title: A roadmap for observership programs in psychiatry for international medical graduates.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  International medical graduates (IMGs) constitute a significant proportion of the psychiatric workforce in the United States. Observership programs serve an important role in preparing IMGs for U.S. residency positions; yet there are limited resources with information available on establishing these observerships, and none specific to psychiatry. In this article, authors present a roadmap for observership programs in psychiatry for IMGs.
  
  
  METHODS
  This article draws on the experience of the IMG committee of the Group for Advancement of Psychiatry in establishing observership programs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Authors highlight the benefits of observership programs to IMGs, psychiatry departments, and the U.S. medical system as a whole. The different components of an observership program are presented, along with core competencies that need to be acquired. The authors discuss challenges that observership programs may encounter as well as recommendations for overcoming them.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Observership programs provide a unique opportunity to integrate IMGs into the U.S. medical system. This article provides a framework for establishing such programs in a way that will optimize their benefits and avoid potential pitfalls.
authors.affiliation: Childrens Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. hesham.hamoda@childrens.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Hesham M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Hamoda
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sacks
authors.forename: Andres
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sciolla
authors.forename: Mantosh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dewan
authors.forename: Antony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.forename: Rama Rao
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Gogineni
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.forename: Milton
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: Ramotse
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sperber
authors.forename: Nyapati R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods*; D005550:Foreign Medical Graduates; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D019370:Observation; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education*; D014481:United States