International Medical Graduates

Many questions arise from international medical graduates regarding requirements and eligibility for a residency position in our program. The following information addresses the most frequently asked questions.


1. All applications are processed electronically through ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service); we do not accept paper applications. For further information, you may contact ERAS directly at: the Association of American Medical Colleges, 2450 N Street NW, Washington DC 20037. They can be reached at 202-828-0413. All candidates are selected through the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). Graduates of medical schools outside of the United States should check with the NRMP to be sure they meet the requirements for participation. Generally, ECFMG certification (including USMLE 1, 2-CK and 2-CS examinations, English proficiency, etc.) is necessary to participate in the NRMP. USMLE 3 is not necessary for ECFMG certification or to participate in the NRMP.

2. Candidates being seriously considered will be invited to come for an interview between November 1, 2009 and February 1, 2010; invitations will be sent by email beginning the last week of September 2009. The deadline for receipt of applications for the 2010-2011 academic year is officially December 31,2009, although we are often unable to consider applications received after November 30 because of the large volume of highly qualified applicants. Final decisions regarding the suitability of the candidate for a position, as well as the ranking in the NRMP are made by a committee composed of those physicians who participate in the interview process.

3. The criteria we use to determine which applicants to consider are flexible and depend on the applicant pool available each year.

Preference is given to applicants who have graduated from medical school within 5 years of the date of application.
Preference is given to applicants who have had direct ("hands on") inpatient clinical experience in a hospital in the United States.
Proficiency in written and spoken English is essential.
Preference is given to applicants with USMLE (Parts 1 and 2-CK) scores of 85 or above. We cannot evaluate an applicant until we have received these scores. We do not require you to have taken and passed USMLE 2-CS by the time you submit your application, but a passing score will have to be available by the end of February 2009 to enable you to participate in the NRMP. USMLE 3 scores are not used to evaluate applicants, since most applicants have not taken this examination.

4. The number of international medical graduates in our program varies from year to year. As of July 2009, 2 of our 17 interns are International Medical Graduates.

5. Applicants interested in a J-1 visa are considered; these visas are sponsored by the Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) and usually require the physician to return to his/her home country for two years after training is completed; waivers to this requirement are often available, but eligibility for this waiver varies from year to year. For further information, the ECFMG can be contacted at: 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia PA 19104-2685. The phone number is 215-821-2121. You cannot apply for this visa until you have a residency position.

6. At the present time we are able to sponsor an H-1b visa. The hospital will provide an immigration attorney, and there is considerable expense involved which is the responsibility of the applicant. The visa application cannot be initiated until after you have a job commitment (i.e. until after the NRMP results are announced in mid-March). You must also be ECFMG certified and have passed USMLE 3; in order to begin an internship at the end of June, you should have your visa application in process by May 1. The Christ Hospital is a non-profit university-affiliated institution and therefore has not been subject to the quotas established for H-1b visas in 2003.

7. Please note that this information is provided as a guideline for you to determine how much your background matches what we are looking for in a resident as well as how likely our program is to meet your needs. We are unable to tell you how likely it is that you will be invited for an interview or your chances of being selected for NRMP ranking, since this is dependent on reviewing your ERAS application and comparing you with other applicants.