Selection Policy

All programs must select from among eligible applicants on the basis of their preparedness, ability, aptitude, academic credentials, communication skills, and personal qualities such as motivation and integrity. No program may discriminate with regard to sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, disability or veteran status.

Applicants with one of the following qualifications are eligible for appointment to accredited residency programs at SUNY-Downstate:

• Graduates of medical schools in the United States and Canada accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)
• Graduates of colleges of osteopathic medicine in the United States accredited by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA)
• Graduates of medical schools outside the United States and Canada who meet the following qualifications as described by New York State Department of Health, Section 405.4:
  • Have a currently valid certificate from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates AND,
  • Either, are eligible for licensure under section 6528 of the NY State Education Law
  • Or, have completed no more than 12 weeks of required clinical clerkships in a country other than the country in which the medical school is located. This is know as the NYSED 12-week rule, see exceptions below*.
• Graduates of medical schools outside the U.S. who have completed a Fifth Pathway program provided by an LCME accredited medical school
• Dental residents must hold a DDS or DMD degree from a school approved by the Commission on Dental Accreditation and a NYS License/Limited Permit.

All programs must participate in the National Residency Matching Program and abide by all NRMP Policies and Procedures. Any exceptions must be approved by the GMEC. When programs do not fill through the match, residents may subsequently be appointed to unfilled positions from the pool of unmatched students, or other sources, as long as they meet institutional standards.

Each program must have a set of written standards, appropriate to the specialty, to guide resident selection. For each program, the selection of residents should be the responsibility of a committee of the faculty which has the opportunity to review application materials, rate residents against the published selection standards, and agree as a group on those residents to be selected either through the match or otherwise. Such decisions should ordinarily not be those of an individual program leader.

The enrollment of non-eligible residents may be a cause for withdrawal of accreditation by the ACGME.

 

*The New York State Department of Education has approved a list of schools that are excluded from the 12 week rule. Applicants who attended one of the following schools are not subject to the rule:

• American University of Antigua, Antigua 
• American University of the Caribbean, Cupecoy, St. Martin
• The Autonomous University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico 
• English Language Program, University of Debrecen, Medical and Health Science Center, Medical School, Debrecen, Hungary 
• English Language Program, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland 
• English Language Program, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland 
• Fatima College of Medicine, Manila, Philippines 
• International Health and Medicine Program, Ben Gurion University of the Negrev, Beer-Sheva, Israel 
• Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, India 
• Medical University of the Americas/Nevis, Nevis, West Indies 
• Ras Al Khaimah Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras AI Khaimah, UAE 
• Ross University School of Medicine, Roseau, Dominica 
• Saba University School of Medicine, The Bottom, Saba 
• George’s University School of Medicine, St. George’s, Grenada 
• Matthew’s University School of Medicine, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands 
• Technion Israel Institute of Technology - Technion American Medical Students Program (TEAMS), Haifa, Israel 
• The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 
• Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Doha, Qatar