To become certified in internal medicine, a physician must complete the requisite predoctoral medical education, meet the graduate medical education training requirements, demonstrate clinical competence in the care of patients, meet the licensure and procedural requirements, and pass the Certification Examination in Internal Medicine.
Candidates who graduated from medical schools in the United States or Canada must have attended a school that was accredited at the date of graduation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the Committee for Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools, or the American Osteopathic Association.
To be admitted to the Certification Examination in Internal Medicine, physicians must have satisfactorily completed, by August 31st of the year of examination, 36 calendar months, including vacation time, of U.S. or Canadian graduate medical education accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, or the Professional Corporation of Physicians of Quebec. Residency or research experience occurring before completion of the requirements for the MD or DO degree cannot be credited toward the requirements for certification. The 36 months of residency training must include 12 months of accredited internal medicine training at each of three levels: R-1, R-2 and R-3. No credit is granted for training repeated at the same level or for administrative work as a chief medical resident. In addition, training as a subspecialty fellow cannot be credited toward fulfilling the internal medicine training requirements.
