Top 10 IMG Friendly Internal Medicine Residency Programs in Michigan (2025)

Understanding IMG Friendly Residency Programs

Data shows that the US residency match has become increasingly competitive each year with more applicants than residency positions available. Because of the overwhelmingly large applicant pool, students and graduates applying can find it increasingly difficult to match. International medical graduates, or IMGs, can find this even more difficult as many US medical students and graduates are often favored due to their education and familiarity with the US healthcare system through medical school.

Despite this obstacle, IMGs are an essential part of the US healthcare system, helping to close the gap of the US's current doctor shortage. While IMGs may find themselves at a disadvantage to US MD students and graduates, applying to IMG friendly programs, who have a history of IMG residents on their roster, can help to significantly increasing their chances of a successful match. This can increase their chances of matching because this shows that these programs are happy to match IMGs into their program and shows that you'll be a good fit for their program and with their residents.

In this blog series, we'll cover top IMG-friendly programs across the US, starting with IMG-friendly internal medicine residency programs in Michigan. Lets dive in!

Top 10 IMG-Friendly Internal Medicine Residency Programs in Michigan

(by percentage of IMGs in the Program):

McLaren Bay Region Program

• Location: Bay City, MI

• Percentage of IMGs: 100% of residents in the programs are US or non-US IMGs.

• Application requirements:

  • USMLE Step 1: Passing score required prior to graduation

  • USMLE Step 2 CK: ≥225 (Passing score required prior to graduation)

  • Clinical Experience: No requirement stated

  • Graduation Year Cut-Off: No requirement stated

  • Visas accepted/offered: None

• Program website: https://www.mclaren.org/gme-medical-education/mclaren-residency-programs/47

Corewell Health Dearborn Program

• Location: Dearborn, MI

• Percentage of IMGs: 100% of residents in the programs are US or non-US IMGs.

• Application requirements:

  • USMLE Step 1: ≥230 (passage on first attempt)

  • USMLE Step 2 CK: ≥230 (passage on first attempt)

  • Clinical Experience: No requirement stated

  • Graduation Year Cut-Off: Graduated within the past 5 years

  • Visas accepted/offered: J-1

• Program website: https://corewellhealth.org/graduate-medical-education/southeast-michigan/residencies/dearborn/internal-medicine

  
  

Detroit Wayne County Health Authority (Authority Health) GME Consortium Program

• Location: Detroit, MI

• Percentage of IMGs: 100% of residents in the programs are US or non-US IMGs.

• Application requirements:

  • USMLE Step 1: No minimum cutoff

  • USMLE Step 2 CK: No minimum cutoff

  • Clinical Experience: Experience within the past 2 years

  • Graduation Year Cut-Off: No cutoff

  • Visas accepted/offered: None

• Program website: https://authorityhealth.org/graduate-medical-education/internal-medicine-residency-program/

  
  

McLaren Health Care/Flint/MSU Program

• Location: Flint, MI

• Percentage of IMGs: 100% of residents in the programs are US or non-US IMGs.

• Application requirements:

  • USMLE Step 1: Passing score prior to medical school graduation

  • USMLE Step 2 CK: Passing score prior to medical school graduation

  • Clinical Experience: No requirement stated

  • Graduation Year Cut-Off: No requirement stated

  • Visas accepted/offered: None

• Program website: https://www.mclaren.org/gme-medical-education/mclaren-residency-programs/7

  
  

McLaren Health Care Corporation Program

• Location: Port Huron, MI

• Percentage of IMGs: 100% of residents in the programs are US or non-US IMGs.

• Application requirements:

  • USMLE Step 1: Passing score prior to medical school graduation

  • USMLE Step 2 CK: Passing score prior to medical school graduation

  • Clinical Experience: No requirement stated

  • Graduation Year Cut-Off: No requirement stated

  • Visas accepted/offered: None

• Program website: https://www.mclaren.org/gme-medical-education/mclaren-residency-programs/7#physicianInfoTab

  
  

Trinity Health Oakland/Wayne State University Program

• Location: Pontiac, MI

• Percentage of IMGs: 98% of residents in the programs are US or non-US IMGs.

• Application requirements:

  • USMLE Step 1: Passing score required

  • USMLE Step 2 CK: Passing score required

  • Clinical Experience: Required if more than 4 years from graduation

  • Graduation Year Cut-Off: No requirement stated

  • Visas accepted/offered: None

• Program website: https://www.trinityhealthmichigan.org/graduate-medical-education/oakland/internal-medicine

  
  

Wayne State University School of Medicine Program

• Location: Rochester, MI

• Percentage of IMGs: 97%

• Application requirements:

  • USMLE Step 1: ≥220 (passage on first attempt)

  • USMLE Step 2 CK: ≥220 (passage on first attempt)

  • Clinical Experience: Required if more than 4 years from graduation

  • Graduation Year Cut-Off: Within the past 7 years

  • Visas accepted/offered: J-1

• Program website: https://intmed.med.wayne.edu/ascension-rochester

Hurley Medical Center/Michigan State University Program

• Location: Flint, MI

• Percentage of IMGs: 95%

• Application requirements:

  • USMLE Step 1: ≥220 (passage by second attempt)

  • USMLE Step 2 CK: ≥220 (passage by second attempt)

  • Clinical Experience: Preferred

  • Graduation Year Cut-Off: Within the past 5 years

  • Visas accepted/offered: J-1

• Program website: https://education.hurleymc.com/gme/residencies-and-fellowships/internal-medicine/

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McLaren Health Care/Oakland/MSU Program

• Location: Pontiac, MI

• Percentage of IMGs: 93%

• Application requirements:

  • USMLE Step 1: Passing score required

  • USMLE Step 2 CK: Passing score required

  • Clinical Experience: No requirement stated

  • Graduation Year Cut-Off: No requirement stated

  • Visas accepted/offered: None

• Program website: https://www.mclaren.org/gme-medical-education/mclaren-residency-programs/28

  
  

Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University (Sinai Grace) Program

• Location: Detroit, MI

• Percentage of IMGs: 92%

• Application requirements:

  • USMLE Step 1: Passage on first attempt

  • USMLE Step 2 CK: Passage on first attempt

  • Clinical Experience: Preferred (2-3 months)

  • Graduation Year Cut-Off: Within the past 5 years

  • Visas accepted/offered: J-1

• Program website: https://intmed.med.wayne.edu/education

  
  

Comparing the Programs

When searching for IMG-friendly residency programs, you should always consider your fit for the program and your personal aspirations. For the next three years, you'll be working at the program, living in the area, and learning their curriculum. Because of this, it's extremely important to remember that, while matching is the ultimate goal, you should not match just for the sake of matching. It's important to ensure that it is a place you'd be happy to be a resident at.

Additional resources

The data above has been compiled using information we've collected for our IMG Friendly Residency Programs tool on our website. We've created this tool to help international medical students and graduates easily find programs that are IMG friendly. You can go directly to our IMG Friendly Residency Programs tool by clicking here. You can also use other websites such as ResidencyExplorer or FREIDA on the AMA website to help you research programs. We hope that this information is helpful for you during the residency match process and on your journey in medicine.