Porras Fimbres Denisse Cristina, Zeng Steven, Phillips Brett Thomas
From the Department of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, N.C.
Department of Plastic Surgery, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, N.C.
Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. 2023 Aug 11;11(8):e5140. doi: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000005140. eCollection 2023 Aug.
International medical graduates (IMGs) are physicians who did not attend medical school in the USA or Canada. IMGs comprise nearly one-quarter of the physician workforce and play a vital role in health care. Here, we aimed to identify the prevalence of IMGs in integrated programs and evaluate factors that influence their success in the residency match.
The annual match reports from 2010 to 2020 were retrieved and summarized. Electronic surveys for program directors and program coordinators were distributed to US integrated plastic surgery programs. Each program's website was appraised for information regarding the eligibility of IMGs. Websites were also used to identify the number of IMG residents.
The number of applicants who matched into integrated programs ranged from 69 to 180 per year, of which US applicants comprised 61-165. US IMGs filled one to three positions per year, whereas non-US IMGs filled two to seven. Although 48% of programs have matched non-citizen IMGs and 79% have not encountered difficulties during the visa process, 67% of coordinators reported that the onboarding process is more challenging for IMGs. There are no IMGs in 52% of programs, and most institutions offer information on their website regarding visa sponsorship.
IMGs make up less than 10% of filled positions per cycle. Although most programs accept IMGs, a small number matriculate. This may be explained by the competitiveness of integrated programs and the volume of IMG applications. Further research is needed to identify contributing factors of low IMG representation in plastic surgery programs.
国际医学毕业生（IMGs）是指未在美国或加拿大医学院就读的医生。IMGs占医生劳动力的近四分之一，在医疗保健中发挥着至关重要的作用。在此，我们旨在确定IMGs在综合项目中的患病率，并评估影响他们在住院医师匹配中成功的因素。
检索并总结了2010年至2020年的年度匹配报告。向美国综合整形外科项目的项目主任和项目协调员发放了电子调查问卷。对每个项目的网站进行评估，以获取有关IMGs资格的信息。网站还用于确定IMG住院医师的数量。
每年匹配到综合项目的申请人数量在69至180人之间，其中美国申请人有61至165人。美国IMGs每年填补1至3个职位，而非美国IMGs填补2至7个职位。尽管48%的项目匹配了非公民IMGs，且79%的项目在签证过程中未遇到困难，但67%的协调员报告称，入职过程对IMGs来说更具挑战性。52%的项目中没有IMGs，大多数机构在其网站上提供有关签证赞助的信息。
IMGs在每个周期填补的职位中占比不到10%。尽管大多数项目接受IMGs，但只有少数人被录取。这可能是由于综合项目的竞争力和IMG申请数量所致。需要进一步研究以确定整形外科项目中IMG代表性低的影响因素。
