Overview
Participants in the Preceptorship program engage in clinical and surgical observations, and shadow staff involved in departmental administrative functions, while examining best practices and operational strengths of Cleveland Clinic; and have full access to Cleveland Clinic’s medical library system. Federal regulations prevent observers from having patient care responsibilities or involvement in any form of volunteer research.
Who is eligible?
Fully trained international physicians and specialists with several years of medical practice currently practicing abroad.
The International Physician Preceptorship Program is not designed for international medical graduates (IMG) residing in the United States or abroad, who intend to apply for residency or fellowship in the U.S. These applications will not be considered for this program.
*Visitors entering the U.S. with the following visa types are eligible to participate: B1, B2, F2, H4, J2, L2, O3 or ESTA. Visitors entering the U.S. with any other visa types are currently ineligible.
Visitors planning on participating in another Cleveland Clinic education program, there needs to be at least 4 weeks between the programs. Each program has specific onboarding requirements, hence the time restriction.
Please note that at this time, Cleveland Clinic Center for International Medical Education cannot accept applicants who are citizens of the following countries: Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Russia, Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela.
Specialties
Below are the clinical and surgical specialties that offer preceptorship programs on main campus at Cleveland Clinic, Ohio (unless noted differently).
Anesthesiology Institute
Cardiothoracic Anesthesia: Participants will observe the anesthesia care of high acuity patients with complex comorbidity for a broad range of complex cardiac, thoracic and vascular surgical procedures. They may also observe and discuss anesthesia related procedures such as bronchoscopy, intra-operative transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) and regional blocks for cardiac, thoracic and vascular surgery. In addition, the participants will be able to discuss the clinical reasoning with our staff, fellow and residents, attend lectures and journal clubs. The program may be tailored to include a more focused experience.
Program duration: 1 to 4 weeks
Cardiovascular Intensive Care, Surgical Intensive Care and Rapid Response: This program can be tailored for the needs of the international physician to include rotation in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (with a focus on ECMO, VAD, postoperative care of lung and heart transplant, as well as postoperative care of heart, thoracic and vascular surgery) in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (with focus on postoperative care of the liver and intestinal transplant, as well as other non-cardiac surgeries), as well as a Rapid Response rotation (with the focus on the planning, implementation and operationalization of a rapid response team). The participants will also be exposed to critical care and resuscitation safety and quality improvement.
Program duration: 1 to 8 weeks
Pain Management: Cleveland Clinic’s Pain Management Program is one of the largest and most prestigious programs in the United States. Individuals participating in the program will be able to observe evaluations and care for patients with complex pain conditions using a comprehensive multimodal approach. They will be able to discuss the clinical reasoning leading to a diagnosis and selection of treatment plans with the preceptors. In addition, they will watch and discuss interventional pain procedures and attend lectures, journal clubs and workshops if available.
Program duration: 2 or 4 weeks.
Pediatric Anesthesiology: This program offers medical students, residents and fellows around the world the opportunity to interact with our experts and learn about the basics and latest developments in pediatric anesthesia. Observers may shadow clinical activities and procedures and attend daily rounds, lectures, and other interdisciplinary conferences occurring at the clinic.
Program duration: 1 to 8 weeks.
Note: the program is not available the month of July and December.
Regional Practice Anesthesiology (at Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital or Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital): The Regional Practice Anesthesiology preceptorship program at the Cleveland Clinic is designed to share best practices and display our approaches across a large, diverse department with varying degrees of patient and case complexity. The program participant will observe the breadth of our practice--cardiac, thoracic, robotic, obstetric, orthopedic, acute pain and ambulatory focused surgeries.
Program duration: 4 weeks.
Note: the program is not available the month of July and December.
Cancer Center (Taussig)
Radiation Oncology: The program will allow the observer to be exposed and gain a structured approach to the educational practices and procedures of the staff physicians. The experience will provide an introduction to the following aspects to the field of Radiation Oncology:
- Outpatient Clinical Practices; the day-to-day practices of the Radiation Oncology physicians who specialize within particular disease sites
- Observing the development and decision-making process of treatment plans and disease site management
- Procedures: IORT, HDR/LDR Brachytherapy, Gamma Knife, Stereotactic Radiosurgery, SBRT
- Institute and Departmental daily educational conferences
Program duration: 1 to 4 weeks.
Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute
Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery & Flexible Surgical Endoscopy: The Section of Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery and Flexible Surgical Endoscopy focuses on bringing cutting-edge, minimally invasive techniques to diseases of the esophagus and stomach including achalasia, GERD, hiatal hernia, stomach tumors, bariatric surgery, and feeding access, as well as other general surgical areas. Utilizing laparoscopic, robotic, and endoscopic techniques, the team is active in the operating rooms, endoscopy suites, inpatients wards, and outpatient clinics. The participant will observe in all of these activities, as well as the quality and educational conferences of the service, with attending surgeons, residents, fellows, and other students.
Program duration: 1 to 8 weeks.
Note: the program is not available the month of December.
Breast Surgery: Participants will be introduced to procedures such as nipple-sparing mastectomy, lymphaticovenous bypass, lymph node mapping, oncoplastics and breast reconstruction.
Program duration: 2 to 4 weeks.
Note: the program is not available the month of December.
Colorectal Surgery: Participants will observe all types of simple and complex colorectal procedures and surgeries, as well as patient histories and physicals. Participants will also attend ward rounds and educational conferences.
Program duration: 1 month.
Note: the program is not available the month of December.
Laparoscopic Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery: The Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery program focuses on bringing cutting-edge, minimally invasive techniques to treat obesity and weight-related medical diseases, including diabetes, HTN, and CAD. Utilizing advanced techniques, the team is active in the operating rooms, endoscopy suites, inpatients wards, and outpatient clinics. The participant will participate in observation of all of these activities, as well as the quality and educational conferences of the service, with attending surgeons, residents, fellows, and other students.
Program duration: 1 to 8 weeks.
Note: the program is not available the month of December.
MIS Abdominal Wall Reconstruction: Participants will observe the full spectrum of abdominal wall reconstruction cases including open and robotic posterior component separations for midline and parastomal defects, robotic and laparoscopic IPOMs, eTEPs, laparoscopic inguinal hernia repairs, and paraesophageal hernia repair.
Program duration: 1 week to 2 months.
Note: the program is not available the month of July, August and December.
Obesity Medicine: Participants will have a rigorous clinical and didactic experience, designed to provide a foundation in the emerging discipline of obesity medicine. This preceptorship is designed to provide cutting-edge knowledge on the management of obesity, and to train a global pool of leaders in obesity medicine who can deliver expert obesity care.
Participants will have the opportunity to observe the management of obesity in a large interdisciplinary clinic, where patients are treated with combinations of lifestyle, pharmacological, endoscopic and surgical therapies. Participants will partake in one‐on‐one discussions with clinicians, as well as formal and informal faculty didactic sessions, workshops, and education and/or research meetings. The curriculum focuses on clinical care of patients with obesity and the pathophysiological basis of that care, so as to prepare participants for emerging developments in this field. This preceptorship will provide participants with the tools to establish specialized obesity care in their practice environments.
Program duration: 1 to 2 weeks.
Note: the program is not available the month of December.
Endocrinology & Metabolism Institute
Endocrine Medicine: The program is designed to expose participants to a broad spectrum of endocrinological disorders and their evaluation and management. During the program, participants will mainly observe in outpatient setting, but during the visit they may also have inpatient shadowing experience. Participants will have the opportunity to experience management of stable diabetic patients and learn about the disabilities exacerbated by poor control.
In addition, participants will have the opportunity to occasionally observe thyroid biopsies as well as to observe various dynamic testing and collection procedures to identify syndromes of excess or insufficient hormonal production.
Program Duration: 4 weeks
Note: The program is not available the month of June and July.
Endocrine Surgery: Participants will observe all types of simple and complex procedures in the care of endocrine surgery patients.
Program duration: 1 to 8 weeks.
Note: the program is not available the month of July and August.
Laparoscopic Liver Microwave Ablation: the program aims to give an exposure to the participants on the technical steps of laparoscopic ultrasound, laparoscopic ultrasound-guided biopsies and laparoscopic liver microwave ablation.
Program duration: 1 to 2 weeks.
Note: the program is not available the month of July and August.
Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute (Miller Family)
Electrophysiology
Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy and Heart Failure Clinic: Therapy and Heart Failure Clinic Participants will observe a novel care pathway approach for the management of patients receiving biventricular device for resynchronization therapy. The observers will shadow in a dedicated multidisciplinary CRT heart failure clinic, where an algorithmic approach is used to maximize patient outcomes and improve CRT device response rates.
Program duration: 1 to 2 weeks.
Catheter Ablation for Cardiac Arrhythmia: Participants will observe the workflow of complex atrial or ventricular arrhythmia management, from assessment and scheduling of patients to observing cases of complex ablation procedures including SVT, atrial fibrillation, VT and epicardial VT ablations. Participants will also attend weekly electrophysiology conference where staff present the best EP cases of the week.
Program duration: 2 or 4 weeks.
Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device: Participants will observe the workflow of CIED implantation, from assessment and scheduling of patients to observing cases of implantation or extraction of all devices. Devices include pacemakers, ICDs and biventricular pacemakers, defibrillators, leadless pacemakers and subcutaneous defibrillators. Participants will be exposed to device clinic and heart failure resynchronization clinic for non-responders to CRT.Program duration: 2 or 4 weeks.
Heart Failure: The program will allow the participant to observe the management of advanced heart failure patients admitted to the Kaufman Heart Failure recovery unit. These patients present with varying severities and different underlying etiologies of cardiogenic shock. The participant will be exposed to swan ganz guided tailored therapy and different mechanical circulatory support platforms-used for both short term and long-term purposes. The participant will also have the chance to attend our daily multi-disciplinary team huddle, our weekly advanced therapeutic conference to define the benefits and risk of heart transplant and durable left ventricular assist devices and our weekly HF education-related conferences.Program duration: 2 weeks.
Note: the program is not available the month of June and July. This program is specifically designed for physician trainees (residents or fellows).
Imaging
Echo Lab: The program will allow the opportunity to visit the echocardiographic lab on main campus at the Cleveland Clinic. Participants will observe reporting of high volume, complex case-mix studies, as well as observe sonographer – fellow – physician interactions.
Program duration: 1 to 4 weeks.
Interventional Cardiology
Coronary Intervention: Participants will observe advanced coronary interventions, such as rotational atherectomy, interventions with mechanical support and CTO interventions, as well as outpatient encounters and catheter lab procedures. Participants will also learn about the process of evaluation and decision-making.
Program duration: 2 or 4 weeks.
Structural Heart Intervention: Participants will observe procedures such as TAVR, MitraClip, paravalvular leak closure, ASD and PFO closure, WATCHMAN device and more. They will observe outpatient encounters and catheter lab or hybrid operating room procedures. Participants will also learn about the process of evaluation and decision-making.
Program duration: 2 or 4 weeks.
Preventive Cardiology: Participants will observe how a comprehensive preventive cardiology program (cardiology, endocrinology, nutrition, exercise, psychiatry) and is set up and maintained. Participants will see how we monitor and maintain overall high-quality programming for a complex patient population.Program duration: 1 to 4 weeks.
Note: the program is not available the month of July and December.
Preventive Cardiac Rehabilitation: Participants will observe how a busy cardiac rehabilitation program is maintained. Participants will see how we monitor and maintain overall high-quality programming for a complex patient population.
Program duration: 1 to 4 weeks.
Note: the program is not available the month of July and December.
Neurological Institute
Neurosurgery, Skull Base: This experience will expose the participant to clinical and surgical cases, which includes open surgeries and endoscopic surgeries with rhinology. Open skull base surgeries including skull base neurology alone or combined cases involving head and neck surgery, neuro-otology, spine surgery and reconstructive surgery. In addition, participants will have the chance to attend conferences such as brain tumor board, pituitary board, grand rounds and journal clubs.
Program duration: 1 or 2 months.
Ob/Gyn & Women's Health Institute
GYN International Preceptor Program: Participants will observe minimally invasive surgical techniques and learn about treatments for infertility, menstrual disorders, urogynecology and pelvic floor disorders and more.
Program duration: 4 weeks.
Note: the program is not available the month of June and December.
Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute
Urology: The program participants will be shadowing Cleveland Clinic urologists and will gain exposure to a breadth of urological surgeries, understand minimally invasive approaches to urological disease and learn best practices and operational workflows.
Program duration: 1-4 weeks
Note: the program is not available the month of June and July
Duration & Fees
Duration
Preceptorships can be arranged for one to eight weeks.
Fees
|
One Week |
Two Weeks |
Three Weeks |
One Month |
Five Weeks | Six Weeks | Seven Weeks | Two Months | |
|
Residents/Fellows* |
$1,250 |
$1,500 |
$2,000 |
$2,500 |
$3,750 | $4,000 | $4,500 | $5,000 |
|
Fully Trained Physicians |
$2,000 |
$2,500 |
$3,000 |
$3,500 |
$5,500 | $6,000 | $6,500 | $7,000 |
*Letter from program director is required; otherwise, the Practicing Physicians cost will be charged.
A $200 non-refundable processing fee, which will be applied toward the program fee, will be charged for all applications. Upon acceptance to the program, the remaining program fee balance will be due to hold your place.
The fees are exclusive of travel and accommodations.
Please note that at this time, Cleveland Clinic cannot accept applicants who are citizens of the following countries: Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Russia, Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela.
Cleveland Clinic does not accept payments from sanctioned parties.
Cancellation and Refund Policy
Once your visit has been confirmed by e-mail, you’re expected to complete your observership/preceptorship. If cancellation is unavoidable, please submit your notification in writing prior to your scheduled visit to CIME@ccf.org. Please be aware that your $200 processing fee is non-refundable and non-transferable and, in most circumstances, the full tuition amount is non-refundable. View our refund policy for details.
Application
How to Apply to the International Physician Preceptorship Program
- Preceptorship applications are presented to one specialty only; please select the one specialty that reflects your area of expertise or that you are most interested in.
- Refer to the schedule below and select a program period most appropriate for you.
- APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED.
- Complete the application form and submit all required documents before the close date of the period you are applying to.
- Pay the fee.
| Program periods 2025 | Online application open date | Online application close date | Expected notification of final decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1: January to June 2025 | June 1, 2024 | July 31, 2024 | September 15, 2024 |
| Period 2: July to December 2025 | December 1, 2024 | January 31, 2025 | March 15, 2025 |
| Program periods 2026 | Online application open date | Online application close date | Expected notification of final decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1:January to June 2026 | June 1, 2025 | July 31, 2025 | September 15, 2025 |
| Period 2:July to December 2026 | December 1, 2025 | January 31, 2026 | March 15, 2026 |
You will be notified in writing either that your application has been accepted or that we cannot accommodate your request. If you are accepted but we are unable to provide your requested rotation, you will be offered the next available rotation date.
Requests for final decisions earlier than the notification dates listed in the last column above cannot be accommodated under any circumstances.
Documents Required to Apply
Application Policies
- Each applicant is responsible for ensuring their application is complete.
- The Review Committee will not consider any additional changes once an application has been submitted for review.
- Applicants are responsible for ensuring that all information and supporting documents provided are authentic and accurate.
- We reserve the right to request additional information or verification of information and documents submitted. If an applicant is unable to do so, we reserve the right to withdraw consideration of the application.
- Applicants assume all costs associated with authenticating, retrieving and submitting documents and material in support of their application and fulfillment of preceptorship.
- The tuition fee needs to be paid in full in advance prior to start of the program. No cash payment in accepted.
- Applicants must possess competent English-language skills for a professional healthcare environment.
Documents Required
- Up-to-date CV/Resume.
- Personal Statement – one page addressing your interest in this program.
- Letter of Recommendation from a physician or the dean of your current medical school who can attest to academic and other relevant experience issued in the past 6 months. It needs to be printed on physician's or dean's office letterhead with appropriate signatures.
- Letter from program director (residents/fellows only) in order to get Residents/Fellows fees; otherwise Practicing Physicians cost will be charged.
- Current employment or medical school enrollment verification letter.
All documents submitted must be in:
- English
- PDF, DOC or DOCX format
