ECFMG Acculturation Program
IAN - Information for Advisees
Returning Advisees
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Qualifications of Advisees
Participation in IAN is limited to those IMGs who have applied to ECFMG for initial J-1 visa sponsorship.
To participate in IAN, advisees must:
- Be certified by ECFMG,
- Have been offered a position in an ACGME-accredited training program, and
- Have submitted an application and payment to the ECFMG Exchange Visitor Sponsorship Program for initial sponsorship as a J-1 Alien Physician.
Selecting an Advisor
IAN advisors are individuals who serve on a voluntary basis. Among other advisor qualifications, they are IMGs who are currently in or have completed ACGME-accredited training programs in the United States. As such, they have dealt recently with the issues involved in coming to the United States, adjusting to working and learning in the U.S. health care and educational systems, and getting themselves and their families settled into living in the United States.
Advisor profiles include information that will allow advisees to select advisors who are best matched to their own circumstances. This information includes the advisor’s medical school, current medical specialty, location of their program or practice, gender, family status (such as single, with spouse, with children), and a brief personal statement (to be added in early 2008). Perhaps the ideal match would be with an advisor who attended the same medical school as the advisee, is in the same training program, and has a similar family status. However, even less complete matches should allow advisors to provide useful information to advisees. Most advisors have volunteered to accept several advisees. Some advisors will be IMGs who were advisees themselves in IAN’s pilot year.
Although individuals and situations differ, we believe there is substantial common experience in the journeys traveled by successful IMGs, and that this experience is invaluable to the IMGs that come after them. This is especially true when the advisor-advisee pairing can be as specific as possible with respect to specialty, U.S. geographic area or program, country of origin, and other factors.
How to Participate
If you are eligible to participate in IAN as an advisee, you should have received an e-mail directly from the ECFMG Exchange Visitor Sponsorship Program indicating receipt of your J-1 application and fee and directing you to this website for information. If you are interested in participating, proceed to the Advisee login page. Note that individuals who are not eligible to participate in IAN will not be able to access this service despite submission of a valid ECFMG/USMLE number and ECFMG on-line services password.
You will be asked to submit information about you and your training program and will then have the opportunity to search the IAN advisor database for best matches. Advisors you select will receive your profile information and e-mail address and will then initiate communication with you. Once communication begins, correspondence between you and your advisor will not be visible to or monitored by ECFMG unless you and your advisor choose to copy ECFMG on your e-mails.
Login to IAN to create or modify your Advisee profile.
