR from USA physician is counted
and labeled as USCE.
2. IN BIG SETUPS, the hospitals requires your immunization status in terms of your antibodies titers
(commonly required are MMR, VZV, PPD, HEP B) which you can get from any good lab at your city.
And your immunization record filled by your primary care physician (now you have to recall your
immunization record which is just filled with proper dates and EPI synchronization and signed by any
registered doctor) Secondly they require your medical health insurance. Now there are two types of
insurance one is medical health insurance (which is often required) other is liability insurance for any
malpractice (which is not required and if it is required hospital provides it on most occasions). You can

get medical health insurance from jubilee insurance or from online insurebuy.com, you have to pay
3000-4000 on average, and that receipt or card is important while starting your rotations.
3. There are few good BIG SETUPS which can provide you observership without much trouble. These
are:

Mehtodist hosptial houston, observership organized by Dr. Masroor Khan, dow grad, they
charge subsidized amount 450$ per month. You have to e-mail Dr. Masroor in proper manner.
ST Agnes hospital Baltimore: they also charge 500$ per month, they have information available
at their website
Other hospital include cleveland clinic, mayo clinic, harvard but these may be expensive for 1
month rotation. You can find many useful lists for observerships here at USA, you can e-mail
them and mostly they will give you the response.

Other are SMALL SETUPS which do not have much pre-requisites but you have to contact that physician
properly and these physicians have to look for vacant spots for your rotation, here are few that I found:

Carthage area hospital NYC, this setup is organized by pakistani physcian and they provide
accommodation for 10$/day but you have to go to hospital daily 7 days a week and no off, I came
across this through a fellow who did rotation there.
Joliet: Dr. Sameer shafi run HOPE Joliet project, he is KEMC grad and nephrologist, but he has
busy schedule for rotations for students, so better to contact concerned person on facebook group.
You can find many other physicians through your seniors, contacts or by search on internet.

Communication:
Here are many affordable packages for Mobile from 50-100$, which provide free calls and messages for
whole month in US. For calling outside US you can use Facebook messanger, Viber, skype. You will find
many free Wi-Fi spots everywhere in subways, trains, buses and restaurants.

How to manage your expenses:


As far as eating stuff is concerned it is not every expensive here in USA, u will find really great eating
stuff at very affordable prices. You can buy frozen food/ready to eat food, or you can cook yourself, there
are many restaurants available at walking distances. Main expenses are your mean of transportation (taxi
is expensive and subways/buses are very affordable) and your staying expenses. When you explore things
you can save money in different ways here.

Takeaway message:

Dont panic and get nervous, you can find your destination, people here will help you, you will
also find directions everywhere.
Do your homework before planning your whole trip, how many days to stay and whom to travel
with and how to make most of it. Travelling with friend is always helpful and enjoyable.
You will even find timings of buses and trains on Google maps and GPS system also helps you
First few days in any new city are always confusing so dont get bothered you will be used to it.

Always take care of your passport, return tickets, and cash, you will be in trouble without them
People here dont use formal language as we do; even they dont get your simple words
pronunciations so try to catch their accent.
Ask freely from anyone because if you are not clear about anything you wont find your way or
any method to deal your problem and you will also find people helping you.

I will try to improve this document through my experiences and learning and you can also
suggest if you have other advices for travelling abroad as we are here to help each other and
pass any concerned information to our fellows. This is a small contribution and will try to make
more. I am always thankful for all help and support which people over here gave me at the time
of trouble and problem. Do remember in prayers for my results and future exams and
endeavors.
Thanks
Raja Shakeel Mushtaque
Class of 2011!!!

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