International medical graduates (IMGs) can face crippling ECFMG, USMLE, or Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine issues, delaying their licensure for medical practice in the state. You may reside or intend to practice in Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Cambridge, Lowell, Brockton, Quincy, Lynn, New Bedford, Fall River, Newton, Lawrence, Somerville, Framingham, Haverhill, Malden, Waltham, Brookline, or another Massachusetts location. No matter your New Jersey city or town of residence or practice, the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team is available to provide you with the highly skilled and experienced representation you need. Professional license defense is what we do and do well. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form for the attorneys you need for the best outcome for your Massachusetts IMG licensing issues.
The Benefits of Massachusetts IMG Licensure
You made a good choice when planning to practice medicine in Massachusetts. Not only does the state have a substantial population, fine cities and towns with great history, education, arts, and culture, and a beautiful natural environment, but also a highly sophisticated healthcare system, among the best in the world. You may have pursued your medical residency or planned to practice at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, UMass Memorial Medical Center, Baystate Medical Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Medical Center, South Shore Hospital, or Lowell General Hospital, or another outstanding Massachusetts hospital with medical facilities and equipment the envy of the world. Those hospitals offer you abundant practice opportunities, secure employment, and a great base for medical practice of your own. Don't throw away those opportunities. Let us help with your Massachusetts IMG licensing issues.
The Risk of Massachusetts IMG Licensing Issues
Your ECFMG, USMLE, or Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine issues place you at risk of losing all of the above benefits of a Massachusetts medical practice. Without ECFMG certification, USMLE passage, and Board of Registration in Medicine licensure, you won't practice medicine in Massachusetts. If those organizations deny your certification, passage, and licensure, you may not practice anywhere else in the U.S. You could lose all you invested in your international medical education, all your time, effort, and expense. You could also lose all the income, professional reputation, and personal satisfaction you expect from your Massachusetts medical practice and career. Don't underestimate your investment or risk. Let us help you protect your investment and overcome your licensing issues.
Massachusetts IMG Requirements
International medical graduates pursuing Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine licensure have three organizations, not just one organization, with which to deal. You must meet not only the Board of Registration in Medicine's requirements but also the requirements of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) and the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). Our attorneys have the skills and experience in administrative licensing matters to help you favorably resolve your issues and obtain your best licensing outcome. Consider the following requirements of each of these three organizations with which we can help you deal.
Massachusetts Medical Board IMG Licensure Requirements
Massachusetts General Law Part I, Title II, Chapter 13, Section 10 creates the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine to license and regulate the practice of medicine in the state. The Board of Registration in Medicine adopted the 243 Code of Massachusetts Regulation 2.02, setting forth its licensure requirements. Those requirements include good moral character, approved medical school education, completion of domestic violence, sexual violence, and child abuse training, and three years of U.S. or Canadian graduate medical education (medical residency).
Under 243 CMR 2.15, your conviction of a felony or serious misdemeanor, as the Board of Registration defines the latter term, may indicate a lack of good moral character, as the Board determines. As to your international medical education, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine recognizes ECFMG World Directory of Medical Schoolsapproval. If you graduated from an international medical school on ECFMG's approved list at the time of your graduation, you should have satisfied the state's educational requirement. Massachusetts is also among the states recognizing ECFMG Fifth Pathway certification of a joint medical degree issued in partnership between an international and U.S. medical school. Let us help you prove to the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine that you meet these requirements in any dispute that you have with the Board over your credentials.
ECFMG Requirements for Massachusetts IMGs
The ECFMG has a dual role in qualifying you as an international medical graduate for the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine licensure. The first role is to collect the documentation that the Board of Registration in Medicine will require of your international medical education and your U.S. citizenship or lawful immigration status to practice medicine in Massachusetts. The ECFMG offers a service to assist IMGs in obtaining a visa if they are not U.S. citizens. The ECFMG uses its Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials (EPIC) to accept and review your submissions. You must meet ECFMG requirements for the authenticity of the documents you submit, including their seal, signature, attestation, or other proof of reliability.
The other role the ECFMG plays beyond collecting your documentation is to certify you for the USMLE Step 3 exam. If you cannot convince the ECFMG that you graduated from one of its approved international medical schools and that your submissions are otherwise accurate, complete, and not deliberately false or misleading, you will not get to sit for the USMLE Step 3 exam and may not get Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine licensure. Let us help with your ECFMG issues.
USMLE Requirements for Massachusetts IMGs
The USMLE is the third organization, the requirements of which you must meet to obtain your Massachusetts medical license. You must take the USMLE Step 3 exam and obtain a validated, passing score. With ECFMG certification, you should get to sit for the USMLE Step 3 exam. Let us help if you have issues with USMLE officials convincing them that you have ECFMG certification. But you must also follow USMLE rules relating to your exam preparation, attendance, and post-exam conduct relating to confidential exam questions. If USMLE proctors, examinees, or officials believe that you have cheated on the exam, misrepresented your qualifications, or otherwise violated its examination rules, then USMLE officials may withhold your validated, passing Step 3 exam score. Let us help if you have issues meeting USMLE requirements.
Massachusetts IMG Pitfalls and Issues
The above requirements may lead to any number of serious issues with your ability to obtain a Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine license as an international medical graduate. Your issues may arise with any one of the three involved organizations including the Board of Registration in Medicine itself or the ECFMG or USMLE. Let us help you address your issues, whether doing so involves invoking ECFMG, USMLE, or Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine protective procedures. Here are some common issues IMGs can face with each organization.
Massachusetts Medical Board IMG Issues
The issues you may be most likely to face with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine involve your good moral character, any disqualifying criminal convictions, and your completion of the state-specific training, as the Board requires under its administrative regulation 243 CMR 2.02. Other issues involving your ECFMG certification or gaining USMLE release of your validated, passing Step 3 exam score you will need to resolve with those organizations, not the Board of Registration in Medicine, although we can help you with the Board if it refuses to acknowledge your ECFMG certification or USMLE Step 3 exam passing score.
As to your good moral character, your issues may involve allegations that you have a disqualifying criminal conviction, defined under 243 CMR 2.15 as a felony or serious misdemeanor. We may be able to show that you did not suffer any such conviction, that the criminal court reversed your conviction, or that your conviction was not a disqualifying felony or serious misdemeanor. If you have other character or fitness issues, such as a domestic violence restraining order, drunk driving charge, illness, disability, or injury, or substance abuse, dependency, or addiction issue, we can help you show why those issues should not disqualify you from medical practice, because of your rehabilitation. Get our help to make your best case in the mitigation of character issues.
Massachusetts IMG ECFMG Issues
ECFMG issues may first have to do with the international medical school you attended, whether it was on the ECFMG's approved list published in the World Directory of Medical Schools. You shouldn't have an issue, but we can help if you do. The ECFMG is continuously adding and removing schools to that list. More likely, your issue will involve the documentation you submitted to EPIC. ECFMG officials may review that documentation and find contradictions or other anomalies causing them to believe that you are falsifying your credentials. If so, ECFMG officials may deny your certification, applying the ECFMG's Policies and Procedures on Irregular Behavior, which involves subverting certification processes. Finally, ECFMG officials may simply reject your submissions of a transcript, birth certificate, passport, visa, or other critical document because the document does not bear the seal, signature, or other indicia of originality and authenticity that the ECFMG requires. We can help you with any of these ECFMG issues.
Massachusetts IMG USMLE Issues
USMLE Step 3 exam issues generally involve some confusion, accusation, or anomaly around your test preparation and test taking that leads USMLE officials to believe that you may have cheated. Common rule violations include bringing a cell phone or other prohibited device into the exam room, bringing unauthorized notes, removing exam materials after the exam's conclusion, attempting to use an impostor to take your exam, or simply disobeying testing center staff or exam proctors. Trying to photograph or simply recall and distribute confidential exam questions after the exam can also result in irregular behavior charges. USMLE officials claim the authority to invalidate your passing test score if you violate USMLE rules relating to the exam. Allegations may come from testing center staff, exam proctors, fellow examinees, or anyone else observing your misconduct. Your other USMLE issue may involve alleged misrepresentations in your application to sit for the exam. Let us help you with any of these issues.
Procedural Protections for Massachusetts IMGs
As the introduction to this discussion indicates, you have substantial property and liberty interest in your international medical education and application to practice medicine in Massachusetts. Under the State Administrative Procedure Act and Standard Adjudicatory Rules of Practice and Procedure, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine must generally respect the constitutional due process rights of candidates for licensure. The ECFMG's Policies and Procedures on Irregular Behavior, also followed by the USMLE to adjudicate misconduct allegations, include similar due process protections for IMGs facing certification or examination issues. The ECFMG has both a Credentials Committee and a Review Committee for Appeals to carry out those protective procedures.
Our attorneys can invoke these Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, ECFMG, and USMLE procedures to put your best evidence and explanation before independent and impartial officials, with the goal of favorably resolving your matter. We can ensure that you have full and fair notice of the issues. We can answer any charges with your documentation and explanation. We can communicate, meet, advocate, and negotiate with officials for early voluntary resolution of your issues. If those efforts do not produce a satisfactory result, we can invoke the formal hearing, present your evidence, and cross-examine adverse witnesses. If you have already lost your hearing, we can appeal. If you have already lost your appeal, we may be able to obtain court review under the Massachusetts State Administrative Procedure Act and other laws.
Massachusetts IMG Licensing Defense Available
The Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team is available across the state to pursue each of the above rights for the best outcome for your Massachusetts IMG issues. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now.
