ALTERNATE PATH FOR AMERICAN BOARD CERTIFICATION IN ANESTHESIOLOGY FOR INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL GRADUATES

Thanks to a pilot program, IMG Anesthesiologists (International Medical Graduates with MD’s in a Non-US country) can qualify for American Board Certification in Anesthesiology after Direct Fellowships in the United States without having to repeat a residency.What this means for IMG anesthesiologists is that there is no need to do a residency again after the fellowship in order to qualify for American Board Certification.

To completely access the physician job market in the United States, you must first obtain board certification in your specialty; but before that, you must be “board eligible.”Most American boards need completion of an ACGME-certified residency to be board-eligible, but due to short supply and increasing fellowship branches, a few boards are relaxing some rules to take advantage of foreign-trained qualified residency-trained physicians.

The American Board of Anesthesiology Says:

The ABA has approved a 7-year pilot program that would allow international medical graduates, certified by the national anesthesiology organization in the country where they trained in the specialty and practicing anesthesiology in the United States, to qualify for entrance into the ABA examination system for initial certification in the specialty at most once via an alternate entry path.
International medical graduates interested in using the alternate entry path must complete a total of 4 years of prospectively approved, continuous experience in one anesthesiology department that commences on or after July 1, 2007.

• At the time the anesthesiology department enrolls the international medical graduate with the ABA, the department must have an ACGME-accredited anesthesiology residency or fellowship training program that has continued full accreditation and a review cycle of three years or more.
  
• An anesthesiology department can have no more than two international medical graduates enrolled in the pilot program at one time.
  
• No later than 4 months before the department enrolls the foreign certified anesthesiologist with the ABA, the department chair must submit to the ABA a 4-year plan, co-signed by the physician, for prospective approval by the ABA Credentials Committee. This experience will consist of 4 years of resident or fellowship training, research, faculty experience or combination thereof, in the same institution in which the anesthesiology program resides. The 4-year plan must provide the education and research foundations needed for a successful career in academic anesthesiology and should be specifically designed and identified for the candidate.
  
• The department chair also must submit periodically to the ABA attestations that the physician is currently a resident or fellow in an ACGME-accredited program, or is actively engaged in research, or is a faculty member with a full-time primary appointment in the ACGME-accredited program.
  
• The department chair will provide the ABA with an assessment of the physician’s performance relative to the ABMS- and ACGME approved six general physician competencies at 6-month intervals.

So, with this final thought, I bid you adieu. To all my IMG Anesthesiologist friends who aspire to practice in America, I wish you luck and encouragement. With wise counsel, persistence and determination, eventually you’ll succeed.

And maybe one day you too will make the news for buying a million dollar home in the States like this IMG Anesthesiologist!

For more information, contact the American Board of Anesthesiology.

Best wishes on your journey,

Heather J. Ali
President
Heather Ali & Associates
Phone: (800) 991-6288
Fax: (888) 399-8474
Email: hali@heatherali.com
Web: http://www.heatherali.com/