Appointment Requirements for Residents and Fellows
All UMass Chan Medical School - Baystate training programs comply with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) institutional and program requirements for resident eligibility and selection.
1. Pre-Employment Verifications and Examinations
When you’re matched or accepted into a residency or fellowship at UMass Chan - Baystate, your employment offer is contingent on satisfactory findings from all pre-employment verifications and examinations. These include:
- Criminal background file review
- Driving record evaluation
- Medical license verification and credentialing review (if you have held a medical license previously)
- Pre-employment examinations
- Physical exam
- Confirmation or administration of required immunizations
- Urine drug test
Please note: If your drug test is positive, we immediately withdraw your employment offer. You will be ineligible to apply for employment with any Baystate Health corporation for 12 months.
2. Full or Limited Medical Licensure in Massachusetts
Your appointment as a UMass Chan - Baystate resident or fellow requires full or limited license from the Board of Registration in Medicine of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We pay for the limited license.
As part of your application for a limited license, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine asks you to answer questions about your training, disciplinary actions, substance use, practice privileges and more.
If you answer “Yes” to any of the questions, the Board of Registration in Medicine will require supplemental information, such as information from your medical school or the program director of a previous training program.
Find complete information at Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine website.
Physicians applying for an initial limited license are required to pass ONE of the following:
- United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Steps 1 and 2 (Clinical Knowledge and Clinical Skills)
- First two levels of Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX)
- Complete all parts of the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination (MCCQE)
Read our Medical License and Registrations Policy.
3. Current Medical Certifications
All UMass Chan - Baystate residents and fellows must have specific certifications that are current at the start of training. If you don’t already have the required certifications, we provide courses for you free of charge just prior to orientation. You may need to take additional certification courses, provided without charge.
Required and Provided Initial Certification Training:
- Anesthesia residency and fellowships: BLS, ACLS
- Emergency Medicine residency and fellowships: BLS, ACLS, PALS, ATLS
- Medicine residency and fellowships: BLS, ACLS
- Medicine-Pediatrics residency: BLS, ACLS, PALS, NRP
- Obstetrics-Gynecology residency: BLS, ACLS, NRP
- Pathology residency and fellowships: BLS
- Pediatrics residency: BLS, ACLS, PALS, NRP
- Psychiatry residency: BLS, ACLS
- Radiology residency: BLS, ACLS
- Surgery residency: BLS, ACLS, PALS, ATLS
- Minimally Invasive Surgery fellowship: BLS, ACLS
Acronyms: BLS=Basic Life Support; ACLS=Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support; ATLS = Advanced Trauma Life Support; PALS=Pediatric Advanced Life Support; NRP=Neonatal Resuscitation Program
4. Visa Status
If you are a foreign national, you must enter the United States on an appropriate visa and maintain appropriate visa status throughout your training.
We sponsor residents and fellows on J-1 visas through the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). We do sponsor a few select candidates for H-1B visas. Read our Resident Visas Policy.
5. Fellows: USMLE Step 3/COMLEX-USA Level 3 Exam
All UMass Chan - Baystate fellows must pass the USMLE Step 3 examination (for fellows with an MD degree) or COMLEX–USA Level 3 examination (for fellows with a DO degree) prior to entering fellowship training.