International medical graduates (IMGs) are physicians who have graduated from a medical school outside of the country they intend to ply their trade. Medical schools around the world vary in education standards, curricula, and evaluation methods. This is the reason why many countries have an international medical graduate program, corresponding to the educational commission for foreign medical students (ECFMG) in the United States. The purpose of ECFMG Certification is to assess the readiness of an IMG international medical graduate to enter clinical specialty training programs as resident physicians and fellowship programs in the United States. It further helps to promote career options for an IMG residency graduate in the USA.
Different Program Opportunities Available in the International Medical Graduate Program
Here are some of the opportunities available for students:
Great International Medical Graduate Programs in Reputable Schools
Here are some of the best international medical graduate friendly residency programs in the us that you can access through the LoR portal:
Harvard IMG Program
HMS Exchange Clerkship Program: The Harvard Medical School (HMS) exchange clinical clerkship for IMG program is an IMG program and is one of the largest visiting student programs in the U.S, it was put in place to ensure students assigned to Harvard-affiliated hospitals are fully ready to partake in Harvard’s advanced elective experiences, HMS screens all applications and reserves the right to restrict those who may be assigned.
Requirements
To be considered eligible to participate in the Exchange Clerkship Program, students must be in their final year of medical school. The educational systems of many non-US or Canadian medical schools range in duration from 4 to 6 years; thus, in a 6-year medical school system (e.g., German medical schools), students must be in their 6th year to be considered the equivalent of a US 4th year medical student. To be eligible for participation in the Exchange Clerk Program, students must be enrolled in a medical school that is part of a university. Students in “offshore” medical schools, for-profit medical schools, proprietary medical schools, or stand-alone outside of a university are not eligible for this program.
Yale
Visiting International Students Elective Program: The Yale medical school for IMG supports a strong Visiting International Student Elective Program for international students coming to Yale to do clinical electives. The program receives between 450 and 500 applications a year and accepts about 100 students. The following are required of prospective applicants:
Requirements
- Completed application for the Visiting International Student Elective Program submitted 4 – 6 months before the start of the chosen elective.
- Letter of support from the Dean of the medical school,
- Copy of IMG student’s current transcript.
- Curriculum vitae (CV) that list student’s education, publications, and other professional accomplishments.
- Letter of recommendation from a member of the faculty at student’s medical school who has observed student’s clinical skills.
- Proof of health insurance obtained from student’s health insurance company.
- Personal statement describing student’s career goals, how this experience will help the student achieve them, and what student has accomplished thus far in pursuit of those goals.
- A record of student TOEFL scores is required if the student is a non-native English speaker.
Note: The above-required documents must all be written in English or accompanied by English translations.
UCLA
UCLA International Medical Graduate Program: The UCLA IMG Program was put in place for IMG students from Latin America or a Spanish-speaking country who are interested in obtaining residency training in family medicine and a medical license to practice in California. The goal of the UCLA IMG program is to provide bilingual (English-Spanish) family physicians for the state’s underserved rural and urban communities which include large Hispanic and other vulnerable populations.
Requirements
Only international medical graduates (IMGs) or medical students from medical schools recognized by the Medical Board of California are eligible for residency to apply to this program. If your school is not recognized, you will not receive the postgraduate training authorization letter (PTAL).
IMGs wishing to apply for the UCLA IMG Program are required to provide the following documents:
- Documents you have to send:
- Documents the Federation of State Medical Boards has to send:
- Documents your medical school has to send:
Hence, the above-mentioned will help you make the right choice for IMG alternative careers and to also see which international medical graduate program that you will fit into well!