Rationale and Objectives
The number of international medical graduates (IMG) in radiology residencies has varied
from year to year even as the number of candidates continues to grow. It is unclear
from which countries the IMGs are arriving and what visas are being used to accommodate
them.
Materials and Methods
We sent a survey to 195 program directors (PD) in diagnostic radiology (DR) inquiring
about the number and nationality of IMG residents in their program, their attitudes
about IMG candidates, the performance of their IMG trainees, and the visas that are
offered.
Results
We received responses from 121 of 195 (62.1%) DR programs (121/149 = 81.2% of actionable emails). 80/121 (66.1%) had at least one IMG in their DR residency
program and the countries of origin included India (36), Iran (30), Saudi Arabia (24),
Egypt (16), Canada (14), Brazil (14), and Pakistan (9), as the most common. While
most programs (76/104, 73.1%) offered J1 visas, 23/99 (23.2%) provided H-1B visas
to trainees. IMG DR residents overall performed as well as American graduates, with
an equal number of PDs saying IMGs performed better and worse than American graduates.
PDs’ issues with IMGs centered on visas: (1) expense, (2) lack of familiarity, (3)
Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates regulations, and (4) time commitment
in submitting paperwork.
Conclusion
Most radiology IMG residents originate from India and Middle Eastern countries. Once
enrolled, IMG residents perform similarly to US graduates. However, adding IMG candidates
to the training program requires overcoming bureaucratic and monetary hurdles around
visas.
Summary Sentence
Most DR international medical graduate residents are from India or the Middle East.
Although their performance is the same as American graduates in general, PDs note
the monetary and bureaucratic hassles accompanying their recruitment.
Abbreviations:
ACGME (Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education), DR (diagnostic radiology), ECFMG (Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates), GME (Graduate Medical Education), IR (interventional radiology), NRMP (National Residency Match Program), PD (program director), RSNA (Radiology Society of North America), URiM (under-represented in medicine), USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services), US DO (United States Doctor of osteopathy graduate), USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination), US MD (United States medical school graduate)Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 12, 2023
Accepted:
April 10,
2023
Received in revised form:
April 3,
2023
Received:
March 11,
2023
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2023 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved All rights reserved.
