International medical graduates (IMGs) who choose Maryland for residency, licensure, and employment in medical practice make a good choice. However, IMGs face extra ECFMG, USMLE, and Maryland Board of Physicians licensure requirements beyond those domestic U.S. medical graduates face. Those licensing issues can cost you your dream of practicing medicine in Maryland. If you face Maryland IMG licensing issues, retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team for the highly qualified attorney representation you need. We are available in Baltimore, Columbia, Germantown, Silver Spring, Waldorf, Frederick, Ellicott City, Glen Burnie, Gaithersburg, Rockville, Dundalk, Bethesda, Bowie, Towson, Bel Air South, Severn, Aspen Hill, Wheaton, North Bethesda, and at every other location across the state. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form for the best possible outcome on your Maryland IMG licensing issue.
The Benefits of Maryland IMG Licensure
International medical graduates generally know the great value of a medical practice within the United States, having earned the degree with the intention of establishing such a practice. Maryland can supply all those benefits and more. You knew what you were doing when choosing Maryland as your state in which to license. Maryland not only has a beautiful natural environment, a healthy and diverse economy, and a substantial and friendly population but also a sophisticated healthcare system with world-renowned medical facilities and education. Professional privileges at or patient access to Johns Hopkins Hospital, the University of Maryland Medical Center, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Holy Cross Hospital, Anne Arundel Medical Center, and MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center, among many other fine medical institutions, can make for a rewarding practice. No matter the reason you chose Maryland for a medical license and practice, you made a good choice. We can help you see that choice to fruition in the face of ECFMG, USMLE, or Maryland Board of Physicians issues.
The Impact of Maryland IMG Licensing Issues
That is indeed your risk when facing ECFMG, USMLE, or Maryland Board of Physicians IMG licensing issues, that you could lose your ability to meet your goal and achieve your dream of a Maryland medical practice. Depending on the grounds for denying your certification, examination, or licensure, you may not be able to practice in any other U.S. state if you fail to gain licensure in Maryland. Think of all that you have invested in your international medical education. Think of all the financial, professional, and personal rewards you anticipated from a Maryland medical practice. Your licensing issues place all those returns and rewards at risk. You could lose everything for which you have worked. Let us help you avoid those risks by addressing and favorably resolving your IMG licensing issues.
Maryland IMG Licensing Requirements
Three organizations, not just one, determine whether you, as a Maryland international medical graduate, will get to practice medicine in the state. In most cases, you must first obtain certification from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), proving your graduation from an approved international medical school. ECFMG certification then allows you to qualify to sit for the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). USMLE passage proves your competent medical knowledge and skills for Maryland practice. You must then obtain your Maryland Board of Physicians license, proving your good moral character and fitness for medical practice. The following discussion summarizes each organization's requirements and procedures. Let us help you favorably resolve issues with those requirements and procedures.
Maryland Board of Physicians IMG Licensing Requirements
Maryland adopted its Medical Practice Act to create the Maryland Board of Physicians and authorize it to license and regulate Maryland physicians. Maryland Code Section 10.32.01.03 sets forth the requirements for a medical license. For international medical graduates, those requirements include good moral character, ECFMG certification showing graduation from an approved international medical school, two years of approved graduate medical residency, and passage of the FLEX, NBME, or USMLE exam. Other details of the statute show that you may satisfy the educational requirement through the ECFMG's Fifth Pathway process by earning your medical degree from a joint program between your international medical school and a U.S. medical school. We can help you resolve issues with any of these requirements.
ECFMG Requirements for Maryland IMGs
Maryland Code Section 10.32.01.03, part of Maryland's Medical Practice Act, expressly requires that international medical graduates obtain ECFMG certification. The ECFMG evaluates international medical programs worldwide to determine whether they meet generally accepted standards, including standards most U.S. state medical boards accept. ECFMG approved international medical schools appear in the World Directory of Medical Schools, although Maryland's Board of Physicians retains the authority to accept other international medical schools on a case by case basis. ECFMG certification, though, is a statutory requirement.
Your ECFMG certification requires you to complete an online portfolio that ECFMG calls your Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials (EPIC). You must induce your international medical school's registrar or other official to upload your official transcript indicating your graduation in good standing. You must also supply other documentation establishing your U.S. citizenship or lawful immigration status to enter and practice medicine in the U.S. ECFMG offers IMGs a visa assistance service to meet that requirement. Your ECFMG submissions must also be truthful, complete, and authenticated with seals, signatures, attestations, or other marks ECFMG requires for reliability. We can help you resolve ECFMG issues.
USMLE Requirements for Maryland IMGs
Maryland Code Section 10.32.01.03 also requires you to pass an approved licensing exam. International medical graduates commonly elect the USMLE Step 3 exam to satisfy their examination requirements. FLEX and NBME exams may not be available internationally or may not fit conveniently with your international program. Your required ECFMG certification also qualifies you for the USMLE Step 3 exam, likely making it your preferred or only option. Whether you take the USMLE or another approved exam, you must apply directly to exam officials to prove your eligibility and schedule your exam date and time. Your application must be accurate and complete, without misrepresentations.
You must pass the USMLE Step 3 exam within no more than three attempts within a year. A fourth attempt must be more than a year after your first attempt and six months after your last (third) attempt. Your other USMLE requirements have to do with complying with exam rules. The USMLE Bulletin of Information contains abundant exam rules preserving exam confidentiality, ensuring orderly administration, and ensuring the integrity of your exam answers. Those rules prohibit, among other things:
- using confidential exam questions to prepare for the exam;
- disobeying the instructions of proctors or other test center staff;
- using unauthorized materials or devices in the exam;
- obtaining answers from or giving answers to another examinee; and
- sharing confidential exam answers after the exam.
USMLE officials will also analyze your answer for patterns suggesting suspicious activity. If issues arise, USMLE procedures authorize officials to withhold your exam results and invalidate your passing score. Let us help you with any such issues.
Maryland IMG Problems and Pitfalls
You can already see from the above discussion how issues can arise out of ECFMG, USMLE, and Maryland Board of Physicians requirements. Your international medical education adds another layer of scrutiny and complexity to your medical licensure. International medical graduates often face licensing issues domestic U.S. graduates do not face. The discussion below highlights common Maryland IMG licensing issues and how we may be able to help you successfully navigate those issues.
Maryland Board of Physicians IMG Issues
Consider your Maryland Board of Physicians issues first. Of course, your failure to obtain ECFMG certification or obtain a validated USMLE Step 3 exam score can derail your Maryland Board of Physicians license application. We can help you communicate with the Maryland Board of Physicians that we are moving diligently to resolve your ECFMG and USMLE issues so that the Board does not reject your application and close your file prematurely. Our assurances can help alleviate the Board's concern that you cannot qualify or may have misrepresented your credentials and qualifications.
Your bigger Maryland Board of Physicians issues will likely have to do with the Board's good moral character requirement under Maryland Code Section 10.32.01.03. Character issues can arise from a wide variety of concerns. The statute requires you to provide a long list of information about arrests, convictions, drug and alcohol issues, English language competency, speech impairments, physical or mental impairments, malpractice complaints, and other potentially disqualifying concerns. If your list is incomplete or inconsistent with your other documentation or Board background checks, you may face a charge that you misrepresented your qualifications. Criminal convictions for violent crimes, drunk driving, drug crimes, civil restraining orders, or medical conditions suggesting disability or impairment may require you to answer the Board's concerns. We can help you do so by presenting your best case for your rehabilitation or that you did not have the conviction or other issue the Board suspects.
Maryland IMG ECFMG Issues
ECFMG issues tend not to have to do with your character and fitness, which are Maryland Board of Physicians concerns, but instead with your documentation of graduation from an approved international medical school or your lawful citizenship or immigration status. You may face substantive issues proving your graduation from an approved school, especially if your school's registrar hasn't updated your transcript indicating your graduation or has left disciplinary or other pending transcript issues unresolved. You may likewise face substantive issues over your U.S. passport or visa. We can help you address those substantive issues by working with your international medical school, immigration officials, and ECFMG officials.
More likely, you may have the proper citizenship or immigration status and may have graduated from an approved international medical school, but your documentation lacks the indicia of reliability that ECFMG requires. Your transcript or other documents may not have the signature, seal, or attestation that ECFMG requires, may be a duplicate rather than the original, or may have come from you rather than the official recordkeeper. Your documentation may also appear to be altered or inconsistent with other documentation or with your representations of what those documents prove. If the ECFMG believes you are trying to subvert ECFMG processes, officials may apply the ECFMG's Policies and Procedures on Irregular Behavior to deny you certification. We can help you navigate ECFMG misconduct proceedings to get the best outcome.
Maryland IMG USMLE Issues
Qualifying for and passing the USMLE Step 3 exam is another one of your IMG licensing challenges. Of course, studying effectively for the exam is up to you. But you don't need other issues complicating your exam preparation and delaying your scheduled examination or, worse, invalidating your passing Step 3 exam score. Those issues can include allegations that you solicited confidential exam questions, recalled and shared exam questions after the exam, or engaged in some form of cheating or disruption during the exam itself. Test center staff, proctors, or examinees may report that you disobeyed instructions, tried to get answers from another examinee, brought unauthorized materials or devices into the exam, or tried to remove exam materials at the end of the exam. We can help you address your USMLE issues.
Procedural Protections for Maryland IMGs
As indicated above, the ECFMG maintains Policies and Procedures on Irregular Behavior. That commitment includes authorizing a Credentials Committee to hold dispute-resolution hearings over charges of misconduct and other issues holding up your certification. The ECFMG also has a Review Committee to which we can help you appeal an adverse decision on your issue. The USMLE follows a similar irregular behavior procedure. The Maryland Board of Physicians must likewise follow the state's administrative rules for contested cases. We can invoke these protective procedures to advocate effectively for the favorable resolution of your Maryland IMG licensing issues.
Maryland IMG Licensing Representation
The Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team is available across Maryland and around the nation to help you resolve your ECFMG, USMLE, and Maryland Board of Physicians issues. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now.
