Northwestern Memorial Jobs, Salaries & Visa Sponsorship

Northwestern Memorial Hospital is the flagship of Northwestern Medicine and the primary teaching affiliate of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Its downtown Chicago campus near the lakefront includes Feinberg, Galter and Olson pavilions and Prentice Women's Hospital. Northwestern Medicine runs 11 hospitals and says it has more than 5,400 physicians.

U.S. News & World Report named "Northwestern Medicine-Northwestern Memorial Hospital" to its 2026-2027 Best Hospitals Honor Roll, a list of 20 hospitals in alphabetical order. The hospital also holds Magnet recognition for nursing from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Residents and fellows who train at Northwestern Memorial are appointed through McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University, which publishes its visa rules: J-1 through ECFMG for most international graduates, and H-1B only for candidates approved as exceptional, with the department paying the legal costs.

Northwestern Medicine does not publish an international recruitment program for nurses, pharmacists, therapists or other clinical staff on the pages we reviewed. In Illinois these professions are licensed by IDFPR, so an Illinois license comes first.

Run by

Northwestern Medicine

Accreditations

• Magnet recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, as Northwestern Memorial Hospital states.

Awards and rankings

• U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals 2026-2027: named to the Honor Roll of 20 hospitals (U.S. News & World Report).
• Ranked No. 1 in Illinois for 15 consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report (2026-2027), as Northwestern Memorial Hospital states.
• Legacy Project Award, 2016 (American College of Healthcare Architects).

Switchboard

312.926.2000

• Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute

  Heart and vascular care at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

• Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center

  Cancer care and research with Northwestern University.

• Comprehensive Transplant Center

  Organ transplantation, including lung transplant programs.

• Prentice Women's Hospital

  Obstetrics and women's health on the downtown campus.

• Neurosciences

  Neurology and neurosurgery at the academic medical center.

• Doctors: McGaw Medical Center says foreign national physicians most often use the J-1 exchange visitor visa for graduate medical education, which requires a valid Standard ECFMG Certificate and ECFMG sponsorship.
• McGaw sponsors H-1B visas only for trainees it considers to have exceptional academic potential; its guidance lists factors such as exceptional USMLE scores, first authorship of peer-reviewed articles and MD/PhD status. Any H-1B request must be approved by the Director of Graduate Medical Education and the Graduate Medical Education Committee before ranking or offering. The department pays the legal fees, which McGaw says can be up to $8,000.
• Individual departments can be stricter. McGaw's Department of Surgery, for example, has required J-1 visas for foreign-born medical graduates.
• Nurses: we found no international nurse recruitment program on Northwestern Medicine's pages. Nurses trained abroad usually need an Illinois RN license first and an employer willing to sponsor an EB-3 green card.

• Registered nurses: an Illinois RN license from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). Applicants educated abroad must have their nursing education evaluated by an agency the department accepts, show English proficiency if their program was not taught in English, and pass the NCLEX-RN.

• Visa for nurses: VisaScreen is required for most foreign registered nurses before a visa is issued. For most internationally educated nurses the long-term route is an employer-sponsored green card in the EB-3 category. USCIS says professional nurses are a Schedule A occupation, so the employer does not need a DOL-approved labor certification first; your wait then depends on the State Department Visa Bulletin for your country of birth.

• Doctors: ECFMG certification (which includes passing USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK) and a McGaw residency or fellowship place. McGaw requires a temporary Illinois medical license to train; it says to allow 60 days for processing of the initial application.

• H-1B: McGaw approves H-1B only for exceptional candidates. USCIS says certain new H-1B petitions filed at or after 12:01 a.m. Eastern on September 21, 2025 must be accompanied by an additional $100,000 payment unless an exception applies, so check with the employer before relying on an H-1B.

1. 1

   1. Nurses: get an Illinois license

   Have your education evaluated, meet the English requirement if it applies and apply to IDFPR for licensure by examination, then pass the NCLEX-RN.
2. 2

   2. Search jobs.nm.org

   Northwestern Medicine posts nursing and other roles on its careers site. Check each posting for license and work authorization requirements.
3. 3

   3. Doctors: read McGaw's visa rules

   Decide whether you will train on a J-1 or ask to be considered for H-1B, which needs committee approval before you are ranked.
4. 4

   4. Apply through ERAS and the Match

   Check the program's page on mcgaw.northwestern.edu for any department-specific visa limits before applying.
5. 5

   5. Apply for the temporary Illinois license

   Once appointed, download the application from IDFPR and send it to the McGaw graduate medical education office, allowing 60 days.
6. 6

   6. Complete immigration steps

   Residents complete ECFMG J-1 sponsorship or the approved H-1B; nurses complete VisaScreen and the EB-3 petition with the sponsoring employer.

• Registered nurses

  $100,490

  Median, May 2025. Mean $97,930; 10th to 90th percentile $77,410 to $119,260.

• Nurse practitioners

  $131,740

  Median, May 2025. Mean $133,040.

• Licensed practical and vocational nurses

  $78,070

  Median, May 2025. Mean $77,430.

• Pharmacists

  $140,880

  Median, May 2025. Mean $138,420.

• Physical therapists

  $105,720

  Median, May 2025. Mean $110,460.

• Respiratory therapists

  $87,060

  Median, May 2025. Mean $88,400.