You had good reasons for choosing Louisiana as your state in which to license as an international medical graduate (IMG) to pursue a medical practice. Yet, as much as you desire to practice in Louisiana, you must still meet the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners' strict character and fitness requirements, obtain ECFMG certification, and pass the USMLE Step 3 exam. The Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners has the same duty to protect patients and the public against unfit and incompetent medical practice as state medical boards have elsewhere.
As an international medical graduate seeking Louisiana licensure, you face greater scrutiny and challenges than U.S. medical school graduates. Louisiana IMG licensing requirements can raise serious issues that can delay or even prevent your licensure. Retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team to help you favorably resolve those issues, whether you reside or intend to practice in New Orleans, Lafayette, Metairie, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lake Charles, Kenner, Bossier City, Monroe, Alexandria, Prairieville, Houma, Marrero, Central, or any other Louisiana location. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now for your best Louisiana IMG licensing outcome.
The Benefits of Louisiana IMG Licensure
The residents of Louisiana need your skilled, safe, and competent medical services. You and any of your dependent family members also have substantial interests in your Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners licensure. The personal, financial, and professional rewards of a Louisiana medical practice can be substantial, especially given the state's strong economy, substantial population, and abundant physician employment and hospital privileges opportunities. Louisiana has many fine and large hospitals, including Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, University Medical Center New Orleans, Ochsner Medical Center, East Jefferson General Hospital, Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport Academic Medical Center, West Jefferson Medical Center, Rapides Regional Medical Center, Touro Infirmary, and Willis-Knighton Medical Center. Louisiana also has fine medical education programs at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans, Tulane University School of Medicine, and Louisiana State University Health Shreveport, offering IMGs substantial professional development opportunities. Let us help you protect these rewards and benefits from IMG licensing issues.
The Impact of Louisiana IMG Licensing Issues
Louisiana IMG licensing issues put your Louisiana medical practice dreams and ambitions at risk of loss. Even so little as a delay in licensure can cause lost employment opportunities, loss of income, and loss of professional recommendations and other support. But licensing issues can also lead to Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners denial of licensure. You cannot practice medicine in Louisiana without a license. And if the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners denies you a license, other state medical boards may do so on the same grounds. If you don't persist in overcoming your licensing issues now, you may be in a worse position to do so later. You invested a huge amount in your international medical education. You have every right to expect a decent return on your investment. Don't lose both your investment and your return to Louisiana IMG licensing issues. Let us help you protect your investment and gain your due return.
Louisiana IMG Licensing Requirements
International medical graduates seeking Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners licensure have to meet the State Board's requirements. However, those requirements include your obligation to pursue the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) certification for your international medical education. Louisiana medical licensing laws and rules also generally require IMGs to take and pass the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 3 exam, if not an equivalent FLEX or NBME exam. Below is more detail on Louisiana, ECFMG, and USMLE IMG licensing requirements.
Louisiana IMG Licensing Requirements
Louisiana provides for general medical licensing requirements by statute and specific requirements by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners rule. 37 Louisiana Statutes Section 1272 requires all candidates for a physician's license to have good moral character, graduate from a State Board of Medical Examiners approved school, complete a year of medical residency, and pass a State Board of Medical Examiners approved examination. Yet under 46 Louisiana Administrative Code Section 323, the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners requires international medical graduates to complete not just one year of residency but three years. The same State Board administrative rule requires IMGs to obtain ECFMG certification indicating graduation from an approved international medical school and to pass the USMLE as the required licensing exam. We can help if you face a dispute with the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners over meeting these requirements.
ECFMG Requirements for Louisiana IMGs
Because the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners requires you, as an international medical graduate, to obtain ECFMG certification under 46 Louisiana Administrative Code Section 323, you must deal not only with the State Board but also with the ECFMG. ECFMG certification requires that you have graduated from a World Directory of Medical Schools approved school. You may alternatively show that you graduated from a World Federation for Medical Education approved school while still completing ECFMG certification. ECFMG certification also requires that you prove your U.S. citizenship or lawful immigration status to enter the U.S. for your Louisiana medical practice.
To meet these documentation requirements, the ECFMG requires you to use its Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials (EPIC) system. While the EPIC online portfolio system introduces conveniences, it is still a rigorous certification requirement. Your international medical school transcript, U.S. passport or visa, and other documentation must meet ECFMG authentication and transmission requirements. Your statements, information, and assurances on ECFMG forms must also be accurate and consistent with your documentation, subject to credential fraud charges. We can represent you before ECFMG officials if you have documentation, authentication, or other certification issues.
USMLE Requirements for Louisiana IMGs
As the above discussion briefly indicates, the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners rule for international medical graduates, 46 Louisiana Administrative Code Section 323, requires you to take and pass the USMLE Step 3 exam. To take the USMLE, you must first apply to the USMLE, showing your ECFMG certification and other exam qualifications and preparedness. Your representations to the USMLE must be accurate and complete, subject to credential fraud charges. When you take the USMLE exam, you must also comply with USMLE exam rules. The USMLE publishes extensive exam rules in its Bulletin of Information. Test center staff may give further directions that you must obey, subject to irregular behavior charges. Your exam answers must also not show anomalous patterns indicating cheating. Let us invoke the USMLE's protective procedures if it withholds your exam results while alleging your irregular behavior.
Louisiana IMG Issues
Having seen the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiner, ECFMG, and USMLE requirements for international medical graduate licensure, now consider some common issues that can arise with each licensing body, how those issues can create other issues, and how we can help you address and favorably resolve those issues.
Louisiana State Board IMG Issues
The requirement of 37 Louisiana Statutes Section 1272 that all licensure candidates meet the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners' good moral character and other fitness requirements can create significant and serious IMG licensing issues. If, for instance, you have had mental illness requiring psychiatric care or hospitalization, substance abuse or dependency issues requiring counseling and treatment, or physical injuries or chronic illnesses disabling your capacities, you may face State Board of Examiners character and fitness review. Likewise, if you have criminal convictions for crimes of violence, dishonesty, moral turpitude, or domestic violence allegations in divorce, separation, or restraining order complaints, you may face character scrutiny. Malpractice and unprofessionalism charges in your medical residency could likewise bring State Board scrutiny. Any number of other issues could also bring character review. Also, beware of credential fraud charges related to your minimizing or concealing these conditions when State Board officials discover them from other sources.
Louisiana IMG ECFMG Issues
Your international medical school record and the transcript that your school's registrar supplies to ECFMG could trigger ECFMG issues. Transcripts often reflect academic progression issues, misconduct charges, and even financial holds, placing the international medical student in probationary status and out of good standing for graduation. You presumably cleared up those issues in time to graduate in good standing. If not, let us help you do so promptly. Otherwise, your school's registrar and other officials may not have updated your transcript, leaving ECFMG to reject it for issues that you have already resolved. Let us help you induce the registrar to cure any such issues and likewise work with the registrar to supply a properly authenticated graduation transcript to ECFMG officials. Let us also help you if ECFMG officials dispute your school's approved status at the time of your graduation.
Your other ECFMG issues may involve the signatures, seals, attestations, or other marks of reliability and originality that ECFMG protocols require to establish the authenticity of your transcript, U.S. passport, birth certificate, or visa, or other documentation. We can help you induce recordkeepers to supply the properly authenticated documents and work with ECFMG officials to ensure their proper transmission and approval. Let us also help you defend any ECFMG irregular behavior charges over inconsistencies in your documentation on the basis of which officials allege your attempt to subvert ECFMG processes.
Louisiana IMG USMLE Issues
USMLE issues can easily arise from confusion and misunderstandings around the exam's administration. You will have doubtless read the USMLE Bulletin of Information to ensure you understand the identification you must present for entry into the exam room and the authorized devices and materials permitted in the exam room. But test center staff and proctors may give additional instructions, your inadvertent violation could lead to charges of disobeying instructions, disrupting the exam, and even cheating. If you unintentionally remove exam materials from the room or disclose exam questions in post-exam discussions, you may face charges that you violated exam confidentiality. Let us help you invoke USMLE irregular behavior procedures to present your account in exoneration and mitigation of the charges. Otherwise, you may suffer invalidation of your exam score.
Studying for and passing the USMLE Step 3 exam depends on your study skills and diligence. But if extenuating circumstances cause you to miss scheduled exams and run up against the retake limit, we may be able to help you win an additional retake opportunity. You may also face allegations from USMLE officials that you attempted to subvert USMLE processes if your application appears to misstate your credentials. Let us help you respond to USMLE investigators to head off irregular behavior charges. If you do face charges, we can invoke protective procedures to put on your defense evidence.
Procedural Protections for Louisiana IMGs
ECFMG and USMLE Policies and Procedures on Irregular Behavior indeed provide you with relatively robust protective procedures that our highly qualified attorneys can invoke to present your exonerating evidence and mitigating circumstances. ECFMG officials will constitute a Credentials Committee that has the authority to hear and decide your disputes and issues. If you lose your Credentials Committee hearing, we can invoke your right to appeal to an ECFMG Review Committee. A Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners rule, codified at 46 Louisiana Administrative Code Section 1285.2, expressly guarantees your right to constitutional due process of law, including notice of the State Board's concerns and your opportunity to present your account and evidence at a fair hearing. We have the administrative skills and experience to do so most effectively.
Louisiana IMG Licensing Representation
The Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team is available across Louisiana to help you successfully resolve your ECFMG, USMLE, and Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners licensing issues. Many physicians in Louisiana and across the nation have trusted our highly qualified attorneys for the successful resolution of their licensing issues. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now for our strategic and effective representation on your Louisiana IMG licensing issues.
