Lobby

[IMG2006]

I have heard a lot of complaints, but I don't see very much in the way of an organized action being taken by IMGs. What we need to do is gather a list of the problem states and begin showering them with mail. I have been doing some of this with GA, but haven't had much support from my borthers in arms. It's much easier for these boards to ignore one guy with an axe to grind than it is to stave off a few thousand calls, faxes and emails. In many cases, I feel that we have a legal course of action to take... follow me here.

In GA, for instance, there is a requirment that all clerkships in the US be done within an ACGME teaching hosp. This rule can bar you from licensure even after you have completed residency. Further, just listing the hosp isn't enough. You have to obtain a raised hosp seal on each of your clerkships.... that might be tricky 5-10-20 years down the road.
Here's the really interesting part. If you did all of your rotations out of the US, there is no problem.... you simply take the USMLEs and complete 3 years of residency. That's all they want. So this rule actually raises a question of equal protection under the law in terms of the USMLE exams.

My suggestion is that everyone start the campaign to get equal treatment NOW!!!! Go online, find the medical boards' contact info and get busy. Recruit your friends, and start enlisting the help of other doctors. This crap will go on as long as we allow it to.

[ASIANDOC]

raised hosp seal

I like this one,hospital stamps not approved?

[Jumanji]

Jeez... soon we will need everything notarized and apostilled.

[jpryor]

I'm not certain I'm understanding your complaint. Clinical rotation requirements are the same for US and IMG students--it's where the playing field becomes level. Are you proposing changing this?

[IMG2006]

No, they aren't the same...

1) anywhere a US student goes is ACGME affiliated by virtue of the fact that the student is attending an LCME institution. This is why some US students rotate in offices... you don't think they spend every moment in a residency program, do you? The answer to this is no. I know students who have rotated in the most bush-whacked clinics.

2) things aren't the same for a 100% foreign grad either. Any clerkships completed out of the US are considered valid. So by implication, the medical board prefers the training you get in (name 3rd world country) than you can get from a board certified MD who doesn't have a formal agreement with GME office of a hosp.

3) This follows you for life. Foriegn clerkships cease to be an issue after 3 years of residency. If you have completed even one week of clerkships in the US, which you cannot get a hosp seal on, however, you're out. You can be board certified... you can have completed a fellowship... you can be the dean of a medical school, but no license.

You follow me now? GA isn't the only state with this requirement either... and believe you me, just because you did a rotation in an ACGME hosp, that doesn't mean that the GME offices are going to certify that rotation. Even if they do, it doesn't mean they'll be there in 10 years. Think of all the political ** that can go down in the meantime. Look at the students who rotated in Southwest Hosp in ATL... the Hosp went bankrupt and closed it's doors... where are the records? Who do those students call to get their rotations verified 10 years from now? What about the 200 students who got closed out of Atlanta Medical Center, because that hosp decided they no longer wanted to deal with IMG students....
Everyone had better take a long hard look into this issue and make damn sure your schools are on the level with you. I have found that many schools don't even know about these rules, or believe that by completing 3 years of residency, their students are covered. We're all so focused on passing the boards and getting into residency that it has failed to dawn on many of us that getting through your residency and getting a license are two very different things.
I for one am offended that anyone would deny me a license based on my clerkships if I have made it through all boards and my residency, when all I would have had to do is do my clinicals in another country to get that same license. It isn't right. I don't want to offend anyone's homeland, but you can't tell me that ANY clinicals in the US are not better than the ones you get in say... Dominican Republic. I use that country, as my brother-in-law studied there and has told me how horrible it is there. He talked about expired meds, dirty clinics and everything else you could imagine. That's ok with the board... just so long as you don't study here in a non-teaching hosp. Does that make sense to anyone? All that is is a rule designed to keep offshore students/grads out.... It makes use of us as slaves and interns and then denies us the rewards.

[IMG2006]

raised hosp seal

I like this one,hospital stamps not approved?


I think it's the same thing, actually... What they're driving at is that a signature from a doc won't cut it. It has to be some official mark from the GME dept.

Remember, that's only if the rotation was done here... if you did it in any other country, won't you come right in and have a seat.

[2cents]

I'm not certain I'm understanding your complaint. Clinical rotation requirements are the same for US and IMG students--it's where the playing field becomes level. Are you proposing changing this?

No they are not the same. LCME schools do not have the Blue/green problem. As far as LCME goes every thing is green.