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August 2004:
CHICAGO, Aug. 16, 2004 – The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical
Education is pleased with the U.S. District Court’s decision to dismiss a
resident antitrust lawsuit that challenged the legality of the National
Resident Matching Program.
“We are grateful to Congress for establishing law protecting the Match and to
the court for issuing the decision that puts this matter to rest,” said David
C. Leach, MD, executive director of the ACGME.
The lawsuit, filed by three former resident physicians, charged that the
NRMP, along with its member organizations, the ACGME and 29 hospitals and
universities, violated the Sherman antitrust act. The Match pairs residents
with programs based on computerized ranks of the preferences of the residents
and programs, resulting in an orderly process for pairing residents and
programs in which 85% of residents are matched with one of their top three
program choices.
The lawsuit, Paul Jung, MD, et al v. Association of American Medical Colleges
et al was filed May 7, 2002, in the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia. On February 11, 2004, the district court dismissed the complaint
against some of the defendants. In April Congress passed legislation, part of
the Pension Fund Equity Act, exempting the Match program from antitrust
regulations.
On Aug. 12, 2004 the district court granted motions to dismiss the case.
The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) Board is expected to vote at
its May 12, 2003 meeting on its pending "all-in" match rule. Under this
rule, in order for an institution to use the national match to fill any of
its residency slots, all slots at the institution must be included. If the
rule is approved, it is scheduled for implementation in 2004.
2004-2005:
The 2005 timeline is nearly identical to last year. Institution/program
registration opens on September 1, 2004; the rank order list deadline is
February 23, 2005; the program quota change deadline is January 31, 2005;
Match Week is the third week of March; and Match Day is March 17, 2005,
St Patrick's Day.
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APDIM (Association of Program Directors of Internal Medicine) members have
expressed increasing concern that the relatively short time between Match Day
and July 1, the traditional start of new residencies, does not always allow
international medical graduates (IMGs) sufficient time to obtain visas to
enter the US. IMGs, especially those from certain countries in Southwest
Asia, have had particular difficulty with visas in the last 18 months.
Due to these concerns, APDIM recently sent a letter to the NRMP Board asking
that the "all-in" rule be delayed one year in order for NMRP, APDIM, and
other interested parties to study the continuing problem of accessing visas |
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Letter from the APDIM to the NRMP (April 2003)
On behalf of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine
(APDIM)—the organization of accredited internal medicine residencies in the
United States and Canada—I write to express the organization’s views on
important policy changes under consideration by the National Resident
Matching Program (NRMP).
In principle, APDIM supports NRMP efforts to require all institutions to
eventually participate fully in the main match and have all students involved
in a uniform match program. However, internal medicine residency programs
are increasingly concerned that the implementation date of July 2003 for this
new policy may have significant unintended consequences, particularly with
regard to the inability of international medical graduates (IMGs) to obtain
visas to begin the residency year July 1.
While approximately 60 percent of residents in internal medicine are US
medical graduates (USMGs), the remaining 40 percent are IMGs. The IMGs in
internal medicine represent almost one-third of IMGs in all residency
programs. Over the last 18 months, the visa approval process has been
unpredictable, with significant delays becoming more common. The Board on
International Scientific Organizations at the National Academies recently
issued a report (copy attached) outlining the increased difficulty visiting
scientists and students are encountering in obtaining visas. Since the
passage of the Homeland Security Act (PL 107-296) in November 2002, the new
US Department of Homeland Security has assumed responsibility for most of the
visa process, and the department has focused on providing greater scrutiny
rather than on expedited review. Anecdotal evidence indicates IMGs may be
facing an even longer approval process. Under these conditions, the 2004
match day, as currently scheduled, may not allow many IMGs to secure their
visas in time to begin their residency training July 1. |
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