ECFMG Accreditation Updates and INTEALTH
There have been some updates to the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates – the ECFMG – so in this article, we will go over some updates about ECFMG accreditation and the WFME, as well as some further updates about 2024.
Recently there have been some countries approved by the World Federation for Medical Education, the WFME.
This is great news as graduates from these schools can apply for residencies after 2024!
Following countries agency approved
Spain until 2032 with ANECA
Grenada until 2032
Kazakhstan until 2032 with ECAQA
Kyrgyzstan and Hungary both until 2032
The following countries have applied for WFME accreditation approval.
Argentina (CONEAU)
Yemen (CAQA)
Greece (HAHE)
Czech Republic (NAB)
So it seems more countries are working to get the accreditation process started. It does take time, so it might not happen quickly.
It is good to see Latin American nations working towards this goal. Africa is still lagging behind.
2024 Recognized Accreditation Policy
This information was released in October.
INTEALTH is a new organization created by the ECMG and FAIMER in 2021.
The role is to oversee medical education around the world, and to compile data and statistics for organizations to make decisions on.
Beginning in 2024, INTEALTH will start reporting if a medical school has satisfied the requirements of accreditation.
This means that the medical school will be recognized as having accreditation status.
The information will be made available through two portals.
One is the World Directory of Medical Schools, WDOMS. WDOMS is a comprehensive listing of all medical schools around the world.
Schools In Regions
Africa has 154 schools
The Americas (North, Central and South) have 825 schools.
Europe has 587 schools.
The Mediterranean area has 354 schools.
South East Asia has 590 schools
The Western Pacific area has 408 schools.
WDOMS lists information about each medical school. There is a sponsor tab on the far right.
The sponsor tab states if the school graduates are eligible to apply for positions in Canada and the United States.
As WDOMS already has a sponsor tab listed for every medical school listed, I am not sure where the information will be listed. It will probably go in the sponsor tab.
The other place to check is the Electronic Residency Application Service, ERAS, which is used by IMGs and AMGs to apply for residency positions.
The ECFMG has stated that the ERAS, ECFMG and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) will work together to ensure information is gathered and shared.
Recap
As a recap, starting in 2024, your medical school’s accreditation will be fully listed on the WDOMS website.
However, the accreditation agencies are only 2 agencies or institutes that will be recognized
The World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) and the National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation (NCFMEA) are the only recognized agencies for medical education.
The WFME is a global accreditation agency based in France and the UK.
The NCFMEA is a US-based institution created by the United States government.
Some examples of WFME approved institutions would be WCAME (China), JACME (Japan), SCUME (Iran) and COMAEM (Mexico).
An NCFMEA example is the General Medical Council (GMC) in the United Kingdom and the Australian Medical Council (AMC).
There is some overlap.
Grenada, Hungary, Ireland and Mexico have some schools that are NCFMEA approved. These countries also have or are in the process of WFME accreditation approval.
Side notes
Did you know that WDOMS was the creation of both the WFME and ECFMG? Well not directly, but the ECFMG has or had the FAIMER organization. This listed all the medical schools. The WFME also had a list of medical schools. In 2024, the two organizations merged to form the WDOMS.
Basically, the ECFMG and WFME are involved everywhere. More on that in another post.
I will keep posting about any changes that come in for the ECFMG, WFME and WDOMS, so please check back.
