Advancing the Quality of Medical Education Worldwide: ECFMG's 2023 Medical School Accreditation Requirement

Shiffer, Christine D.; Boulet, John R.; Cover, Lisa L.; Pinsky, William W.

doi:10.30770/2572-1852-105.4.8

Cited by 24 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Transparency of accreditation policies and practices permits broad stakeholder awareness and engagement that can improve accreditation processes and optimize quality assurance for the public. Transparency is also espoused by ECFMG and WFME [ 2 , 6 ]. Many WFME-recognized agencies make abundant information available.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Before being permitted to care for patients in the U.S., all IMGs must be certified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). ECFMG has requirements that IMGs must meet for certification, which include passing a series of standardized exams and demonstrating graduation credentials (e.g., diploma) from a medical school [ 2 ]. ECFMG applicants come from close to 2000 different medical schools, across over 150 countries, which are under the purview of approximately 100 different accrediting bodies [ 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The agency makes publicly available information on accreditation policies and procedures” [ 7 ]. ECFMG leaders have similarly stated that “Accreditation fosters quality improvement, transparency and, above all, public trust.” [ 2 ]. Other authors have argued for greater transparency in accreditation processes to increase awareness among educators about its value, foster collaboration and learning among medical schools, and ensure the public remains informed [ 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Public availability of information from WFME-recognized accreditation agencies

et al. 2021

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The World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) Recognition Programme was created to ensure the comparability of medical school accrediting agencies, so that the schools accredited by those agencies would have similar educational quality. WFME explicitly values transparency and has recognition criteria that relate to agencies making information publicly available. Our study examined 20 WFME-recognized agencies’ transparency by reviewing agency websites for 27 information elements related to accreditation standards, procedures, and processes. We contacted agencies as needed for information that we could not find on their websites. We were only able to retrieve additional information from 3 of the 12 agencies that we attempted to contact. We found that while 12 agencies had over 90% of expected information elements available, 6 agencies had less than 50%. Our findings illustrate barriers for those who wish to better understand medical school accreditation in some regions and raise questions about how comparable WFME-recognized agencies are.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Public availability of information from WFME-recognized accreditation agencies

et al. 2021

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“…The programme is afforded significance as suggested by the latest policy of the United States Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates requiring all individuals applying for Certification to come from a medical school accredited by a WFME-recognised agency. 14 Application for WFME recognition is voluntary, however, and the lack of Recognition Status says little about an agency. Indeed, nine of the 24 states or regions on the QS/THE top 100 lists (notably the United Kingdom) do not have a WFMErecognised agency, and not all schools accredited by a WFME-recognised agency are ranked highly (Table ).…”

Section: World Federation For Medical Education Recognition Programmementioning

confidence: 99%

Non-locally trained doctors: the bottom line

Leung

2021

Hong Kong Med J

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Doctor's cross-border mobility is on the rise. 1 To ensure standards, regulatory agencies adopt various criteria for granting licence to practice to nonlocally trained doctors, based on, for example, the provenance of an applicant's medical degree; the passing of a domestic licensing examination is a common but not invariable requirement. 2,3 That a medical school's standing may serve as a reliable proxy of its graduates' competency and readiness for cross-border practice is a notionally simple but methodologically complex idea. Medical degree programmes, for one, are diverse in their philosophies, designs, and deliverables, whilst "excellence" may stem from teaching and/or research in various forms. Even graduates of the same school may exhibit different levels of workplace performance, depending on the individual's aptitude, and the cultural, socio-economic and service provision environment. Recent growth in medical school number compounds the situationas of February 2021, the World Directory of Medical Schools listed 3416 medical schools worldwide, doubling the estimated figure from two decades prior. 4,5 Standards vary. 6,7 A fair, evidence-based, and publicly accountable approach is crucial if the importation without examination of non-locally trained doctors is to achieve its intended goals by gaining political leverage and societal acceptance. Two tools are available: world university rankings and international recognition of accreditation agency.

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“…These were not raised or discussed in previous studies, which had a focus on institutional readiness for the requirement rather than students' responses to it. 27,28,29…”

Section: Policy Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Will It Mean for Me? Perceptions of the ECFMG 2023 Accreditation Requirement from an Online Forum

Rashid¹,

Smith²,

Tackett³

et al. 2021

Journal of Medical Regulation

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In 2010, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) announced that as of 2023, physicians applying to train and practice in the United States will be required to graduate from a medical school that has been accredited using criteria such as those developed by the World Federation for Medical Education. This study analyzed posts on the Student Doctor Network (SDN) online forum that refer to this accreditation requirement to investigate how it has been perceived and understood by current and prospective medical students. A keyword search of relevant terms was used to identify posts discussing the accreditation requirement on the SDN online forum, which were subjected to thematic analysis. There were a total of 83 posts from 49 distinct user accounts between May 2012 and January 2020. Seven themes were identified in total; four whose overall purpose was to seek or offer advice and three whose overall purpose was commentary. Themes relating to advice included applications and admissions, future career planning, personal circumstances, and country-specific issues. Themes relating to commentary included the accreditation requirement policy itself, the potential implications of the requirement, and the educational quality of non-U.S. medical schools. Only half of web links on these posts were to the ECFMG website for official information about the requirement. Although a variety of different perspectives about the ECFMG accreditation requirement were expressed on an online forum for student doctors, the overall number of posts was low, which suggests that the requirement has not been a frequent topic of discussion on this platform. The insights gained from posts suggest personal opinions about the requirement and consequences for individual student application and career choices were the main areas of interest. Signposting to official information channels may help to raise awareness about the requirement and tackle areas of uncertainty and confusion about its implementation.

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Advancing the Quality of Medical Education Worldwide: ECFMG's 2023 Medical School Accreditation Requirement

Cited by 24 publications

References 9 publications

Public availability of information from WFME-recognized accreditation agencies

Public availability of information from WFME-recognized accreditation agencies

Non-locally trained doctors: the bottom line

What Will It Mean for Me? Perceptions of the ECFMG 2023 Accreditation Requirement from an Online Forum

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