Section

The following explanations should help in understanding the relationships that exist between IMGs and the AMA:

1989 - 1996: The Advisory Committee on International Medical Graduates
This Advisory Committee, consisting of nine AMA members appointed by the AMA Board of Trustees and one IMG resident physician recommended by the Resident Physicians Section, was first chartered in 1989 and rechartered thereafter until June 1996. Its responsibilities included assuring communication on IMG issues with state licensing boards, national ethnic medical organizations, the ECFMG, COGME, and other related groups; advising the AMA staff and Board of Trustees on IMG issues; providing regular progress reports to the Board of Trustees and the AMA House of Delegates; promoting AMA membership among IMGs; and advocating for equal opportunities and requirements for all international medical graduates either in residency training or in practice in the United States. The IMG advocacy function of this committee was transferred to the IMG Caucus Steering Committee in June 1996.

1996 - 1997: The International Medical Graduate Caucus
The IMG Caucus had been in formation for some two years, as a result of a direct charge to the IMG Advisory Committee, from the AMA Board of Trustees, to create a mechanism by which the issues and concerns of IMGs would be more adequately dealt with within the structure of the AMA. At an IMG Caucus meeting in June 1995, an IMG Caucus Steering Committee, composed of seven members, was elected from the Caucus membership and spent considerable time defining a structure that would be broadly representative and effective in an IMG advocacy role. It needed to also be in a position to assume the duties and responsibilities of the IMG Advisory Committee when its charter expired in June 1996. The transfer of duties from the IMG Advisory Committee to the IMG Caucus Steering Committee occurred on schedule in June 1996. The IMG Caucus held a plenary session in June, with over 80 IMGs attending and participating.

1997 - Present: The International Medical Graduates Section
At the IMG Caucus meeting in June 1996, a firm decision was made to petition the AMA House of Delegates for the creation of an IMG Section within the framework of the AMA. It also directed the IMG Caucus Steering Committee to appoint an IMG Section Strategy Team to implement this recommendation, and to refine a set of rules of procedure that had been proposed by the IMG Advisory Committee. An IMG Section provides IMGs with a seat in the AMA House of Delegates and a specific role in the governance and policy-making process of the AMA. 

2005:  AMA Bylaws Amended to Expand IMG Section 
The AMA Board of Trustees supported the IMG Section Governing Council's request to amend AMA bylaws so that all IMG members of the AMA automatically become members of the IMG Section. The AMA Bylaws were further amended to provide that all IMG Section members who are AMA members be allowed to vote in the election of the IMG Section Governing Council and that, at the IMG Section Annual Meeting, only those IMG Section members who are AMA members and who are in attendance elect Governing Council members to specific offices (Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Delegate, Alternate Delegate, At Large Member, Resident/Fellow Member) and that this election process be reviewed three years after its final approval of the House of Delegates.

We urge you to examine the information contained in this Web site, and to provide us with your comments. Please let us know that you support the IMG Section Governing Council in all of its efforts on behalf of IMGs, and bring to its attention any specific issues that you feel need to be addressed, please call us at (312) 464-5622 or e-mail us at img@ama-assn.org.