Licensure
ISMS Supports
Licensure for International Medical Graduate Physicians
Proposal: Starting Jan. 1, 2025, international medical graduates (IMG) will be allowed to practice under a limited license, issued by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). During this time, IDFPR will develop a pathway for IMGs, after they secure the necessary training, to obtain a license to practice medicine in all of it branches.
Issue: These IMGs played a critical role in shoring up the healthcare workforce during the COVID pandemic. These are the physicians who maintain active licenses to practice medicine in their home countries but have not yet obtained full licensure in the United States due to gaps in their residence training.
Although the state has made progress in creating a framework for IMG physicians to work in Illinois, barriers remain to getting IMGs into supervised practice. Under Illinois law, which took effect April 27, 2023, IMG physicians were allowed to practice under supervision of a licensed physician, but were not given a license of their own. This gives IDFPR fewer tools with which to regulate IMGs’ professional conduct and limits the ability of employers to cover IMG physicians under their medical liability insurance, limiting health systems that would be able to sponsor them.
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