diff --git a/monai/__init__.py b/monai/__init__.py
index 46f7510915..f6fc8b0646 100644
--- a/monai/__init__.py
+++ b/monai/__init__.py
@@ -80,25 +80,29 @@ def filter(self, record):
     )
 
 
-from . import (  # noqa: E402
-    apps,
-    auto3dseg,
-    bundle,
-    config,
-    data,
-    engines,
-    fl,
-    handlers,
-    inferers,
-    losses,
-    metrics,
-    networks,
-    optimizers,
-    transforms,
-    utils,
-    visualize,
+from .utils.module import load_submodules  # noqa: E402
+
+# handlers_* have some external decorators the users may not have installed
+# *.so files and folder "_C" may not exist when the cpp extensions are not compiled
+excludes = "|".join(
+    [
+        "(^(monai.handlers))",
+        "(^(monai.bundle))",
+        "(^(monai.fl))",
+        "((\\.so)$)",
+        "(^(monai._C))",
+        "(.*(__main__)$)",
+        "(.*(video_dataset)$)",
+        "(.*(nnunet).*$)",
+    ]
 )
 
+# load directory modules only, skip loading individual files
+load_submodules(sys.modules[__name__], False, exclude_pattern=excludes)
+
+# load all modules, this will trigger all export decorations
+load_submodules(sys.modules[__name__], True, exclude_pattern=excludes)
+
 __all__ = [
     "apps",
     "auto3dseg",
diff --git a/monai/utils/__init__.py b/monai/utils/__init__.py
index b5b2d7a525..916c1a6c70 100644
--- a/monai/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/monai/utils/__init__.py
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@
     get_package_version,
     get_torch_version_tuple,
     instantiate,
+    load_submodules,
     look_up_option,
     min_version,
     optional_import,
diff --git a/monai/utils/module.py b/monai/utils/module.py
index 3f07dd9e91..df5fe873ae 100644
--- a/monai/utils/module.py
+++ b/monai/utils/module.py
@@ -16,13 +16,15 @@
 import os
 import pdb
 import re
+import sys
 import warnings
 from collections.abc import Callable, Collection, Hashable, Mapping
 from functools import partial, wraps
 from importlib import import_module
+from pkgutil import walk_packages
 from pydoc import locate
 from re import match
-from types import FunctionType
+from types import FunctionType, ModuleType
 from typing import Any, Iterable, cast
 
 import torch
@@ -168,6 +170,38 @@ def damerau_levenshtein_distance(s1: str, s2: str) -> int:
     return d[string_1_length - 1, string_2_length - 1]
 
 
+def load_submodules(
+    basemod: ModuleType, load_all: bool = True, exclude_pattern: str = "(.*[tT]est.*)|(_.*)"
+) -> tuple[list[ModuleType], list[str]]:
+    """
+    Traverse the source of the module structure starting with module `basemod`, loading all packages plus all files if
+    `load_all` is True, excluding anything whose name matches `exclude_pattern`.
+    """
+    submodules = []
+    err_mod: list[str] = []
+    for importer, name, is_pkg in walk_packages(
+        basemod.__path__, prefix=basemod.__name__ + ".", onerror=err_mod.append
+    ):
+        if (is_pkg or load_all) and name not in sys.modules and match(exclude_pattern, name) is None:
+            try:
+                mod = import_module(name)
+                mod_spec = importer.find_spec(name)  # type: ignore
+                if mod_spec and mod_spec.loader:
+                    loader = mod_spec.loader
+                    loader.exec_module(mod)
+                    submodules.append(mod)
+            except OptionalImportError:
+                pass  # could not import the optional deps., they are ignored
+            except ImportError as e:
+                msg = (
+                    "\nMultiple versions of MONAI may have been installed?\n"
+                    "Please see the installation guide: https://docs.monai.io/en/stable/installation.html\n"
+                )  # issue project-monai/monai#5193
+                raise type(e)(f"{e}\n{msg}").with_traceback(e.__traceback__) from e  # raise with modified message
+
+    return submodules, err_mod
+
+
 def instantiate(__path: str, __mode: str, **kwargs: Any) -> Any:
     """
     Create an object instance or call a callable object from a class or function represented by ``_path``.
diff --git a/tests/min_tests.py b/tests/min_tests.py
index f5b715e979..f39d3f9843 100644
--- a/tests/min_tests.py
+++ b/tests/min_tests.py
@@ -232,6 +232,12 @@ def run_testsuit():
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+    # testing import submodules
+    from monai.utils.module import load_submodules
+
+    _, err_mod = load_submodules(sys.modules["monai"], True)
+    assert not err_mod, f"err_mod={err_mod} not empty"
+
     # testing all modules
     test_runner = unittest.TextTestRunner(stream=sys.stdout, verbosity=2)
     result = test_runner.run(run_testsuit())