IMG FRIENDLY ? ........... REALLY ?

The NRMP match rules need participating programs to accept applications from candidates irrespective of national-origin. This is kinda tongue-in-cheek : Though some residency programs may say they accept applications from International Medical Students (IMGs), it does not automatically imply that they are indeed 'IMG-friendly'.

Besides knowing through friends, residents and the IMG-friendly lists themselves, we could put on the Sherlock Holmes Hat and use a few indicators to cross-check and assess if a program really is IMG-friendly or not:

1. Calling / Emailing programs: This is your best bet: Now, don't merely ask if they will accept IMGs - what you wanna know is how many IMGs did they have in their program for the last 1-2 years AND if they had a recent change of policy about IMGs. I have covered this in more detail at : "Calling Residency Programs Before Applying: What to ask ?"


2. Studying Residency Program Websites:

a. If you see "We do not sponsor any visas" - it more often than not means that they are less likely to be IMG friendly. However this is not always the case - for e.g. The Internal Medicine program at the Southern Illinois University, Springfield, IL, is almost entirely made up of IMGs that are green card holders or citizens.


b. Conversely, if a program website does a good deal of explaining what visas they sponsor, it's good to assume that you could have a chance to interview there - provided you got competitive credentials (scores, experience, lors, etc. ). Remember, however, that all programs will prefer American Medical Graduates (AMGs) & Citizenship Holding / Greencard Holding IMGs Over Visa-Requiring IMGs. For a given pool of candidates with comparable credentials (scores, experience, recommendations) We can state the visa preference order as follows :

AMGs > Citizens / Permanent Resident IMGs > US IMGs (Foreign Students who studied at US Medical Schools > J1 visa Needing IMGs > H1b Visa Needing IMGs

But then again, as a program director told me, an excellent IMG candidate who needs H1b will still be preferred over an unimpressive Green Card Candidate (provided if the residency program policies allow H1B sponsorship)


c. Most programs will publish a list and pictures of their current residents along with their medical schools - such a list, if present, will give you a fair assessment of its 'IMG-Friendliness'. As an example, check out this List of current Residents at the Family Practice residency program at McLaren Regional Medical Center at Flint, Michigan. Another example of a truly IMG-Friendly program would be St. Elizabeth Internal Medicine Residency Program at the small town of Youngstown, Ohio - See their List of Residents Here

d. If the website has a separate section for criteria for International Medical Graduates - that's another indirect indicator that shows IMG-friendliness and shows that the program has had enough experience with IMGs and is now in a position to have specific criteria for IMGs..For example, the Christ Hospital Internal Medicine Program has a separate section for IMGs on their website.

e. Look up faculty listings : It's a general observation - not a rule - that IMG friendly programs usually do have a few IMGs on their Faculty listings



On an ending note, remember that we can't really blame a program for being unable to take IMGs. If their positions are always taken up entirely by AMGs and they never go empty, they really got no reason to take IMGs :-)


Also See:


Free List: IMG / FMG Friendly Residency Programs



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