Foreign Medical Study

Students who have completed all of the formal requirements of the foreign medical school except internship and/or social service may substitute a year of supervised clinical training for the required foreign internship (that is, clinical clerkship or junior internship) under the direction of an AMA-approved medical school. Upon successful completion, students may enter the first year of an approved residency program without having to complete the social service requirement of the foreign country. Before beginning the supervised clinical training, students must have their academic records reviewed and approved by the school supervising the clinical training and must pass a screening examination acceptable to the Council on Medical Education. The ECFMG examination and/or Step 1 of the USMLE are used for this purpose.

Currently only mainland U.S. medical schools offer Fifth Pathway clerkships. This option applies primarily to students in Mexican medical schools and is open only to physicians who have completed their undergraduate premedical studies in an acceptable manner at an accredited American college or university. The Fifth Pathway program allows U.S. students who have completed the requirements for a medical degree in Mexico to be eligible for a continuous academic year of supervised clinical training under the direction of a medical school approved by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. The students who complete this supervised clinical training are then able to enter an AMA-approved graduate training program without completing the Mexican-required internship or social science obligation. This program facilitates graduates of Mexican medical schools to pass into graduate medical programs in this country. The following schools are associated with this Fifth Pathway program. They give preference to state residents. Inquiries should be addressed to the directors of these programs.

University of Arizona

College of Medicine

Tucson, AZ 85724

(Arizona residents only)

University of California, Irvine

California College of Medicine

Irvine, CA 92717

(Preference for California Residents)

Loma Linda University

School of Medicine

Loma Linda, CA 92354

(Out of state residents discouraged)

University of Colorado

School of Medicine

Denver, CO 80262

(Colorado residents only)

University of Illinois

College of Medicine

1737 West Polk, Room 204

Chicago, IL 60612

(Preference for Illinois residents)

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

The Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center

Fulton Avenue at 169th Street

Bronx, NY 10456

New York University

School of Medicine

Booth Memorial Medical Center

56-45 Main Street

Flushing, NY 11355

(New York residents only)

State University of New York

Downstate Medical Center

College of Medicine

The Brooklyn Hospital

121 Dekalb Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11201

Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Fifth Ave. & 100 St.

New York, NY 10029

New York Medical College

Valhalla, NY 10595

Brown University

Division of Biology and Medicine

Providence, RI 02912

It should be noted that additional hospitals in California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Texas may also offer Fifth Pathway opportunities, and additional information can be obtained from the Council on Medical Education of the American Medical Association. Securing a Fifth Pathway appointment presents a significant challenge, because their numbers are very limited and competition is intense.