Extra MD Income: Cashing in on the IMGs

As of 2005-2006, International Medical Graduates (IMGs) [Previously called Foreign Medical Graduates] represent about 25% of the practicing US Physician Population. Each year, thousands of IMGs participate in the Residency Matching program hoping to get a residency position of their choice somewhere in the USA. They usually end up taking positions in specialties that the American Medical Graduates do not compete for , such an Internal medicine, Family medicine, pediatrics, Ob-Gyn etc.

Increasingly residency programs would like to see IMGs to have 3 to 6 months of supervised, hands-on US Clinical Experience in order to be considered for an interview, besides much higher scores than the average American Medical graduate scores. Such hands-on experience is extremely tough for IMGs to secure, given the patient privacy laws, hospital policies on malpractice, etc. This represents a Catch 22 situation - No Residency without Hands-on experience, and no hands-on clinical experience without a Residency position !

This need has spawned a business that promises to have a steady supply of willing-to-pay consumers : The business of practicing physicians in USA "sponsoring" or volunteering to let selected International Medical graduates shadow them and even perform supervised clinical history-taking and physical exams....all for a good cost. Typically 1000$ to 2000$ a month is charged, which makes a great income source, besides being able to teach these graduates ( yeah - most physicians do like to teach junior docs)

Click here to check out how Dr. Barry Mehta runs a externship providing service complete with airport pickups for the visiting IMGs.

Well maybe starting this externship thing did have a financial motive ! Coz' as a reader pointed out to me, Dr. Barry Mehta was found guilty of fraud for stealing 125,000/- from Medicaid by systematically billing the state for clients who were never present. Read about that Here.

But besides that criminal part, it's a good and enjoyable extra physician income model eh ?


Mooooooooooooooooo..... now wut the heck was that mooo thing ? that was the cash cow calling ;-)

So is it ethical for a physician to charge another physician for training ? "Dr. Mehta thinks so, and in academic medicine there is a movement to compensate physicians for clinical teaching." - As per this article that appeared on the AMedNews site


Hoping to help aspiring IMGs, I maintain a List of Observerships / Externships and Electives in USA for IMGs



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