If one is a foreign medical school gradute and has completed all the
national licensing exams, how does one obtain a license to practice
medicine without first securing a residency? Specifically in FL?
Without being accepted into a residency program is getting a license
even possible? |
Request for Question Clarification by
tar_heel_v-ga
on
31 Jan 2003 10:24 PST
A couple of questions:
Are you an American?
Did you attend premed at an American college?
Did you completed all requirements for admission to practice except
internship and/or social service in the foreign country?
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Clarification of Question by
calgirl-ga
on
31 Jan 2003 11:34 PST
This actually isn't for me, but no matter: here's the info:
This person graduated med school in poland. Has green card and lives
in Fl as permanent american resident. Has completed all the national
licensing tests, ie Step I (basic) and Step II (clinical) and also
passed the test in Philadelphia where actors pretend to be patients
and so forth. However, securing residency in the states is really
hard for foreign medical school grads even with all things completed.
This person has been offered a fellowship position at the UF med
school in an addiction program, however, they told her that she needed
to have a florida medical license to be accepted. Now, we've always
been under the impression that you have to actually be in a residency
program (in this case in psychiatry) to even get a chance to take the
licensing test, but if you have no been given the chance to start your
residency, is there another way for you to get a medical license?
Also, position was offered by big cheese in med. school, shouldn't he
know regulations?
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Clarification of Question by
calgirl-ga
on
31 Jan 2003 11:36 PST
Sorry, one more clarification: this person actually practiced medicine
in poland for a number of years before moving to states, has
altogether different specialization, though.
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Request for Question Clarification by
librariankt-ga
on
31 Jan 2003 12:52 PST
Hi calgirl -
I have a question for you and a comment:
Question: Has your friend been issued a valid certificate issued by
the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates? It appears
that Florida requires this of people who graduated from a non-US
medical school.
Comment: It appears that Florida requires two years of postmedical
school fellowship or medical residency before licensing physicians
(See http://www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/medical/me_lic_req.html#International%20Graduates
for guidelines).
Does this answer your question?
librariankt
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Clarification of Question by
calgirl-ga
on
02 Feb 2003 13:15 PST
Hi,
yes my friend holds a valid ECFMG certificate. And thank you for the
FL dept. of health website, it was very helpful. However, I guess the
crux of my question is that I'm very confused, as is she, how she
could be offered a position that requires a license when she does not
have one. Is securing residency the only possible way of getting a
license, whether temporary or permanant?
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Request for Question Clarification by
librariankt-ga
on
03 Feb 2003 06:25 PST
Hi calgirl -
I think part of my confusion here may be the two definitions of
"residency" in this particular case. It appears that the state of
Florida requires that the licensee have completed two years of a
post-graduate program before being licensed as a medical doctor. This
could be a fellowship or a "residency" in the medical, professional
context. It does not appear that Florida require that license
applicants prove that they live in the state of Florida ("residency"
in the legal context). Since your friend already has a green card and
the ECFMG certification, my interpretation of the Florida guidelines
is that she must complete two years of post-medical school training
before being granted a license. So, in answer to your initial
question, it appears that getting a license is predicated on having
completed two years of a residency/fellowship program.
I would suggest your friend contact the hospital at which she was
offered the position for clarification of the terms of her offer. She
should make sure she talks to someone who is in charge of
residents/fellows/interns - this could be a member of the house staff
or the chief resident - to get the full scoop. It is not unheard-of
for otherwise extremely smart physicians to get ahead of themselves on
administrative details.
If this answers your question or if you have further questions please
let me know!
librariankt
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Clarification of Question by
calgirl-ga
on
03 Feb 2003 09:13 PST
Yes, thank you, this does answer my question. I was trying to avoid
having to deal with dept. of health bureacracy, but, hey, you win
some.......
Anyway, thank you for the help. CalGirl
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