Question regarding FREIDA information for IMGs

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Torquer

the chan-chan man
10+ Year Member
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Hey all!
I have a quick question regarding the information displayed in FREIDA, in the 'general' tab, under the heading:

IMGs should have, among other qualifications, one or more of the following. Contact the program for additional information


  • Current ECFMG certification Yes
  • US citizenship Yes
  • US permanent resident Yes
  • J-1 visa No
  • H1-B visa No
  • F-1 visa Yes
  • Unrestricted state medical license for this state No
So, my question (which may sound a bit dumb), is: what does the yes/no against the qualification mean?
Does a 'NO' mean the IMG doesnt need to have a J-1, and that the program will sponsor it?
Does that go on to mean that a 'YES' implies an IMG needs to have a visa and the program won't sponsor it?

What i'm eventually trying to take from this exercise is to be sure that when I go through details of programs that I'm applying too, I know which ones sponsor visas for IMGs and which dont.

PS: I already tried going through individual program sites to see whether they take IMGs or not and its a VERY tedious process - and i'd rather figure out from this listing.

Thank you for all your help!

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PS: I already tried going through individual program sites to see whether they take IMGs or not and its a VERY tedious process - and i'd rather figure out from this listing.

It is a rather tedious process. You won't be able to accurately figure it out from the FREIDA listing in many/most cases.

The best resource, website wise, tends to be the GME office for the institution you're applying to, rather than the individual program. (i.e. if applying to Wisconsin Department of Surgery --> Look for the Unviersity of Wisconsin Graduate Medical Education website).

If you can't find it from the webs, you'll have to contact the programs.
 
A "Yes" means they are willing to take people with those qualifications, a "No" means they won't take people with those visas/qualifications. In your example above, the program will take people that are US citizens, US permanent residents and people with F-1 visas (not sure how the F-1 visa works, it seems like it's a student visa but I have never heard of it). The program will not take people requiring J-1 and H1B visas. Like southernIM said, some programs will not fill out their FREIDA page (or that section of their page) so your best bet for those programs is to contact them directly. I found FREIDA to be a useful source for making an initial list though.
 
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