Best practices for credentialing foreign medical graduates

It can be an MSP’s worst nightmare, the dreaded Foreign Medical Graduate (FMG), an applicant who’s diploma and credentials may not even be in English. Obviously, the way they are credentialed is different, unfortunately the specific process remains rather elusive to those without extensive experience. FMG and International Medical Graduate (IMG) are often used interchangeably, though they are not necessarily the same. IMGs are physicians who obtained their basic medical degree outside of the U.S. or Canada (this includes current U.S. citizens). Meanwhile, an FMG is an IMG with foreign citizenship. It is the location of a graduate’s medical school, not their citizenship, that determines whether they are an IMG. A non-U.S. citizen who graduates from a medical school within the North America is not considered an IMG.

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