TROY, Mich. — Immigrants coming from oversees looking to get a medical degree might want to consider enrolling with Kaplan Test Prep, an education company that helps both undergraduates and graduates from the U.S and abroad train to become licensed doctors, dentists and lawyers and get into top graduate-level programs 

Rasha Yalda, 27, studying to get licensed in dentistry.

Kaplan, which has centers all over the United States and has been increasingly offering online courses as well, helps train and guide students with their education, avoiding lengthy and confusing steps that could set back students for years. 

One of their medical learning centers, called Kaplan Medical (part of Kaplan Test Prep,) located in Troy, particularly has a large group of Middle Eastern students coming from countries such as Iraq and Lebanon on student visas looking to continue their education that they had started back home.

A main advantage for a Kaplan student is that it allows the particular individual to study and get organized at their own pace.  

“We are not a one size fits all program,” said Kimberly Kiley, the Medical Center Manager of the Troy location. “Students have families and children and we develop a study plan for them at their own convenience.”

Kaplan accepts both students who are citizens/green card holders as well as students who are here on a student visa. For many international students however, the process in getting licensed in the U.S is much more difficult than it would be for a student who was primarily educated here, which is where Kaplan steps in.

“Many of these students have a disadvantage when coming to the U.S, ranging from different teachings to different languages they might have been familiar with,” said Denise Long, the Business Developer of Kaplan’s Health Programs. “Kaplan tests their abilities and skills and puts them at the exact point they need to pick up from.” 

Being one of the schools certified by the USCIS to issue student visas, Kaplan works with international applicants to learn more about their previous education, skills and their English proficiency. Once they are approved by the institute, an I-20 form is mailed to the student’s home country, where they then must apply for an F-1 Visa with the U.S Embassy.  

Kaplan, however doesn’t actually approve the student visas. That job goes back to the U.S Embassy, which determines an approval or rejection after they have collected documentation on the particular individual from their home land. In most cases however, most applicants that Kaplan accepts, do end up getting the approval by the U.S Embassy as well. 

Once they have been approved, the student is able to come to the U.S and is able to stay for a lengthy period of time.  One rule an international student, or as Kaplan calls them, an IMG student (International Medical Graduate) must abide by is that they are required to study at the center for at least 22 hours a week by law. 

Upon entering Kaplan’s Troy location, you will find many of these students huddled into classroom corners, taking their studies very seriously. 

“I was so lost in the beginning of my studies,” said Rasha Yalda, 27, who lives alone in an apartment in Troy and came from Baghdad in February 2011 looking to become a licensed Dentist. “But once I enrolled with Kaplan, they were able to provide for me,” she added. “There is a great studying environment here.”

Yalda, like all the other international students at this center, spend long hours in the facility, which opens its doors for students at 9:30 a.m. and closes every evening at 9 p.m. on weekdays. Students may spend up to 8-10 hours a day inside of the center, trying to knock out their 22 hours. 

“They have the books for studying the correct material,” said Hassanian Eldika, 30, who lives with a roommate in Dearborn after coming to Lebanon in 2007, looking to become a doctor. “I have made more friends here then I have back home because of the amount of time I have spent studying with them.” 

The ultimate goal for all these IMG Students is to eventually be tested into a residency program at a hospital. A residency program can last anywhere from 3 to 7 years depending on the type of practice. A three year program would fall along the lines of a Family Medicine or Pediatric practices while a seven year program would be along the lines of orthopedic surgery.  

Getting into these residency programs requires a lot of work, however. All IMG students must freshen up on their Basic Sciences, which the hospitals view as the most important aspect for a residency applicant. US medical students usually learn this step in their first two years of med school. IMG Students can spend up to 9 or 12 months preparing for this step with rigorous studying on a daily basis. 

Once the IMG Student is finished with this particular section of the program, they are tested on their knowledge by the United States Medical Licensing Examination Board (USMLE). This is known in the U.S as the Boards Exam. Based out of 300 points, it is important that a student does not get a score lower than 189, which is considered borderline passing. Students who pass the exam do not have the option to retake it to get a better score for seven years, which is why it’s important they receive a higher score on their first try.   

Students who fail the exam are able to retake it, but according to Long however, it does not look good on a student’s resume if they don’t pass the test the first time.  Up to 60% of residency programs will never look at an application again if they didn’t pass the test on their first try. 

The next step in the process is a two part section where the student is tested on their Clinical Knowledge and Clinical Skills while they are with a residency program. This includes learning how to properly diagnose and interact with a patient. A students skills are demonstrated through an interactive test, where a standardized patient trained by the USMLE board is used to test the student on their communication and diagnosis skills among other things. The student is then graded by the patient and a licensed physician based on their performance. 

The final step in the process to receiving a medical license is where things might differ between an IMG student and a U.S medical student. This step is the last test a student takes before receiving their medical license and is usually done after their residency program. For an IMG student, Kaplan recommends that this test is taken before they apply for residencies, to make their resumes more robust as a way to show the residency programs that they are qualified to be a physician despite not getting their education in the U.S. 

With IMG students spending hours a day inside of the Troy center, it is up to the staff to make it a friendly environment. Every first Tuesday of the month, they throw birthday parties for any students that will have a birthday in that month. They also try to have one social event per month. In September, they had chocolate milkshake day. This month, they are preparing for a Halloween party. 

“We try our hardest to make it fun for them,” added Kiley. “With all the time we spend together, we really become like a family.” 

With many of these students here on their own while their families are back in their home counties, studying and preparing in an environment like Kaplan has helped them adjust to living in the U.S.

“Everyone was telling me how hard it was going to be…but I really like living in the U.S,” added Yalda. “It is unusual for an Iraqi girl to live by herself, but in the U.S you can do whatever you want and achieve any dream you want.”