Coming from Austin, TX and wanting to do residency in Housto [Archive]

wolfvgang22

06-16-2004, 10:24 PM

Texas is one of the toughest states to get licensed in for IMGs. With Saba and St. Matts on the verge of getting CA approval, Texas may now be the toughest.

You will want to search this forum for "Texas" AND "licensure", there has been a ton of discussion on the topic.

You will find that according to the Texas State Medical Board ( at http://www.tsbme.state.tx.us/rules/mpa/chapter155.htm ), there are many hurdles for graduates of overseas medical schools.

Also, there are laws about doing clinicals and residency in Texas for international medical school graduates. In effect, if you go to St. Matts you couldn't do clinicals or residency in Texas and still be eligible for licensure unless you registered at a Texas med school as a "visiting student", which is not easy to do.

Further, you must do ALL clinicals and later your residency in ACGME greenbook listed hospitals. I don't know if St. Matts can guarantee you all ACGME rotations. You would have to be sure the actual subject you did your rotation in (ie; Family Practice) was actually the subject listed in the ACGME directory. Doing a FP rotation in a hosptial listed in the ACGME directory for OB/GYN won't work. Also, you must do rotations in neurology and family practice.

Lately, Texas has demanded that some research be ongoing at the medical school an applicant for licensure has graduated from in order to satisfy the requirement that overseas medical schools must be "substantialy equivalent" to Texas med schools.

Here's an excerpt from the website listed above:
§155.004.Additional Eligibility Requirements for Graduates of Certain Foreign Medical Schools

A license applicant who is a graduate of a medical school that is located outside the United States and Canada must present proof satisfactory to the board that the applicant:

(1) is a graduate of a school whose curriculum meets the requirements for an unapproved medical school as determined by a committee of experts selected by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board;

(2) has successfully completed at least three years of graduate medical training in the United States or Canada that was approved by the board;

(3) is eligible for a license to practice medicine in the country in which the school is located, except for any citizenship requirements;

(4) holds a valid certificate issued by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates; and

(5) is able to communicate in English.

and another

§155.003.General Eligibility Requirements

(a) To be eligible for a license under this chapter, an applicant must present proof satisfactory to the board that the applicant:

(1) is at least 21 years of age;

(2) is of good professional character and has not violated Section 164.051, 164.052, or 164.053;

(3) has completed:

(A) at least 60 semester hours of college courses, other than courses in medical school, that are acceptable to The University of Texas at Austin for credit on a bachelor of arts degree or a bachelor of science degree;

(B) the entire primary, secondary, and premedical education required in the country of medical school graduation, if the medical school is located outside the United States or Canada; or

(C) substantially equivalent courses as determined by board rule;

(4) is a graduate of a medical school located in the United States or Canada and approved by the board;

(5) has either:

(A) successfully completed one year of graduate medical training approved by the board in the United States or Canada; or

(B) graduated from a medical school located outside the United States or Canada and has successfully completed three years of graduate medical training approved by the board in the United States or Canada;

(6) has passed within three attempts an examination accepted or administered by the board, except as provided by Section 155.056; and

(7) has passed a Texas medical jurisprudence examination as determined by board rule.

(b) All medical or osteopathic medical education an applicant receives in the United States must be accredited by an accrediting body officially recognized by the United States Department of Education as the accrediting body for medical education leading to the doctor of medicine degree or the doctor of osteopathy degree. This subsection does not apply to postgraduate medical education or training.

(c) An applicant who is unable to meet the requirement established by Subsection (b) may be eligible for an unrestricted license if the applicant:

(1) received medical education in a hospital or teaching institution sponsoring or participating in a program of graduate medical education accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the American Osteopathic Association, or the board in the same subject as the medical or osteopathic medical education as defined by board rule; or

(2) is specialty board certified by a specialty board approved by the American Osteopathic Association or the American Board of Medical Specialties.

(d) In addition to the other requirements prescribed by this subtitle, the board may require an applicant to comply with other requirements that the board considers appropriate.

(e) An applicant is not eligible for a license if:

(1) the applicant holds a medical license that is currently restricted for cause, canceled for cause, suspended for cause, or revoked by a state, a province of Canada, or a uniformed service of the United States;

(2) an investigation or a proceeding is instituted against the applicant for the restriction, cancellation, suspension, or revocation in a state, a province of Canada, or a uniformed service of the United States; or

(3) a prosecution is pending against the applicant in any state, federal, or Canadian court for any offense that under the laws of this state is a felony or a misdemeanor that involves moral turpitude.

Licensure in Texas is possible, but you must be very Precise in how you go about it. :D