Building the Profile: A Free IMG Match Guide from a Cleveland Clinic Professor

We're happy to share this guide on our blog, written and generously offered to the IMG community by Dr. Faiz Anwer, Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Cancer Center, where he directs the Inpatient Lymphoma/Myeloma Service within the Hematology/Oncology and Multiple Myeloma program.

This isn't generic advice. It's a field-tested framework built from years of mentoring IMGs through residency and fellowship, combined with 2026 NRMP Match data.

What's inside:

The guide centers on a 10-domain assessment — the same mental model program directors actually use when evaluating a file, from exam scores and USCE to communication, research, and the intangible "3 am test" of team fit. Dr. Anwer walks through each domain individually, with concrete, actionable guidance for strengthening it.

Beyond the assessment, the guide covers:

• Current Match data — including the 2026 IMG match numbers and the widening gap between applicants who need visa sponsorship and those who don't

• The STRONG framework for securing letters of recommendation that actually say something

• A practical research toolkit — how to search the literature properly, which databases to know, and how to move from an idea to a published case report

• Networking done right — and why most applicants who go without interviews trace it back to this

• What to do if you don't match — a clear-eyed, honest look at next steps

  
  

A note on the resource:

This guide is published here with Dr. Anwer's direct permission. All rights remain his. We're simply honored to help it reach more of the IMGs it was written for.