The Welcome Back Initiative

Are you a foreign-trained physician? Are you having difficulty finding clinical employment in the United States?

The Welcome Back Initiative provides immigrant health professionals assistance in obtaining the necessary credentials and licenses to practice their profession in the U.S., marketing their skills appropriately and effectively, obtaining further education and experience to facilitate their finding of meaningful employment in the health sector, and if necessary, exploring alternative health-related careers.

State-specific Requirements for Initial Medical Licensure

A common question that comes up frequently is: "I don't want to complete my residency training. Should I just get my medical license and start working?"

As you can imagine, many residents don't enjoy residency training. The grueling hours and the sleep deprivation can be disheartening.

Back in the "old days," it was relatively easy to finish internship and practice medicine as a GP (general practitioner). Many states will still grant a medical license to a medical school graduate who has completed a single year of post-graduate training (internship) if you graduated from a U.S. medical school. If you're an international/foreign medical graduate (IMG or FMG), then you'll be required to complete 2-3 years of residency training in many states.

Right now, Nevada appears to be the only state that requires 3 years of residency for U.S. medical graduates who wish to obtain a medical license. 

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) maintains a chart that outlines the State-specific Requirements for Initial Medical Licensure. The current version was updated in June 2009 and you can view it here. 

IMGs or FMGs and non-clinical careers

• IMG = international medical graduate
• FMG = foreign medical graduate

They mean the same thing, but you may be more accustomed to using one acronym vs. the other. Hence, let me use both in the title, but to be consistent with the AMA (American Medical Association), I will use the term IMG.

If you're an IMG and you're considering a non-clinical career, do you know where to begin? I've found that there are very few resources for those seeking non-clinical careers in medicine for U.S. grads, let alone for IMGs. I've written on this topic before, but I'd like to highlight a few points:

• If you're an IMG, it's critical that you have very strong language skills if you wish to excel in a non-clinical career in the U.S. I've met many IMGs who have medium U.S. language skills and that's going to make it very difficult for you to get into any position outside of clinical or basic science research.
  
• If you're an IMG, social networking is critical. You want to have many connections in the corporate world so that you can gain a "foot into the door." By expanding your social network, you may meet people who can help you gain entry into different companies.
  
• Visas - these can be a real obstacle in certain situations. You can't rely on a J-1 Student Visa anymore. Make sure to ask any potential employer about issues related to an H-1B Non-Immigrant Work Visa.

There are many IMGs who hold very high positions in different non-clinical industries ranging from pharma/biotech to medical communications. How did they get there? Some may have entered by working internationally and then transferring to the U.S. Others slowly worked the corporate ladder and "climbed" to success. If you feel lost, perhaps you'd like to start by Finding a Non-Clinical Mentor.

Job Post: Epidemiologist in Brazil

I've been approached by several people who are looking for some international non-clinical opportunities, so I thought I would share this.

Epidemiologist: Brasilia, Brazil

The Epidemiologist will be responsible for providing support services to enhance post-mortem diagnosis and investigation of deaths of unknown causes in Tocantins state.

* Provide Technical Assistance to Field Epidemiology Training Programs Ministry of Health partners in Brazil
* Enhance post-mortem diagnosis and investigation of deaths of unknown causes in Tocantins state.
* Implement International Health Regulations
* Develop appropriate protocols for in-hospital autopsies, transport of bodies, collection/handling/transport of Post-Mortem (PM) sample, shipping and handling.
* Identify and develop list of supplies & equipment for autopsies and PM specimen collection.
* Develop appropriate testing protocols; negotiate specimen flow, testing with reference laboratories.
* Create adequate informatics infrastructure for cataloguing and retrieving specimens; identify & evaluate lab information management systems.
* Build database for PM testing data; periodically analyze findings and disseminate reports & results.
* Develop core curriculum (achieve consensus on instructional goals and learning objectives) identified for IHR reporting training at local, state and federal levels.
* Adaptation of evaluation instruments for measuring IHR response capacity at local, state and federal level.

Minimum Qualifications:

* Background in Epidemiologist (MD or MPH with significant Epidemiology experience).
* Previous experience with unexplained death surveillance.
* Must be fluent in Portuguese (Written & Oral).
* US Citizen or Foreign National. Brazilian locals are not eligible.
* Professional training and extensive knowledge in communicable disease surveillance programs.

If you're interested in this opportunity, please contact me.

Pfizer Oncology: Martine J. George, M.D., M.Sc

Pfizer announced the appointment of Martine J. George, M.D., M.Sc, to Vice President of Medical Affairs for its Oncology Business Unit. Dr. George received her M.Sc in Pharmacology from Montreal University and her M.D. from Paris University. Her industry experience includes companies like J&J, Ortho Biotech, Novartis, sanofi-aventis, and more.

Because the pharmaceutical industry is really an international business, there are opportunities even in the United States for foreign medical graduates (FMGs) / international medical graduates (IMGs). In order to climb the corporate ladder, you have to have strong business skills and excellent people skills. If you're an FMG or IMG interested in non-clinical opportunities, build your social network so that you can find the right types of opportunities.

Re: Non-Clinical Opportunities for International Medical Graduates

Someone recently asked: "Tell me about non-clinical opportunities for international medical graduates (IMGs or FMGs)"

My reply:

The opportunities are mostly the same when you're looking at things related to medical communications, consulting, writing, etc. In most of these cases, you don't need an active US medical license. Hence, whether you are an international graduate or a US graduate, the opportunities may be very similar. I'm not going to get into issues related to getting a work Visa because that's an entirely complex topic in and of itself.