Last month, RCSI Bahrain hosted its first virtual match party to celebrate the successes of students and alumni who matched into post-graduate training programmes and jobs in the US, Canada, and UK this year.

The party that was held on a Zoom meeting, was hosted by RCSI Bahrain’s President Professor Sameer Otoom, Chief Operating Officer Stephen Harrison-Mirfield, Vice President for Academic Affairs Professor Alfred Nicholson, and organised by members from the Careers & Alumni Office. The virtual celebration was attended by two senior medical students and five alumni who started the party by sharing the year they graduated and which specialty they matched to. The Careers and Alumni Office opted for the virtual party since the students no longer reside in Bahrain.

Of the seven participants, two matched to Canada and are Canadian nationals, while the remaining five who matched to the US are Jordanian, American, Bahraini, Canadian, and Pakistani. So far, 26 students have matched to universities in North America with 20 matching to the US and six to Canada.

This year also witnessed the highest pass rate, since the inception of RCSI Bahrain, for the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 exam with an 89%. In order to match to postgraduate training in the US and as part of the application process, students are required to sit the USMLE exams.

So far, nine graduates, from different nationalities, have received offers this year for postgraduate training and core surgical or medical training jobs in the UK, leading to an 81% success rate. In order to work in the UK, graduates are required to register with the UK General Medical Council and sit through the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board tests (PLAB 1 and PLAB 2) exams.

The Careers and Alumni Office supports students preparing for the USMLE Step 1 exam and PLAB exams by providing them different resources as part of a structured programme to help them succeed on the exam. The Office also provides support to students who are interested in applying to the US and Canada from the start of their medical journey through ongoing Alumni pathway sessions, one-to-one careers advise, as well as access to board exam preparation courses and question banks. They are also able to access resources on interview preparation and personalized support during the match process.

Professor Otoom commented: “RCSI Bahrain puts a strong emphasis in its medical programme on clinical competence and the patient’s interests, forming the students into international medical graduates who continuously succeed in receiving extensive career opportunities in respected institutions worldwide. We congratulate our students and alumni for their achievements and wish them well in their future endeavours in their careers.”