# Foreign Medical Doctors - Do they all have to recertify in the U.S.? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 31, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-medical-doctors-do-they-all-have-to-recertify-in-the-u-s/590964 "2011-07-31T22:30:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-medical-doctors-do-they-all-have-to-recertify-in-the-u-s/590964/21 "2012-04-26T20:13:00Z")
Or maybe you don’t need the same credentials to be a consultant as to be “the guy who signs the prescriptions”. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-medical-doctors-do-they-all-have-to-recertify-in-the-u-s/590964/22 "2012-04-27T00:27:46Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Is there a shortage of MDs in the US? Certain kinds of MDs, yes - primary care, and many kinds in rural and other areas where it’s considered less than desireable to live. There’s a whole [program](http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/info/info_1288.html#health) under which state health departments can request that foreign doctors who have come to the U.S. to pursue graduate medical training (who would normally be required to return to their home countries for 2 years before being allowed to return to the U.S. on most kinds of temporary visas, or as permanent residents) be exempt form the requirement to return to their home countries in exchange for years of service as medical doctors in shortage areas. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-medical-doctors-do-they-all-have-to-recertify-in-the-u-s/590964/23 "2012-04-27T00:28:50Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Or maybe you don’t need the same credentials to be a consultant as to be “the guy who signs the prescriptions”. Precisely. As long as he’s not treating patients, the recertification requirements for M.D.s don’t apply. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-medical-doctors-do-they-all-have-to-recertify-in-the-u-s/590964/24 "2012-04-27T00:41:45Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Is there a shortage of MDs in the US? There’s plenty of demand for what supply we have. More MDs might put some competitive pressure on wages. Whether that would translate to cheaper prices for the consumer is for someone else to answer. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-medical-doctors-do-they-all-have-to-recertify-in-the-u-s/590964/25 "2012-04-27T02:36:43Z")
> [@coffeecat](#): > > They could change the requirement to U.S. exam and residency or X years experience. I’m with **irishgirl**. What a foolish waste. I’ll be willing to say that not all doctors are created equal; X years of (almost) witch doctoring experience in some third world shithole probably doesn’t compare well relative to exam & residency. I mean, would you really think that a Dr. with 10 years of experience in say… Chad would have ever seen an MRI machine? Or be up on modern treatments and pharmaceuticals? Personally, I’m glad the various states set the bar high; it may screw some qualified doctors, but it probably culls out and prevents at least as many incompetent and/or inadequately trained foreign doctors from practicing here. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-medical-doctors-do-they-all-have-to-recertify-in-the-u-s/590964/26 "2012-04-27T12:53:30Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’ll be willing to say that not all doctors are created equal; X years of (almost) witch doctoring experience in some third world shithole probably doesn’t compare well relative to exam & residency. > > I mean, would you really think that a Dr. with 10 years of experience in say… Chad would have ever seen an MRI machine? Or be up on modern treatments and pharmaceuticals? Maybe not, but they have probably seen and treated a bunch of stuff a western doctor has never seen… A friend of mine was a top pediatric surgeon in NZ. After he retired, he went to Pakistan to re-establish a surgical unit in a mission hospital. One of the things he had to face and treat was established [club foot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_foot). It is pretty easy to treat this as in an infant with the right resources and without surgery. When it is a teenager who has had no treatment at all, it involved obtaining an old surgical manual, and sterilizing a hammer and chisel. I also bet that some doctors from third world nations will spot a reemerging deficiency illness (rickets, or the like) faster than a western doctor. Si ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-medical-doctors-do-they-all-have-to-recertify-in-the-u-s/590964/27 "2012-04-27T13:46:52Z")
Foreign doctors do have to recertify in the US and Canada as well. I had an Australian friend that went through this recently in Vancouver. He was Australian and was an excellent oncologist but the Canadian medical organization wanted him to jump through a LOT of hoops before he could practice in Vancouver. OTOH, if he would agree to practice in Yellow Knife or the like, he could start right away. I thought this was messed-up on a lot of levels. If the guy wasn’t considered good enough to practice in Vancouver, how did moving to an Arctic wasteland make him suddenly competent? I’m very much with **Blake** on the requirement to set a high bar on coming to North America and practicing medicine. I’ve traveled a good bit and been appalled at some of the things doctors in other countries will try to do. Had a Dutch doc try to push Chinese herbal crap on me. Some of the Pakistani and Sudani docs in Saudi were absolute nightmares. If a doc is practicing in the US, I want to feel confident he knows his stuff and didn’t get a medical degree in some third world shit hole because his dad was a big politician or his family had enough money to just flat out buy a degree in wherever he’s from. I figure that if a doc is good enough, he shouldn’t have a problem certifying in the US. If he can’t, I don’t want him working on me and mine. Regards Testy ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-medical-doctors-do-they-all-have-to-recertify-in-the-u-s/590964/28 "2012-04-27T22:32:14Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I mean, would you really think that a Dr. with 10 years of experience in say… Chad would have ever seen an MRI machine? Or be up on modern treatments and pharmaceuticals? Most US doctors will never operate an MRI scanner or even interpret an MRI. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-medical-doctors-do-they-all-have-to-recertify-in-the-u-s/590964/29 "2012-04-28T15:25:03Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > The way I know of is that a foreign-trained doctor will take a [version of the testing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECFMG) that US-trained doctors take, and then go through a residency in the US. At least, this is what I can see from looking online and what I’ve encountered in working in the medical field. > > Your medical school also has to have been [recognized](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Medical_Education_Directory) by the country you studied in. I don’t know what countries don’t have a school on that list. ECFMG…I used to work there processing applications. The exam contains two parts: one, is the medical proficiency (of course) and the other is fluency in english. Not just the proper Queen’s english, but the commonly spoken americanized version filled with idioms, colloquialisms, and slang. “Hey doc…it’s like this: I got a poundin’ upside the noggin tha feels like somebody sapped me with a sledgehammer…knowhutimean?” Foreign Medical doctors need to know medicine…AND the Lingo. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-medical-doctors-do-they-all-have-to-recertify-in-the-u-s/590964/30 "2012-04-28T17:57:37Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > There’s plenty of demand for what supply we have. More MDs might put some competitive pressure on wages. Whether that would translate to cheaper prices for the consumer is for someone else to answer. I’ve heard this is a factor. Doctors in the United States control the certification procedures. And why would they set up those certification procedures to make it easy for foreign doctors to get certified and go into competition with them? They have every economic incentive to make certification difficult and keep the profession limited. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-medical-doctors-do-they-all-have-to-recertify-in-the-u-s/590964/31 "2012-04-28T21:25:13Z")
Are there any U.S. states that have a reputation for being particularly easy for foreign-trained doctors to be admitted to practice? ---
**Author:** ![blue\_bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b782af/32.png) [@blue\_bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_bird)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-medical-doctors-do-they-all-have-to-recertify-in-the-u-s/590964/32 "2012-04-28T23:23:26Z")
I’m a UK med school graduate who moved here to be with my American husband 2 years ago. I qualified as a general practitioner (board certified by the royal college of general practitioners) and worked in the British Army as a medical officer from graduation until I moved to the US. My residencies included peds, IM, derm, obgyn, ER. I’ve served in Iraq, Germany, South Africa and ran a single handed medical centre in Belize providing aeromedical evacuation to the entire country plus a large amount of routine general practice experience back in the UK. I’m soooo bitter that to work here I have to go back to the basics and study the stucture of an amino acid and the Kreb cycle. Is the physiology of the American body different?!? I must have missed that lecture. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-medical-doctors-do-they-all-have-to-recertify-in-the-u-s/590964/33 "2012-04-29T02:31:21Z")
> [@blue\_bird](#): > > …ran a single handed medical centre in Belize providing aeromedical evacuation to the entire country… Wow. That must have taken a LOT of planes! ---
**Author:** ![rekkah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@rekkah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rekkah)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-medical-doctors-do-they-all-have-to-recertify-in-the-u-s/590964/34 "2012-04-29T14:31:13Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Or maybe you don’t need the same credentials to be a consultant as to be “the guy who signs the prescriptions”. In the UK (and I believe in Pakistan, where AK84 is from) a consultant is the job title of fully qualified, senior doctors - I think the equivalent is attending under the US system. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-medical-doctors-do-they-all-have-to-recertify-in-the-u-s/590964.md?page=1)