Last week, the Federation of State Medical Boards, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and Intealth announced the formation of a new Advisory Commission on Alternate Licensing Models. The goal of the Commission is to evaluate current processes for state medical licensure of International Medical Graduates (IMGs) – physicians who completed their medical training outside of the U.S. or Canada; and to provide guidance on how states and national specialty certification boards can streamline processes to make it easier for IMGs to gain licensure within the U.S. It’s estimated that a quarter of U.S. physicians are internationally trained. Despite significant growth in American-based medical education programs and enrollment, the U.S. is still expected to experience a critical shortage of physicians. The Commission hopes that by streamlining licensure processes, more IMGs will help ensure access to care in underserved communities and physician specialties experiencing critical shortages, like primary care.