If your professional goal is to practice medicine in the United States, then you know you need state medical board licensure. All the time, expense, and effort you put into your international medical degree could be lost if you fail to qualify for a state medical board license. If you face ECFMG, USMLE, or other issues affecting your ability to qualify for state medical board licensure, then you need to retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now. Learn here how our premier attorneys can help get your state medical licensure back on track.
Three Organizations with Which Our Attorneys Help
You have not one, not two, but three main hurdles to clear for state medical licensure with three different organizations. The roles of each organization with which you must deal, their requirements for licensure, and the procedures that our attorneys can invoke to resolve your license issues differ. Consider these three organizations before considering our role in helping you with each. We can help you if you have issues with other organizations, such as your medical school or your residency employer, but medical licensing issues generally involve one of the following three organizations.
The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates
The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) is your first hurdle in U.S. state medical licensure. The ECFMG is a private nonprofit organization that certifies international medical graduates in the first steps toward licensure. You generally need a U.S. medical residency and to pass the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) to obtain a state license. The ECFMG certifies you for your U.S. medical residency and to sit for the Step 3 USMLE. You won't generally get a U.S. state medical license without ECFMG certification. The broader role of the ECFMG is to ensure the minimum safe quality of medical care. The ECFMG works closely with the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) to determine the fitness of medical programs worldwide so that only qualified graduates of qualified medical schools have the opportunity for medical licensure in the U.S. and other nations relying on ECFMG processes.
Your ECFMG application must be in order in every respect to qualify for medical licensure. If you have ECFMG issues, we can help you. The kinds of ECFMG issues international medical graduates face, with which our attorneys can help you, often involve the following:
- whether your medical school held ECFMG certification for your years of attendance;
- whether you, in fact, graduated from your medical school as your Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials (EPIC) represents;
- whether your medical school has provided an accurate transcript in the form and by the route the ECFMG requires or
- whether you violated ECFMG's policy and procedure on irregular behavior with false submissions.
The U.S. Medical Licensing Exam
The U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) is your second hurdle in U.S. state medical licensure. You must generally pass the USMLE's three-step exam if you wish to qualify for a U.S. state medical license. Passing the USMLE, of course, requires your earnest and effective medical studies. But to pass the USMLE, you must also qualify to sit for the USMLE. Qualifying to sit for the USMLE generally requires ECFMG certification. Qualifying to sit for the USMLE also means satisfying the USMLE's application process. Passing the USMLE means satisfying its examination requirements. Missteps in any of these areas can cause USMLE issues. Two organizations, the Federation of State Medical Boards and the National Board of Medical Examiners, sponsor the USMLE. Passing the USMLE is necessary not only for U.S. state medical licensure but also for certain practice opportunities abroad. Passing the USMLE means meeting a worldwide gold standard for medical credentialing.
When applying to take the USMLE, studying for the USMLE using practice questions and other materials, and proceeding with your USMLE step exams, you must conduct yourself by meeting all USMLE rules, policies, and procedures. We can help you with any of the following common USMLE issues or other issues:
● you face allegations of anomalous performance around your exam preparations or behavior during or after the exam;
- USMLE officials invalidate your exam score based on your exam's response pattern;
- you fell ill, suffered an injury, or had another extenuating circumstance affecting your examination;
- you are approaching or exceeding the USMLE's retake limit, beyond which the organization will bar you from the exam or
- you face special USMLE administration site location issues such as those recently faced by examinees in Nepal.
U.S. State Medical Boards
International medical graduates wishing to practice in the United States and in certain preferred opportunities elsewhere, such as with U.S. or international employers offering medical care to U.S. residents abroad, generally need U.S. state medical board licensure. Medical boards regulate medical practice in the United States at the state-by-state level, not the national level. National organizations like the American Medical Association (AMA) representing medical professionals, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accrediting U.S. medical schools, and the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) examining medical graduates for licensure all play important roles relating to U.S. medical practice. The National Federation of State Medical Boards also provides licensing resources to state medical boards. However, it is the state medical boards that actually issue your medical license. To practice medicine in the U.S., you will need a license from a state medical board like one of the following boards:
- Arizona Medical Board;
- Medical Board of California;
- Osteopathic Medical Board of California;
- Connecticut Medical Examining Board;
- Florida Board of Medicine;
- New York State Board for Medicine
- New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners;
- Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine;
- Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners.
Let us help if you face state medical licensing board issues. The issues applicants for a state medical license commonly face can include any of the following:
- inconsistencies in your ECFMG electronic portfolio materials relative to your state medical board application;
- documentation that state medical board officials claim is missing from your ECFMG certification electronic portfolio;
- documents that are complete but not properly authenticated with seals, attestations, signatures, or in original form;
- unresolved or inadequately resolved misconduct, professionalism, or academic progression issues at your medical school;
- good moral character and adequate physical and mental fitness issues; and
- issues with your citizenship, visa, or other lawful immigration status for extended U.S. stays.
Actions Our Attorneys Can Undertake
You've just seen the three main organizations with which our premier attorneys can help you and some of the issues you may face with those organizations when pursuing your medical licensure. Here, then, are the kinds of actions our attorneys can take to move your licensure forward.
Investigation Our Attorneys Can Do
Many medical licensing issues require investigation. Your issue with the ECFMG, USMLE, or your state medical board may be that the organization maintains that your application or response to the organization's inquiry has been inadequate. The issue may be that you have not provided a sufficient answer or explanation for suspicious circumstances or have left a gap in accounting for some anomalous aspect of your circumstance. The suspicion may have to do with your medical school conduct, exam behavior, residences, criminal history, or civil disputes. Whatever the unresolved issue, our attorneys have the skill and means to find answers, uncover sources, and gather the information to respond. We know the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), subpoenas, document requests, interrogatories, and other public and private means of getting answers. We also have police, prosecutor, court, private investigator, and forensic consultant contacts to aid us in the effective investigation of your issue.
Documentation Our Attorneys Can Obtain
Your issue may instead be one of documentation. You and the state medical board may know the relevant information. You may have all the answers. However, you and the board may lack adequate documentation in the form that the board requires. State medical boards don't generally just take your word for it. They may instead have policies and procedures requiring that you provide any or all of the following documents in specific authenticated forms:
- a medical school transcript, medical school degree, and other school records of courses and clinical work completed;
- a birth certificate, Social Security card, passport, visa, or other form of lawful citizenship or immigration status;
- a criminal history background check, criminal court record of dismissal, or criminal court record of fines paid or restitution made;
- a civil court judgment, order of dismissal, or satisfaction of judgment, or bankruptcy court discharge; or
- a photograph, fingerprint record, or other indicia of identification.
Our attorneys know how to get documentation in the proper form, properly authenticated with seals, signatures, and attestations. We can also help you get those documents to the ECFMG, USMLE, or state medical board by the required route, directly from the source, or by other accepted means.
Communication Our Attorneys Can Conduct
The issue delaying or frustrating your state medical licensure may instead have to do with reliable communications. You may have the right information and documentation but may not have gotten it to the right officials in the right time frame and in the right form. You may not have answered inquiries timely with the right information in a reliable way. Our attorneys know how to conduct communications with ECFMG, USMLE, and state medical board officials in ways that those officials will accept. We can make timely communications in the right tone with the right information reaching the right officials. Licensing officials generally respect and recognize attorney representatives. They sit up and take notice of our communications on your behalf because they know that we have the knowledge, skill, and power to invoke their procedures and the authority of regulatory agencies and the courts to oversee their actions. Let us help you with your communications with ECFMG, USMLE, and state medical board officials.
Procedures Our Attorneys Can Invoke
Our attorneys can do more than investigate thoroughly, document effectively, and communicate timely and sensitively. They can also invoke ECFMG, USMLE, and state medical board protective procedures. These licensing organizations must have policies, procedures, and protocols to carry out their complex administrative and regulatory functions. You have already encountered some of those procedures. However, our attorneys know the protective procedures each organization must maintain to satisfy your constitutional due process rights. These organizations must generally provide you with fair notice of your issues and with some opportunity to address those issues before an impartial hearing officer. We can invoke your due process rights so that the licensing body holding up your medical license must hear your side of the story and reach a proper decision.
The protective procedures for the ECFMG, USMLE, and state medical boards vary. State medical boards, for instance, may follow their state administrative procedure act requiring the board to give you a formal hearing before an administrative law judge. We can invoke those administrative procedures. The ECFMG, by contrast, has a policy and procedure for irregular behavior our attorneys can invoke. In general, though, the procedures we can invoke on your behalf to address and resolve your matter may include:
- complaint procedures requiring licensing bodies to notify you of alleged violations and charges;
- complaint or ombuds procedures permitting you to notify the bodies of their violations, errors, and anomalies;
- procedures allowing us to answer the licensing body's complaint, providing your explanatory information and legal defenses;
- investigation procedures enabling us to obtain and review the licensing body's evidence and your own exonerating evidence;
- informal resolution procedures enabling our attorneys to arrange conciliation conferences to negotiate early voluntary relief;
- formal hearing procedures enabling our attorneys to bring your matter before an impartial decision maker to hear your explanation;
- petitions for reconsideration if you have already lost your hearing, where our attorneys can pursue reversal of the adverse decision;
- appeal procedures where our attorneys can take your adverse decision before a higher authority for reversal and correction;
- procedures for alternative special relief through a general counsel's office, ombuds office, or other oversight body or official; and
- court procedures for review, challenge, and reversal of decisions made violating your constitutional and other legal rights.
Advocacy Our Attorneys Can Pursue
Our attorneys can do more than invoke the above protective procedures. They can also appear on your behalf to advocate effectively for your state medical board licensure. Our attorneys know how to research the applicable law, rules, and regulations and organize that legal authority into convincing written and oral arguments to show ECFMG, USMLE, and state medical board officials that you deserve a medical license. Our attorneys also know how to identify, prepare, and present witnesses on your behalf and to cross-examine adverse witnesses against you, undermining the credibility of their false, groundless, biased, conflicted, or exaggerated testimony. Our attorneys have the oral and writing skills to explain, rationalize, justify, and convince. We also have the reputation and relationships to make our assertions credible and trustworthy. Let us put these advocacy skills to your best use in obtaining your medical license.
Negotiations Our Attorneys Can Conduct
Our attorneys also have skills in negotiating appropriate relief. Negotiation differs from straight-up advocacy. Negotiation helps ECFMG, USMLE, and state medical board officials to see not only your interest but also their interest in resolving your licensing issues swiftly, reliably, and fairly. Negotiation allows us to present information and options to licensing officials that they may not have considered. Negotiation also allows us to show officials that they may face additional time, trouble, expense, and regulatory or litigation risk if not properly and timely resolving your licensing issue. We may be able to bring about a prompt resolution that gains you a license without imposing undue burdens or delay. Creative, win-win resolutions may be available that fulfill licensing officials' responsibility to protect the public while ensuring that you get the opportunity to enter medical practice.
Relief Our Attorneys May Pursue
If you have already exhausted all procedures that appear to be available to you without obtaining your medical license, let our attorneys determine whether you have alternative relief available to you through an attorney general's office, general counsel's office, ombudsperson, or other oversight office or official. Sometimes, the first licensing officials to follow the procedures aren't seeing broader issues that implicate regulatory risks or court liability. You may have constitutional rights, disability rights, or other rights that licensing officials refuse to consider or that you have not adequately set forth. We may be able to bring those and other broader interests to oversight officials who have the authority to reverse your adverse licensing decision or can otherwise influence licensing officials to reconsider. Let us help pursue those alternative avenues for relief.
Litigation Our Attorneys May Pursue
Our attorneys also have the civil court litigation skills necessary to obtain judicial review and reversal of a licensing decision that violates your legal or constitutional rights. Challenging an ECFMG, USMLE, or state medical board decision in court may be difficult, uncertain, and slow in providing relief, depending on your circumstances. However, court review may be possible under federal constitutional law, state constitutional or statutory law, or state administrative procedures, especially regarding a state medical board decision. Our attorneys know how to draft the necessary court complaint and other court papers and file and advocate your cause in the correct court with proper jurisdiction. We know how to evaluate and pursue your legal rights through the courts. Even if you have already lost all hearings and appeals through ECFMG, USMLE, and state medical board procedures, let us help determine whether you may have effective court relief available.
Choosing Qualified Attorneys
Choosing the right attorneys is every bit as important as knowing that you may be able to promptly and effectively resolve your medical licensing issue with attorney representation. ECFMG, USMLE, and state medical board procedures are administrative in nature. Administrative rules and procedures differ from court rules and procedures. Local general practice attorneys or even local attorneys who practice criminal defense or civil litigation generally do not have the administrative knowledge, skill, and experience for effective representation in a professional licensing matter, especially one involving medical licensing issues before the ECFMG, USMLE, and a state medical board. Don't retain an unqualified attorney. Unqualified representation may do more harm than good. Instead, retain our highly qualified attorneys who have the knowledge, skill, and experience to properly, promptly, and effectively handle your ECFMG, USMLE, and state medical board licensing matter.
Your Stakes Warrant Premier Representation
When considering whether to retain our highly skilled and effective attorney representation, consider all that you have at stake as an international medical graduate with a state medical board licensing issue. You know the enormous amount of time, trouble, expense, and effort to which you went to earn your medical degree. You also know the huge return you can reasonably expect on your investment. Medical practices and careers are rewarding financially, professionally, and personally. You made a great choice in pursuing a medical career. Only a small fraction of the general population has the intelligence, ambition, and other capability to earn a medical degree and qualify for U.S. state medical board licensure. Medical doctors provide enormously valuable service. You are so close to realizing your dream of becoming a medical doctor in active clinical practice. Don't throw it all away by going unrepresented or by retaining unqualified legal counsel in your medical licensing matter.
Premier License Defense Available for IMG Issues
If you are an international medical graduate facing ECFMG, USMLE, or state medical board licensing issues, promptly retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team. We can provide the strategic, skilled, sensitive, and effective advocacy you need for your best professional licensing outcome. Preserve and protect your huge investment. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now to tell us about your case.
