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State report: Washington’s IMG pathway growing but final licensing step and residency slots remain bottlenecks
Summary
The Washington Medical Commission and national licensing experts told the Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee that Washington’s clinical experience license and other programs have created supervised practice opportunities for internationally trained physicians, but that converting supervised experience into stable, permanent licensure and adding residency or preceptorship slots remain the primary bottlenecks.
The Washington Medical Commission and national regulatory experts told the Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee on July 22 that Washington’s efforts to bring internationally trained physicians (IMGs) into supervised practice are producing measurable clinical capacity but that the transition to long‑term licensure and access to residency slots remain primary obstacles.
Why it matters: Committee members were briefed on state and national activity to address physician shortages by creating alternative licensing pathways, including Washington’s clinical experience license, a toolkit used by other states, and proposals to create IMG‑dedicated residency slots and a preceptorship pathway.
What the panel said: Micah Matthews, deputy executive and legislative director for the Washington Medical Commission, said Washington implemented a clinical experience license in 2021 and that “400 plus IMGs at various stages in Washington are potentially able to come through our process.” Fatima Mirza, the commission’s program case…
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