ECFMG Focus, an E-newsletter for International Medical Schools
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June 27, 2012
ECFMG Launches the ECFMG Certificate
Holders Office (ECHO)
ECFMG is pleased to announce a new program, the ECFMG
Certificate Holders Office (ECHO). Launched earlier this month,
ECHO provides support and service to ECFMG-certified
physicians, and physicians who are about to be certified, as they
plan their careers.
If your students and graduates are pursuing ECFMG Certification
and medical careers in the United States, ECHO provides free
resources that can help them navigate processes that are important
at different stages of their careers—from applicant to U.S. graduate
medical education (GME) programs, to physician in training, to
practicing clinician. Some of these resources build on the resources
of ECFMG’s Acculturation Program, which is now part of ECHO.
Through ECHO, physicians can stay connected with ECFMG after
they are certified, and access resources based on ECFMG’s
decades of expertise and experience in areas of direct benefit to
them, such as international medical education, physician
credentials, assessment of physicians, U.S. GME programs,
immigration options for U.S. GME, and medical
registration/licensure. ECHO will also connect them with
information from other organizations and experts, as well as with
other ECFMG-certified physicians.
ECHO provides a new way for certified physicians to communicate
with ECFMG. They can participate in ECHO’s surveys, send
feedback, or e-mail our ECHO staff about what is important to
them.
Just as ECHO will provide support and service to ECFMG-certified
physicians, we hope ECHO will be helpful to you as a resource in
advising your students, and in responding to their questions. We
Coming Soon from
ECHO
Each month, ECHO will be
adding free resources on
such topics as the U.S. GME
system, support for residency
applications, daily living,
language and
communication, research,
and IMGs in the United
States. New resources for
July include:
• A guide to organizations
involved in U.S. GME
• An interactive residency
application timeline
• The do’s and don’ts of
writing personal
statements
• How to ask for a letter of
recommendation
Subscribe now to ECHO
News, our free monthly enewsletter that will keep you
up-to-date on the exciting
new resources we are
developing. Visit
http://www.ecfmg.org
/echo/news.html.
ECFMG 2013
want to invite you to explore the ECHO website at
http://www.ecfmg.org/echo and to return to the site often, since we
will be adding free resources every month.
ECFMG to Expand Pilot of Electronic Primarysource Verification
At the beginning of this year, ECFMG launched a pilot to verify
electronically the medical education credentials of international
medical students/graduates who apply to ECFMG for ECFMG
®
Certification and the United States Medical Licensing Examination
®
(USMLE ). The experience of the past six months confirms the
value of this initiative for medical schools, their students/graduates,
and ECFMG. It also highlights the need to make electronic
Credentials Verification more widely available to the international
medical education community.
To date, more than 1,500 verification requests have been
completed by the 18 international medical schools participating in
the pilot, and, overall, ECFMG has seen significant decreases in
the time it takes to receive verifications from medical schools.
Internal monitoring, the results of surveys of the pilot schools, and
feedback from both internal and external users have provided
ECFMG with valuable insight into the volume capabilities, ease of
use, and functionality of the electronic Credentials Verification
program. These data have enabled ECFMG to make improvements
to the performance of the program and to identify a number of
potential modifications for future releases.
Based on these successes, ECFMG is now preparing to expand
the pilot of the Credentials Verification program, which is offered
through the ECFMG Medical School Web Portal (EMSWP).
Invitations will be going out soon to additional schools to join the
pilot so that they can electronically verify the credentials of their
students/graduates. If you are interested in participating, contact us
at emswpadmin@ecfmg.org.
Preparing for the ERAS 2013 Residency
Application Season
®
The Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS ) 2013
season began for international medical students and graduates with
the availability of residency Tokens on June 26. New for this
season, ECFMG has expanded its On-line Applicant Status and
Information System (OASIS) to allow applicants to electronically
submit to ECFMG supporting documents, including Medical
Student Performance Evaluations (MSPEs), medical school
transcripts, letters of recommendation (LoRs), photographs, and
the Postgraduate Training Authorization Letter (PTAL) or “California
Information Booklet
and USMLE
Application Materials
Available in midSeptember
The ECFMG 2013
Information Booklet and the
2013 application materials for
the United States Medical
Licensing Examination
(USMLE) are expected to be
available in mid-September
2012. The USMLE 2013
Bulletin of Information is also
expected to be available in
mid-September. Applicants
will be able to access these
materials on the ECFMG
website at
http://www.ecfmg.org.
New Medical
Institution Document
Upload Service for
Fellowship
Applicants
The ERAS Fellowships
Documents Office (EFDO) is
now offering the Medical
Institution Document Upload
Service (MIDUS), which
provides medical schools with
the ability to submit MSPEs
and medical school
transcripts electronically to
EFDO on behalf of fellowship
applicants. In order for a
medical school to upload a
document using MIDUS, the
applicant must send an
electronic request to the
medical school using EFDO
On-line Services. For more
information on this new
service, visit the EFDO
section of the Association of
American Medical Colleges’
Letter.”
website.
Through the EMSWP ERAS program, medical schools also can
electronically submit many of these supporting documents on
behalf of their students and graduates who participate in ERAS. If
your institution participates in EMSWP ERAS, your students and
graduates will not be able to upload MSPEs or medical school
transcripts using OASIS. Your institution will be required to submit
these documents on their behalf through EMSWP.
On September 15, ERAS 2013 participating applicants can begin
applying to U.S. residency programs and programs can begin
accessing ERAS applications and supporting documents. On
October 1, one month earlier than last year, MSPEs will be
released to programs. It’s important that ECFMG receives
applicants’ supporting documents in time to process and transmit
them to the ERAS PostOffice by these deadlines. For more
information, see the ERAS 2013 Timeline in the ERAS Support
Services section of the ECFMG website.
ERAS 2013
For more information on the
EMSWP ERAS program and
how to establish an account,
contact Patricia BaldwinBrowns, ERAS Program
Administrator, at
erasadmin@ecfmg.org.
Remember that MSPEs will
be released to programs on
October 1, one month earlier
than last year. For information
on writing MSPEs on behalf
of your students and
graduates, read the AAMC’s
A Guide to the Preparation of
the Medical Student
Performance Evaluation.
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Copyright © 2012 by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates