Brief Overview

xxxxxOn July 1, 1971, the Council on Medical Education (CME) of the American Medical Association (AMA) created what is known as the Fifth Pathway Program. Through direct intervention and lobbying by students and parents at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara School of Medicine, the AMA conceded that a new entry was necessary for American students studying in a foreign institution.

xxxxxThrough this program, students are able to bypass the year of Social Service. After the fourth year, students can return to the United States to a Fifth Pathway program. The program consists of an academic year of supervised clinical training provided by the faculty at a teaching hospital affiliated with a U.S. medical school that is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). Training is done at the school’s affiliated hospitals. After completing the program, students receive a Fifth Pathway certificate that is accepted in lieu of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) Certification. Graduates of the Fifth Pathway Program are eligible to begin the first year of a residency program accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) without having to complete social service or internship obligations require by a given foreign country.

xxxxxThe Fifth Pathway program is available to U.S citizens and/or legal residents who matriculate at a foreign medical school (outside of the United States, Puerto Rico, or Canada) that is listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools published by the World Health Organization. New York Medical College accepts Canadian citizens that meet the academic requirements.

xxxxxThe Fifth Pathway program was created as a substitute for internship and/or social service requirements the foreign country, thereby allowing students to complete six-year’s requirement in five years. You do not need to take the TOEFL. After completing the Fifth Pathway Program and passing the first two parts of the USMLE, a student can enter the first year of accredited US graduate training. After one year of postgraduate training, a student qualifies to take Step 3 of the USMLE like any US medical school graduate (as opposed to taking it after your third year of residency if you go the ECFMG route). Once you pass all three parts of the USMLE, you may apply for licensure in your state. Licensure gives an applicant all the rights and responsibilities to practice medicine.

xxxxxIn New York state only, Chapter 512 of the Laws of 1998, the Board of Regents confers the ‘”Doctor of Medicine” to persons who complete a “medical education program in a foreign medical school satisfactory to the departments which does not grant the degree doctor of medicine. New York is the only to charge a fee for this.

xxxxxThe council on Medical Education has recommended to all state boards of medical examiners that they consider for licensure all candidates who have successfully completed this supervised clinical training on the same basis as they consider foreign medical candidates who have received ECFMG certification.