One of the obstacles international medical graduates face when applying to U.S. residency programs is the lack of U.S. clinical experience.All applicants for U.S. residency programs must be certified by the Education Commision for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). Not all applicants will have experience in a U.S. clinical setting, however. More and more residency program directors are requiring U.S. clinical experience of their applicants.

The International Medical Group offers clinical clerkships for international medical graduates. These clerkships help to provide a solid foundation and introduction to the U.S. clinical setting. All IMG clinical clerkships are conducted in Chicago or the greater Chicago area. Many residency programs in Chicago have traditionally accepted international medical graduates, which underscores the importance of gaining clinical experience in the Chicago area.

Letters of recommendation are also integral to any application for residency in the U.S. The attending physicians of the International Medical Group are practicing in the Chicago area, and many them completed residency training in Chicago. Letters from local Chicago physicians can lend even greater credibility to an international medical graduate’s residency application.




The Chicago Clinical Medicine Certification (CCMC) represents an opportunity for the international medical graduate to demonstrate to residency program directors that robust clinical experience has been gained in the Chicago medical community. The CCMC program includes clinical clerkships in each of the core clinical clerkships: Internal Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Family Medicine, and Obstetrics/Gynecology. Participants shall complete four of the six core clerkships in order to be certified. Each core clerkship in the CCMC program is six weeks in duration. Therefore, if a participant chooses to complete the clerkships in succession, the CCMC certificate can be obtained in 24 weeks, approximately six months.

International medical graduates are welcome to participate in clinical clerkships without pursuing the CCMC certificate. Graduates are also invited to participate in clerkships beyond the allotted weeks for CCMC certification. As with international medical students whose schools are affiliated with International Medical Group, graduates may participate in clinical elective clerkships in many specialties.