Thread: What states ARE ok for Residency (not Perm.Licensure) for a non-CA/NY school grad?

Hello all,

I attend a school that is not CA-approved, not NY-approved. I am wondering which states will NOT allow me to do a RESIDENCY (not permanent license) in. I will be applying this upcoming September so I don't want to waste my money/time on applications to states that I know wont allow me to do a residency in. I am not too concerned about permanent licensure, I will worry about that after I complete my residency (if i get one, knock on wood).

Obviously CA and NY are off limits, but i know some states wont allow you to go there for permanent licensing but will allow you to go there for residency. If anyone can provide a quick list that would be great, because most of the discussions on here are about PERMANENT licensing and not residency. Thanks.

Just to clarify, as their is some misinformation posted in this thread, I will refer you to a similar discussion, and my post in another thread on this forum:

http://www.valuemd.com/windsor-unive...t=#post1441991

I believe this to be the most accurate and up to date information. Being approved for residency in NY has nothing to do with greater than 12 weeks of rotation in NY, it is if you do greater than 12 weeks of rotation outside the home country of your medical school, your school must be on the approved list, which I provide in the link above.

There is a big difference between applying for residency and licensure. If you just want to do residency in a state, all you need is your ECFMG certificate, MD/DO diploma, no criminal record and your school HAS to be ACCREDITED there (ie. the big 4 SABA/Ross/SGU/AUC) are accredited in 45+ states. If you have these qualifications and you match there, you will get a residency permit/training permit/PIT (they call it differently in every state) and you will be able to do residency there. The only state that does not follow this process is California. Cali is the only state that will scrutinize your ACGME/non-ACGME rotations prior to residency. In short you cannot do residency there if you are not approved for licensure. That is why you have to apply for PTAL form before application season and Cali will not give you an interview if you do not have it. For other states, you can do residency or fellowship training then leave the state to be licensed in another state. (ie. let say you did your residency in Colorado and fellowship in Idaho. Then go to NY to be licensed, if you want to practice there)

Licensure on the other hand goes through a different process. This is the ONLY time they will scrutinized your rotations if they are ACGME or not. So, if let's say none of your rotations are ACGME approved and you come from the big four caribbean schools, you can do residency any where, even if it is all "green book" state. but if you decide to settle there because you meet the "love of your life" and wanna settle down. getting your license, will have some serious problems.
So this is what I tell people, if your school is accredited in 45+ states and you can afford it, apply in all states for residency and if you have your PTAL from Cali, apply at Cali too. Then pick one state that you wanna practice for the rest of your life in and follow their guidelines for licensure, let's say new york. Follow their ACGME rule ie. <12 units of non-ACGME, all cores ACGME. After residency or fellowship come back to NY and practice.

I think the reason why people are so "hung up" on ACGME accreditation before the application for residency is because they think that ACGME is important for residency. As I explained above, it is NOT. Just make sure your SCHOOL is ACCREDITED in those states that you are applying or else if you match there and your school is in the list of UNAPPROVED schools in that state, they will yank you out of residency, incarcerated you , pay fees and it will go on your record as a criminal offense. That is why it is just safer to go to the big 4 caribbean schools accredited in all 45+ states.

Another reason why med students are so "hung up" on ACGME accreditation is because some students want to moonlight during residency. Moonlighting is where the money is. During residency, you only earn about 55,000/yr on your first year and a couple thousand dollars increase every year. So as you can see its sh--- money. If you moonlight, you can earn as much as 200,000/yr (if you moonlight really hard, so I heard from one of my friends who is moonlighting right now). Some states do not allow you to moonlight if you only have a residency permit. To moonlight during residency, for IMG's (depending on the state) you need 2-3 yrs of postgraduate training/residency, in some states such as wisconsin and wyoming you need only one year to start moonlighting and plus of course, pass step 3. To do moonlighting, you need a license in that state, not a residency permit except in NY where they require you to moonlight. This the other reason why students want to make all their rotations ACGME approve, as you can see it is just better and less stress
I hope this helps.

In short, If you are applying for residency, do not dare to apply in states that your school is not accredited in. People do get incarcerated and are black listed from these states and goes permanently on your record for lack of knowledge. be very careful.