U.S.A New law Allows foreign Trained Medical Doctors To Bypass U.S Residency
A new law in the United States is set to allow foreign trained medical doctors, or doctors from any specific country, to bypass US residency requirements. You can check on How to apply for U.S citizenship visa application
In the United States, medical residency is an essential part of the training process for international medical graduates (IMGs) who wish to practice medicine in the country. IMGs, including doctors trained in other foreign country typically need to complete a residency program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) in order to obtain a medical license and practice independently.
Such training for international medical graduates (IMGs) is a routine part of obtaining a US medical license, but a new Tennessee law bypasses these requirements and creates a quicker pathway for IMGs to secure medical licenses in the US.
The American Medical Association (AMA) took similar measures at its recent annual meeting, making it easier for IMGs to gain licensure. Because the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted the process by which some IMGs had their licenses verified, the AMA is now encouraging state licensing boards and other credentialing institutions to accept certification from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates as verification, rather than requiring documents directly from international medical schools.
International doctors must demonstrate competency, as determined by the state medical board. In addition, they must have completed a 3-year postgraduate training program in the graduate’s licensing country or otherwise have practiced as a medical professional in which they performed the duties of a physician for at least 3 of the past 5 years outside the US, according to the new law.
To be approved, IMGs must also have received an employment offer from a Tennessee healthcare provider that has a residency program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
If physicians remain in good standing for 2 years, the board will grant them a full and unrestricted license to practice in Tennessee.
“The new legislation opens up a lot of doors for international medical graduates and is also a lifeline for a lot of underserved areas in Tennessee,” said Asim Ansari, MD, a Canadian who attended medical school in the Caribbean and is an advocate for IMGs.
Ansari is participating in a child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at KU Medical Center in Kansas City until he can apply for the sixth time to a residency program. “This could possibly be a model that other states may want to implement in a few years.
What to know about the law, and why the law was implemented.
Legislators hope the law will mitigate that shortage and boost the number of physicians practicing in underserved areas of the state, Kumar said.
Considering that 1 in 4 physicians in the US are international medical graduates, it was important for us to be able to attract those physicians to Tennessee.
The Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners will develop administrative rules for the law, which may take up to a year, Kumar said. He expects the program to be available to IMGs beginning in mid-2024.
Upon completion of the program, IMGs will be able to practice general medicine in Tennessee, not a specialty. Requirements for specialty certification would have to be met through the specialties’ respective boards.
Family physician Sahil Bawa, MD, an IMG from India who recently matched into his specialty, said the Tennessee legislation will help fellow IMGs find US medical jobs.
“It’s very difficult for IMGs to get into residency in the US,” he said. “I’ve seen people with medical degrees from other countries drive Uber or do odd jobs to sustain themselves here. I’ve known a few people who have left and gone back to their home country because they were not accepted into a residency.
