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EDIT: Please do not PM me about how to get a job at Google. There are a ton of brilliant Quora answers out there which will be able to guide you much better. Thank you.Disclaimers:1. All views listed are my own. Google doesn't endorse them. It may or may not be applicable to other Indian Googlers. Most points are based on my perception. Some one else may have perceived things differently. Let’s agree to disagree :)2. I worked in Hyderabad office. So some of the answers might be more applicable to Google Hyderabad vs Google Bangalore or say Mumbai. I have not worked in all the organisations at Google India. Most of them may be more applicable to my organisation than others.3. I am no longer employed with Google. I left to pursue higher education.What is it like to work at Google India? Let me share some of my experiences in form of short stories/snippets. I have divided the answer into 2 sections - Exceeds expectations (thing that Google India does really really well) and Needs Improvement (things that can be made better).EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONSa. PERKSOne fine Monday morning, I had a single ten rupee note in my wallet. I checked my wallet again on Friday evening and it still had that single ten rupee note in it.At Google I don't spend a dime during weekdays. I reach office in an office provided cab, eat at the free Google cafes, have snacks and dinner at the office itself and then reach home in one of the office cabs.One of my favorite perks of working at Google India was sleeping in the office cabs on my way to home after a hectic day at work. Also, the cab service is only offered in India. In US, Google provides a shuttle service but the cab service doesn’t exist in any other country (to the best of my knowledge).Talking about wallets, the security is pretty great. You can leave your wallet, watch, laptop etc. anywhere in the office and can expect to find it back in the same place the next day or with security. In my 2 years at Google, I never heard of anyone’s stuff getting stolen.Most roles allow for some overseas travel opportunities. I went on a business trip to Europe. I followed all the guidelines for daily allowances (which is pretty generous) and wasn't asked a single question about it. I had drinks when I wanted to and had all kinds of exotic food on the company's card. Some Companies are cost driven where as Google is Value driven. (The cost of asking for business justification for each & every bill is more expensive than letting the employee do some productive work in that time. See point no. 4 under culture)Google offers a generous dental and vision insurance on top of health insurance. I underwent LASIK surgery and it was covered by Google’s vision insurance completely. Generally LASIK is considered as a cosmetic surgery and is not covered in most insurances.I know a couple of Indian Googlers who will never leave Google just for the amazing health insurance that it provides to some of their family members who need permanent medical attention.During employment, if you undertake any professional course that is related to your job, then Google reimburses 2/3 of the total cost. In case of personal development, Google reimburses 1/3 of the cost. Guitar lessons, Dancing lessons, learning a new language etc. come under the purview of personal reimbursement. I have used personal reimbursement couple of times and it was a smooth process. (Upload the bills and fill a small form and done)Much has been said about Google’s food over the inter webs. I don’t have anything new to add to it, but you realise the importance of it during the weekends when you have to get your own food. (I am a bachelor who lives alone and doesn’t like to cook)Other perks that I have enjoyed during my tenure in Google India - On site Gym, playing table tennis, pool, xbox, foosball, concierge service which takes care of all your daily errands like dispatching a courier, paying bills etc. (not free but nominal), laundry service (not free), mail room where you can order all your Amazon and Flipkart goodies :D. Also, there is an in house coffee shop(free), library in the office, culture club, theatre club, football club, cricket club,basketball club (in Hyderabad at least).Google tries it best to care for you. They celebrate every employee’s work anniversary by decorating their work desk and offering them some massage points which in India translates to 60 minutes of free massage.This is how my desk looked like on my 2nd work anniversary. If it makes any difference, I was on my notice period on this day.9. Free Goodies. Team has extra budget? Great, let’s order some goodies. Organisation has some cash leftover from the annual budget? Great. Let’s order some goodies. I have received Google t-shirts (5–6) , couple of hoodies,external hard disk, wireless speakers, headphones, backpacks, selfie stick, neck pillow, keychains, pen drives, coffee mugs etc. in just 2 years. The amount of money Google spends on each employee is staggering.A lot of other companies would pat themselves in the back for saving some money from a party budget and carry it over to the next year. Not Google :)Talking about goodies, the grand daddy of them all - the annual Christmas gift awarded to each employee. I received a Nexus 5X last Christmas and an Android One phone the year before on Diwali.b. CULTUREGoogle allows you to be yourself. They don’t have a one screw fits all bolts policy. Come at what time you want & leave when you want to. There is no concept of attendance or normal office hours. One of my colleagues who got an exceptional rating last cycle had the habit of coming to office at 3 pm. (In his defense, he did work till 12 in the night.)You can wear whatever you want to. No dress code bullshit. You are not judged on how well your shirt is pressed.One of the unsaid rules of working at Google is - Be Nice and Be Respectful. People hold doors for you. You will hold doors for people. Expect to hear the word “Thanks” (or some variant) every other sentence.Elimination of bureaucratic bullshit. Google tries its best to eliminate hassles for its employees. There are proper channels for everything. Have a question about your latest payslip? Mail an email alias and get your concern addressed in 24 hours or less. Need to get some expenses reimbursed? Go to an internal portal and fill out a form and done. You don’t have to jump through the hoops to get things done. This is true for pretty much everything.There is an internal memes site ( check out Eric Schmidt’s book for more details) where you can criticise the CEO, senior VPs, management etc. without any repercussions. You can voice your disagreement and it is OK!. You can respectfully agree to disagree. Also, Googlers are the first to be up in arms against any decision taken by the company which may not be in the user’s best interests. ( Integrating G+ with Youtube was an unpopular decision internally and people weren’t shy when it came to expressing their disagreement)Google India celebrates multiple festivals every year by decorating the office and preparing special food on those days. It also has Bring your children to work multiple times a year where they install make shift slides & play houses in the office for children. Also, there are multiple initiatives organised by Googlers and for Googlers to give something back to society.c. WORKYour work will largely depend on which organisation you join and on your skill sets.Annual increments every year are quite generous. The only time people bitch about their increments is when they compare it against their neighbor. “I only got 20% while so and so got 30% last year blah blah”. Obviously, increments are dependent on your current base salary and your appraisals.You can say NO to projects. If the project doesn’t interest you, then you can decline to take it up. Obviously you need to convince your manager. Most managers will agree to not give you some project which you don’t want to undertake.Google has a pretty good internal mobility program. But the competition is very immense.( See point no.1 in Needs Improvement section)Needs ImprovementOne of my colleagues used to jokingly say that Google hires Ph.Ds to work as janitors. This is true to a large extent. Google hires CEOs to work as mid level managers. Most of the people who work at Google (and in India too) are way over-qualified for their jobs. If Google India wants to hire someone to write an email, they will go and hire a topper from DU. If they want to hire someone who can provide call support to users, they will go and hire an English hons. topper from DU (Do remember that you need some 99% in your boards to just clear DU’s cut off) . There are Ph.Ds at Google from IVY league colleges who just move data from one database to the other. You can see the pattern. This leads to immense competition.Most of the interesting roles are in Mountain View. The Engineering division in Hyderabad and Bangalore work on Google Apps for Work. It is a small team. I am not sure about the exact numbers but it is definitely less 1% of the total engineering workforce at Google. The two largest organisations at Google India are the sales org and the anti-abuse wing of Google which take down offensive content. If you come to work at Google India don’t expect to work on some cutting edge product like Driverless cars, Brain or Loon. Expect to work on something boring.Google India offers very limited scope for career growth. You obviously can’t become the CEO/SVP/VP working from India when more than 80% of your workforce is based out of Mountain View. The roles in India are very limited too since only a handful organisations are based out of India.Sooner than later, anyone, who has some iota of ambition and are not constrained by family, move to Mountain View. (The internal mobility is pretty great by the way minus the tons of competition for good roles. See point no. 1)Google runs a lot of programs to train its management and provides a lot of support to its employees to keep them stress free and remove all politics from the workplace. However, Google is a system run by people and at the end of the day people are flawed. Some politics does creep into the picture. It might be comparatively less than many other places but it does exist.Promotions in the non-tech organisations are very messy. It comes down to how much your manager is willing to push for your case. So, if you don’t have the best of relationships with your manager or your manager doesn’t like your face then find a new manager ASAP. If your manager is someone who backs down easily then say bye-bye to your promotion. I knew a guy on the floor who would stand behind his reportees like a wall (the noun, not Rahul Dravid). Multiple reportees in his team got promoted each cycle. Same cannot be said about the manager who had the reputation of backing down easily. It is not like there weren’t any hard-working or deserving candidates in the latter’s team. The scene is significantly different and less messy for tech ladders.Talking about Promotions, the lack of transparency around the committee who sits down to evaluate your candidature for promotion can be unnerving. Google allows you to be yourself & disagree with the decisions of the upper management. But at the back of your mind, you are always scared of what you say because you never know at what stage it may come to bite you in your backside. Almost any senior person on the floor can get you screwed out of your promotion. You absolutely cannot afford to piss off anyone who sits in one of those promo committees. What if the senior manager whose XYZ decision you disagreed with says he is not happy with your work in one of those closed committee meetings. If your immediate manager doesn’t fight tooth and nail for you, your promotion is gone.This point is specially true for Google India. I don’t think Google India managers are good at taking criticisms from their reportees. Almost all the questions asked during town hall meetings are anonymous. If the management doesn’t allow anonymous questions for some town hall, no questions are asked in that town hall. There is a lot of mistrust between management and non-management.This needs to be FIXED ASAP.Google India takes an awfully long time to weed out bad managers. Managers with bad approval ratings are given multiple chances to become better at their job. It can take anywhere from 3 years to Never for Google to identify a bad manager and ask them to either become an individual contributor or find another role somewhere else. Problem with this is the following : A bad individual contributor screws up a project. A bad manager screws up the career of their multiple reportees, multiple projects, the entire team and relationship with stakeholders.That being said, Google does put in some checks through the internal culture & escalation mediums that ensures that your manager will show consideration for you as a human being (unlike the notorious Indian IT industry where you are addressed as a ‘resource’ and not a human being).However, some people are simply not cut out for people management. I don’t blame Google for any of this. I simply hope they get better at filtering out such candidates early on and removing them sooner.They should also change the annual Manager feedback survey to bi-annual and make it more actionable & hold the manager responsible. Currently, the manager feedback survey is useless and is only used for the manager to self-introspect. So, if a particular manager thinks along the lines of ‘Hey. I am a good manager. All of these people reporting under me who have given me an approval of only 30% are idiots. I don’t care about this survey’ then the survey becomes entirely meaningless. There is no accountability for a manger with a bad survey rating.This might be slightly controversial but - Google doesn’t fire anyone for low performance. How is this a con? Let me explain. Amazon has a policy of firing 10% of its staff every year after stack ranking them. Google rarely fires anyone for low performance. At best after multiple bad reviews, they are asked to find a new team or job and are given enough time to do so.Both Google and Amazon in my opinion are at the two extreme ends of the spectrum. One leads to slack while the other leads to stress over fear of losing your job. I think a middle path is a more suitable approach. My 2 cents.That being said, Google does provide incentives for you to work hard. Hard work leads to good ratings which leads to better pay, more equity, better & faster career growth. However, you will occasionally find some people who are content with putting in their absolute minimum at the job and are simply happy with their take home salary and flying under the radar of the management.Google India is notorious at hiring people at the wrong level. I know so many people who were hired one level below than they should have been. If you are offered a job at Google India, then definitely try to reach out to an existing Indian Googler and evaluate which level is suitable for your profile and try to negotiate with your recruiter. Also, don’t let them push you around. Some recruiters think they have the birthright to hire you at the wrong level for a low salary because they are offering you a chance to work at Google.Again, this point is applicable only for non-tech ladders. Google uses internal tools for everything. You will learn a lot of skills during your job but most of them won’t translate to something that you can re-use in the industry. You will have to rely on your soft skills to get your next job.Open Work space: The floor can be very noisy at times (specially post 5 pm) and sometimes it can be impossible to work without your headphones on. For whatever reasons beyond my comprehension, a few folks used to take meetings from their desks and take 30 min+ personal calls sitting on their desk, happily oblivious of the amount of noise & annoyance they are causing to everyone in the bay. You either need to put on headphones or go up to them and request them to move somewhere else. Most often than not, it is you who will either put on the headphones or move somewhere else because you don’t want to appear rude.The amount of freebies & other perks can sometimes make you entitled. Some become more entitled than others. Some bad apples do treat the temporary employees (TVCs) with disrespect. Some engineering guys do look down on non-engineering guys. (Please notice the word - some. Some doesn’t mean all)Your work doesn’t speak for you. You need to spend a lot of time to market your work. This includes sending emails, reaching out to upper management during their office hours and very subtly praise yourself and your work, speaking out during meetings and again talking about your work and so on. This can be difficult for introverts and for people who are uncomfortable with boasting about their work.Related to Promotions - The amount of work put by you is completely meaningless. To get promoted, you need to deliver on projects and show impact. If the management keeps flip flopping on the scope of the project or you are collaborating with someone who doesn’t care, then either you need to Superman up and deliver the project end to end all by yourself or forget about your promotion.Also, even if you successfully execute a very complex project but for whatever reason, the metrics gods aren’t favorable to you and the impact numbers don’t look good, then it won’t do you much good. On the other hand, it is quite possible for someone to land a super easy project and gain a lot of brownie points by showing some good numbers thanks to business requirements of that particular product.The Microsoft Problem. Google India, like Google is expanding at a fast rate. This means more competition and lesser budgets for everything. The budgets for parties, gifts, events, off sites have decreased over the years. Don’t get me wrong, the perks and budgets are still very high, but every time the number of coffee machines on the floor get reduced or your favorite expensive candy in the micro kitchen go missing or the size of the packets of cookies in micro kitchen go from large to small, a lot of old timers start speculating about the upcoming apocalypse. (Apocalypse here being end of perks and culture as we know it)Throw Nooglers in the ocean and let them either learn to swim or drown completely (metaphorical). This is more of a Google culture and less of a Google India culture. As a new joinee, and after a couple of short meetings explaining the role of your team, you are expected to fly on your own. You are given a span of 3- 6 months to ramp up and learn things on your own. If you run into a problem, you are expected to reach out to someone and seek help. No body will come and ask you if you need help.I am not sure why I am including this in the needs improvement section. Google hires self-starters & ambitious people who like to get things done. However, in the beginning this can be very intimidating and you are expected to struggle a lot. Even basic things at Google from getting the right accesses and getting added to the correct groups to submitting a simple change in the codebase will require you to read some internal documentation or ask someone for help.Bottom line :You will come to work for Google India for the brand and leave to pursue better quality work elsewhere (either to Mountain View or to another company). Google India is a very good employer and treats you well but once the honeymoon period is over, it is the quality of work which will keep you satisfied (or dissatisfied) at the work place and no amount of free chocolates or other freebies will be able to compensate for it. So choose your role wisely and don’t expect flying unicorns or something. Do keep in mind that all the free stuff will cease to excite you..just like your cell phone isn’t exciting anymore and just like your last car or clothes stopped pleasing you after a couple of days/weeks.

Q. Can someone do a sub-internship in the USA, being a medical graduate?A. My standard answer would have been sub-internships are reserved for medical students who have not graduated. Until I saw this listing:Postgraduate Sub-Internship ProgramOtherwise, graduated physicians can apply for observerships which may or may not allow much direct patient care. Below are programs for IMG listed with the AMA.Observership Programs for International Medical GraduatesObserverships are designed to help international medical graduates (IMGs) adapt to the practice of medicine in the United States. Review the list of observerships that have registered with the AMA.American International Integrated Observership Program (MedicalObs)New applications are being accepted for 2018 positions at this time. Scholarships now available for highly competitive candidates.At MedicalObs, our focus is on the applicant’s experience. While there are many programs to choose from to help better prepare for entry into U.S. medical residency programs, what distinguishes us is our customized, integrated and individualized program curriculum designed to formulate an action plan to set applicants apart from the competition. Our values and philosophies are centered around the importance of personal growth, innovation, communication, commitment, teamwork and reliability.Length of Program4-12 weeksPreceptorsMedical Director for Hospitalist Program, Internal Medicine Physicians, Emergency Medicine Physicians, Psychiatry, SubspecialistsProgram OverviewObserving with U.S. licensed physicians in a hospital-based settingPerformance and evaluation review with chairman/program director*Letter of recommendation from chairman/program director*Certificate of completion with honors from AIIOP-MedicalObs*Review and edit of personal statement for residency applicationLive mock interview seminarsComplex clinical case reviews and live didactic sessionsAccent reduction and dialect coaching coursesAttending colloquium guest speaker series run by U.S. physician leaders and coachesExclusive alumni membership network with U.S. physicians via MedicalObsIntegrated cultural experiences with local community groups and social events*Based on a successful performance/evaluationEligibility CriteriaForeign medical graduates (FMG) from medical school and ECFMG certifiedU.S. senior graduatesU.S. FMGsNonmatched residency graduatesRecommend completion of USMLE Step 1 and Step 2Applications for Observers/PreceptorsGo to www.MedicalObs.com, click on the “apply now” section to fill out formsFor questions and enrollment, email us at [email protected] us via phone at 1 (833) 876-3627 or 1 (833) USMDOBSApplication DeadlinesWe screen applications year round.We accept and screen applications from all countries.Tuition and fees to be paid in full prior to start.AmeriClerkships Postgraduate Subinternships With Residency ProgramsLength of ProgramMinimum 4 weeks; maximum 48 weeks. Start in as little as 2 weeks.​PreceptorsProgram Directors (PDs), Associate PDs, Residency Program Faculty, Teaching Attending Physicians and ResidentsProgram OverviewAmeriClerkships Medical Society (AMS), in partnerships with Graduate Medical Education (GME) departments offers a rare opportunity for medical graduate members of AMS to enroll in Postgraduate Subinternships (PGSIs) in over 30 specialties.PGSIs are designated as AMS-PGY1CONNECT sites, meaning that AMS members have secured residency interviews and even “matched” into such hospital(s).A typical “matched” AMS member who has matched into a PGSI residency program has:Completed 12-28 weeks of PGSISecured 2-4 letters of reference directly from PGSI supervising attendingsIs a U.S. citizen or permanent residentPassed USMLE Step 3By enrolling as an AMS PGSI, medical graduates may expect to gain first-hand exposure to the inner workings of U.S. GME and medical residencies (even in 100% inpatient settings), and develop into an effective PGY1 by learning how to:Become an integral member of U.S. medical residency teams who manage acute and chronic medical problemsRotate and collaborate with top residency program faculties, teaching attending physicians, chief residents and even program directorsParticipate in teaching rounds, and possibly present in journal clubs and residency conferencesRefine history taking and physical examination skillsFormulate problem lists, prioritize medical problems, select laboratory and ancillary tests, as well as institute drug and supportive therapiesUtilize subspecialty consultative servicesDevelop definitive plans for ongoing care and follow-up of dismissed patientsUpon satisfactory completion of each PGSI clinical block, AMS PGSI will be evaluated based on the 6 ACGME Core Competencies, and may request a performance-based letter of recommendation on official GME/teaching hospital letterhead.For questions and enrollment, please contact AmeriClerkships Medical Society directly at +1 (949) 417-8980, or visit the website.Bridgeport Family Medicine Externship/Preceptorship ProgramBridgeport Family Medicine offers real hands-on experience in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and urgent care medicine. The program is structured as a "mini residency program" to prepare IMGs for the U.S. medical system by using state of the art EMR/HER systems.Length of the Program:4-12 weeks, extern may start any Monday of the weekProgram OverviewThe extern interviews the patient, performs the physical exam along with attending physician and discusses differential diagnoses, management options, labs, imaging and forms a management plan. In addition, the extern will:See and manage patients with their preceptorLearn on a state-of-the-art Electronic Medical RecordImprove physical examination skillsImprove patient note taking skillsImprove history taking skillsLearn to perform EKG, Phlebotomy, PFTs and UADiscuss family medicine topics and the latest guidelines on a daily basisFor more details, visit www.usmedicalextern.com or email: [email protected] Medicine® Physician Refresher/Re-entry PreceptorshipDrexel University College of Medicine has a tuition-based structured preceptorship/observership for IMGs preparing for a U.S. residency. Preceptorships are offered in internal medicine, pediatrics, OB-GYN, surgery and anesthesia. Rotations are all on the main university campus in Philadelphia.Length of Program6-week rotations; repeatable once. The course starts on the 1st Monday of every month and is first come, first serve. The application process takes 4–6 weeks.Program OverviewAttend inpatient and outpatient rounds, core conferences, lecture and learn about medical care in the United StatesAttend didactics: morning reports, noon reports, grand rounds and clinical case discussionsHomework will be assigned to hone in on medical knowledge, clinical reasoning and communication skillsMeet weekly with preceptor to review the exercises and receive feedbackFind more details on the program or call (215) 762-2580.Griffin Medical Clinical Observership ProgramThe application process for 2017-2018 runs through Sept. 30, 2017. New applications are accepted during this time only.The program is no longer accepting applications for October 2017 - January 2018. All positions for time have been filled. Only applications for the months of February 2018 - June 2018 are being accepted.Length of Program4 weeksProgram OverviewTo familiarize yourself with the U.S. medical systemTo become proficient in presentation of history and physical examinations on daily roundsTo become proficient in ascertaining patients' acute symptoms and making a therapeutic planTo learn to write daily progress notesTo learn how to interpret basic lab tests and radiology data such as blood, urine serum, X-rays, etc.Eligibility CriteriaForeign medical student graduates must be:Graduates of a medical schoolMust be ECFMG certifiedApplicationsThe following are required to be submitted to the Committee for consideration of participation in the program:A completed application or ERAS application (for ERAS, months for which the candidate is applying should be indicated in the email. In the event that ERAS application is not available, a common application form can be substituted)A cover letter detailing desired rotationA curriculum vitaeAt least 1 letter of reference from a clinical supervisor or advisor, or an attending physicianUSMLE score reportsMedical school diplomaECFMG certificateTOEFL score report ( if available)Documentation of up-to-date immunization record (including flu shot during flu season (Oct-March)Proof of health insurance coverageA recent photograph for identificationCopy of passport and valid visaApplication DeadlineA completed application must be received no later than Oct. 1Formal start date is usually the first working day of a calendar monthTiming is at the discretion of the program coordinator and teaching service schedulesVisit Griffin Medical’s website for more details and to apply.International Observership ProgramAllegheny General and West Penn hospitals host observers from around the world. This program was designed for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, medical students, physiotherapists, technologists, technicians and health administrators.Length of Program4 weeksThe observership is a specific exchange program in which the observer accompanies the medical staff through their daily hospital routine, sharing experiences with doctors, residents, staff and students. This program is not for academic credit.Program OverviewObservation of the clinical care of patientsParticipation in lectures, grand round and other related eventsNo privileges are granted to participate in the clinical treatment of patients to assist in any medical procedures, test or surgeriesFor inquiries about international educational opportunities available through Allegheny General, call International Services (412) 359-5269 or email [email protected] Memorial HospitalIt is the policy of the Public Health Trust to accept physicians or resident physicians desiring to participate as an observer/rotator at Jackson Health System facilities. All requests for observer/rotators must be reviewed and approved by Risk Management.Length of ProgramObserverships may last up to 4 weeks (1 month), longer if written approval by the department is obtained.Program OverviewThe individual desiring to participate must provide the Office of Physician Services all required documentation as set forth in this policy in order to be considered for a rotation or observership. Jackson Health System will not provide professional liability coverage for any resident for an outside institution. If the home institution will not provide the coverage, then they will be classified as observer status only. An observer is a health care professional or student who will not provide patient care or have direct patient contact. Observers differ from students in an academic program in that the observership is not an educational requirement of any academic program (see administrative policy 389 for students).Observer may be one of the following:Physicians (foreign or domestic)Registered nurses (foreign or domestic)Other health professionals (e.g. radiology, respiratory therapy, psychology, pharmacy technicians, etc.)Students not covered under an existing affiliation agreementObserverships may be in an inpatient or outpatient setting and must be approved by the Jackson Health System facility’s department(s) director(s) of the area being observed. For physicians, approval is needed from the associate/chief medical officer. For residents, approval is needed from the GME office. For nurses, approval is needed from the director of patient care services and/or the chief nursing officer. For all other students, approval is needed from the associate/chief medical officer.For more information, view the Policy & Procedure Manual.Contact InformationGraduate Medical Education OfficeJackson Memorial HospitalInstitute 118B1611 NW 12th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33136Phone: 305-585-4310Fax: 305-585-4309For more information on visiting medical students, please visit the information page.Somerset Family MedicineHands-on externship/observership in outpatient family medicine in Michigan for FMG, international medical graduates, Caribbean medical students and Caribbean graduates. Outpatient family medicine office in Troy and Sterling Heights, Michigan.Length of ProgramMinimum 4 weeks; maximum 12 weeksPreceptorNeil Jaddou, M.D., M.S. board-certified family medicine, clinical assistant professor of family medicine and community health, Wayne State School of Medicine and Oakland Beaumont Medical School. Staff at 4 hospitals and affiliated with St. John Oakland-Macomb medical students teaching program.Program OverviewBecome efficient in electronic medical or health records.Get familiar with the health system in the United States.Practice on presenting a patient and doing history and physical examinations.Learn how to interpret basic lab tests and radiology data such as blood, urine, X-rays, EKG and PFT.Expand your medical knowledge and build on your differential diagnosis.Improve your scores on CK, CS and USMLE Step 3.Tour the hospitals and attend conferences when available.Online lectures given by Dr. Jaddou on common problems in family medicine, taken from future textbook by professor Jaddou.Opportunity to publish patient education article in the community newspaper.Receive a letter of recommendation at the end of the rotation that has a university and hospital logo.Receive a certificate of completion at the end of externship. There is also a possibility of finishing with honors and student of the month award.Opportunity to be chief extern and teach others.Volunteer in the church clinic once a week.Eligibility CriteriaUSMLE not required.Immediate availability. Start any day that is convenient for you.Must be living in U.S. to apply. We do not sponsor visas.All visas are accepted as long as you are physically present in U.S.ApplicationVisit www.americanexternship.com for details on price and submitting an application. For additional information or questions email us at [email protected].

The “C♀aliti♂n + For Marriage” fired the first shot in their Australian TV and social media campaign. In their own words, these are their reasons for opposing SSM:Changing the marriage law will have consequences for what is taught in our kids classrooms;Changing the marriage law to allow same-sex couples to marry will mean taking gender out of our laws;Radical gay sex education programs will become more widespread and compulsory as it has overseas;More and more kids will be taught their gender is fluid and not based on biology;If same-sex marriage becomes law, parents will not have a leg to stand on if they don't want their kids taught radical sex education, and gender ideologies;Saying 'yes' to same-sex marriage means saying 'no' to parents rights.—The C♀aliti♂n for Marriage TV and YouTube campaign.Styled as “concerned mothers” and citizens standing up for their beliefs, the ad has spawned endlessly hysterical arguments on social and traditional media. These people claim recognition of Same Sex Marriage is:fundamentally disgusting;a left wing transgender social agenda aimed at the grooming of children;an opening of the door to polyamory, paedophilia and bestiality;a threat to the Aussie way of life;counter to the accepted definition of the historic institution of marriage.Video Credit: C♀aliti♂n + For Marriage, YouTube.The first four statements are opinions—“slippery slope” arguments based on fear; a perception that conflates the acceptance of SSM with a “decline in social standards”.The fifth argument is historically incorrect. But, given how recent these changes in marriage law—many people alive now, lived through those years of social and legal change uncomfortably.TL; DR: The claim is that Australia is at a crossroads, a slippery slope direct from the decriminalisation of homosexuality, to recognition of de facto relationships, same sex unions and then beyond.MARRIAGE IN AUSTRALIAN HISTORYIn the early years of our British colonies, marriage was limited to “sober and industrious convicts and settlers of good character.” The age of consent varied between twelve and fourteen.Indigenous Australians had even more severe limitations—they were banned from “marrying outside of their race.” All indigenous marriages and especially “half-caste unions” were impossible without permission from the official office of an “Aboriginal Protector.”The States administered marriage throughout the 19th Century, progressively raising the age of consent to eighteen (sixteen “with permission in exceptional circumstances.”) At Federation in 1901, responsibility for marriage passed to the Federal government.Australian Marriage Law has historically been far from unchanging, but like all Aussie law, has been based on British precedent. Prohibitions against homosexuality and bestiality were based on the the Magna Carta of 1215, which were later confirmed with the Buggery Act of 1533. Lesbian sex wasn’t recognised at all in law.Prosecutions were few, but the UK didn’t repeal the death penalty for buggery until 1861. Until then, the penalty for sodomy and bestiality in the UK had been death, plus forfeiture of property. The legal prohibitions themselves remained law in England and Wales until 1967. [1]Meanwhile, The Australian Federal government had legislated the Marriage Act, 1961. The Act made no formal definition of marriage and relied for definition on British legal precedent formed by Hyde v Hyde, 1866.In 2004, Attorney General Philip Ruddock and Prime Minister John Howard proposed an amendment with a formal definition of marriage in the 1961 Act based on the judgement in the 1866 case:“Marriage may for this purpose be defined as the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others.”The change was passed by Parliament in one hour flat. The political intention was an unashamed attempt by the conservative Liberal/National Party coalition to place a definition of marriage within the Marriage Act which would prevent “interference” by The Courts.Later, the Family Law Act of 2009 extended marriage and civil union definitions, formalising social welfare regulation limitations for couples and some property rights for de facto relationships including homosexual unions, in federal legislation.It’s easy to see how the campaign against SSM seeks to mobilise those whose beliefs were challenged by these quite recent legal and social changes.THE RISE OF LOBBY GROUPS—POWER POLITICS IN AUSTRALIAThat’s the “Why” in arguments against SSM. What isn’t referenced in this question is just as important. “How” is the argument being made by those against change?Image credit: SBS—Special Broadcasting Service (Australia’s Multicultural Government TV Network) [2]Fast forward to 2017… In the C♀aliti♂n for Marriage TV campaign, the participants are presented as “concerned mums” and citizens. Who are these people? What are their motivations? What level of support do they have from within the community?Image Credit: 7 things Vote Compass reveals about Australians' views on same-sex marriage.The Australian Advertising Bureau has responded to public challenges to the ad campaign with the advice that, “[Unlike in other advertising] There is no legal requirement for political advertising in Australia to be factually correct.”Someone tell #CoalitionforMarriage this isn't about taking away their choice to say no. It's about giving others the choice to say yes.— Jessie Lou (@smithsica) August 29, 2017Each of these three people in the ad campaign actually have long histories of public life. They’re dedicated, highly organised, professional political and religious activists.CELIA WHITECelia first came to press attention via her media campaign against the Safe Schools Coalition Australia, beginning with her local school’s participation in the national anti-bullying and gender awareness program. Her campaign was heavily promoted by the Australian Christian Lobby.Mother Celia White said she was going to pull her children out of Frankston High School, and claimed the school was teaching “dangerous” and “age inappropriate” content about gender dysphoria.—Woman threatens to pull kids from high school that supports gender diversity.The principal of Frankston High has categorically denied her claims:"We checked with all the teachers; it never happened," John Albiston said."I have never had any complaints that we advised the boys they could wear dresses. We didn't offer them that option.”—'It never happened': Principal denies mum's TV claim that son could wear a dress to schoolCelia’s posed questions on “Q&A”, ABC Australia’s live public interactive political TV forum, claiming to be “a private citizen with no religious affiliation”:SAFE SCHOOLS – UNSAFE?CELIA WHITE asked: I’ve taken my children out of Frankston High School because of the content of the Safe Schools program. I have no religious affiliation but I believe it is biology that defines what sex you are, not radical gender theory. I did not feel comfortable with my daughter sharing a toilet with the boys who wish to identify as girls and withdrew her enrolment into year 7. Are my concerns legitimate?—Safe Schools, Sniping and SenatorsCelia White’s active in “Catch The Fire Ministries”—an apostolic church, calling for a “No Vote” in the national SSM survey. In January of 2017, the church was stripped of charitable tax-free status for campaigning from the pulpit for donations to the Rise Up Australia Party, also run by the head of the church, Pastor Daniel Nalliah. [3]Ultra-right wing conservative Rise Up Australia campaigns on a platform of “Keep Australia Australian.” It’s anti-immigration and multiculturalism—especially anti-Islam. The party stands against same sex marriage, climate change science and supports “Judeo-Christian values in school education.”DR. PANSY LAIThe second person to appear in the ad is pediatrics specialist, Dr. Pansy Lai (misspelt ‘Li’ in the ad’s authorisation statement.)Dr. Lai is head of the "Australian Chinese for Families Association." The org campaigns for “traditional family values” and against the Safe Schools Program, SSM and "gay identity"—promoting “conversion therapy as a solution.”PASTOR HELEN McIVOROur third speaker in the ad is Pastor Helen McIvor, from the apostolic City Builders Church, who campaign against recognition of SSM.THE AUSTRALIAN CHRISTIAN LOBBYAll three activists and church organisations are blanket promoted by the Australian Christian Lobby, which claims 80,000 members and a budget of $20,000 per week, one million per year.Head of the org, Lyle Shelton identifies as a “voice for Christian values.” He positions the ACL as a fiercely political lobby group and the go-to representative for media looking to present “both sides” of the debate.I.S.A.A.C.Together, these lobby groups and churches are allied with the I.S.A.A.C. Network,—the International Strategic Alliance of Apostolic Churches.The organisation uses unabashedly military language in its statements of policy:We hope to co-ordinate our thrust into these nations through our Network churches; using them as our “Antioch Bases”. We will target those nations where our bases are geared towards growth and for ongoing revival. We hope to divide those nations into regions to effectively penetrate and “conquer” them.We will use churches with an apostolic mentality to co-ordinate the region for a divine attack on the nation. We are currently building apostolic bases in many nations for an end-time launching into the harvest. [4]THE JOHN JAY INSTITUTEOn the ACL’s websites, the John Jay Institute is listed under “affiliates.” On their “John Jay Fellows” page they say:We seek out the best and brightest of tomorrow’s creators and writers, parents and teachers, lawmakers and pastors, entrepreneurs and philanthropists. We provide them with the intellectual, spiritual, and professional training for transformational cultural leadership. And then we give them membership in a close-knit professional fraternity of alumni to facilitate their strategic placement, continued growth, and lasting impact on American culture. [5]THE BATTLE FOR HEARTS AND MINDSReligion is inseparable from the SSM debate. Any evaluation of the arguments and the campaign opposing recognition of SSM has to include the powerful religious and lobby groups behind the campaign.The US is accustomed to politically active Apostolic and Pentecostal Churches. They’re a relatively new development in Auspol and the social fabric of Australia—a constitutionally mandated secular country with the freedom to practice any religion. While 60% of Aussies claim a religious affiliation in the Census, only 10% attend any church regularly.These churches often preach a “prosperity gospel” and always promote “conservative, traditional values.” Again and again, an overwhelming majority of two-thirds of Australians support Same Sex Marriage in surveys.Apostolic movements and churches are international, well-funded, committed, organised, relentless and ultra-professional hi-tech media and political lobbyists. In 21stC Australia, “for better or worse”—they’re here to stay.Footnotes[1] Timeline: Australian states decriminalise male homosexuality[2] Social media reacts to the first 'vote no on same-sex marriage' advert airing[3] Church stripped of charitable status after raising funds for anti-Islam party[4] ISAAC NETWORK - Dr Jonathan David[5] John Jay Institute