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 or to IMGs participating in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) who have submitted a rank order list to the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).
To participate in IAN, advisees must:
- 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.
OR
- Be registered with ERAS 2009, and
- Have submitted a rank order list to NRMP for the 2009 Match.
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 his/her program or practice, gender, family status (such as single, with spouse, with children), and a brief personal statement. 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 prior years.
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.
Since advisors serve on a voluntary basis and there is a limit to the number of advisors available, potential advisees are encouraged to seek advisors as soon as possible. It is possible that a point may be reached when no matching advisors will be available for an advisee. If that occurs, the advisee should recheck availability periodically since new advisors may be added or existing advisors may decide to accept more advisees.
How to Participate
When you register as an IAN advisee, you will be asked to submit information about yourself and will then have the opportunity to search the IAN advisor database for best matches. The advisors you choose to contact 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 or your advisor chooses to copy ECFMG on your e-mails.
J-1 Visa Sponsorship Applicants
If you are eligible to participate in IAN as an advisee based upon having submitted a completed application for J-1 visa sponsorship, you will receive an e-mail directly from the ECFMG Exchange Visitor Sponsorship Program directing you to this website for further information. If you have received your e-mail invitation and are interested in participating, please proceed to the Advisee login page.
ERAS and NRMP Participants
If you are eligible to participate in IAN as an advisee based upon your participation in ERAS and NRMP and you are interested in participating in IAN, please login to ECFMG’s OASIS, click on the ERAS Support Services link, and follow the instructions for the IMG Advisors Network.
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.
Returning Advisees: Login to IAN
