With the growing globalization of medicine and the emerging concept of a 'global profession of physicians', the issue of the essential competences that all physicians must possess becomes sharply focused. If defined, these competences would help indicate what teachers are supposed to teach, what students are expected to learn and what educational experiences all physicians must have. The 'minimum essential competences' that all graduates must have if they wish to be called physicians were identified by the Institute for International Medical Education (IIME), sponsored by the China Medical Board of New York, through working groups of educational and health policy experts and representatives of major international medical education organizations. In the first phase of the project, seven domains have been identified that define the knowledge, skills, professional behavior and ethics that all physicians must have, regardless of where they received their general medical training. Appropriate tools to assess each of the domains have been identified. In the second phase of the project the 'global minimum essential requirements' (GMER) will be implemented experimentally in a number of Chinese medical schools. The aim of the third phase will be to share the outcomes of this educational experiment, aimed at improving the quality of medical education, with the global education community.