Because medical school graduates are fighting for residency slots, international medical school graduates may face difficulties obtaining residencies in the United States, according to Medscape.
Here are 10 things to know:
1. Medicare hasn't increased the number of funded residency slots since 1997. However, Congress passed a bill in 2014 to add 1,500 more training slots.
2. Experts predict the number of IMGs will fall from 21.7 percent of positions in 2014 to 2015 to 13.5 percent by 2023 to 2024.
3. In 2023, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates will require all its applicants to have graduated from medical schools that have been accredited by standards that are equivalent to those schools in the United States.
4. After completing the United States Medical Licensing Examination and gaining acceptance from Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, merely 50 percent of IMGs get certified to practice in the United States.
5. Following ECFGM certification, only half of IMGs get a residency program as many graduates do not know a U.S. physician who would write them a recommendation letter.
6. U.S. senior medical school graduates take nearly four weeks to study for Step 1 of the USMLE, yet some experts estimate some IMGs study for two years.
7. Welcome Back Initiative seeks to help IMGs find work in the United States. Despite its best efforts, merely 130 of the 4,600 foreign trained physicians who have participated in Welcome Back obtained U.S. residency slots.
8. Competition for U.S. medical school enrollment is intensifying with a record number of individuals applying to medical school in the United States in 2013, according to the AAMC. Nearly 28,000 people who applied did not get into medical schools.
9. If IMGs obtain a residency, they often have little specialty choice. A study found U.S. seniors have a "selection subsidy" and IMGs often take the less competitive positions.
10. IMGs report less satisfaction with there careers. A study found U.S. graduates reported high career satisfaction (82.3 percent) compared to IMGs (75.7 percent).
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