Issue 126 - February 13, 2008
ECFMG Introduces Medical School Web Portal
ECFMG is pleased to announce the introduction of the ECFMG Medical School Web Portal (EMSWP), a significant addition to ECFMG’s on-line offerings and the first exclusively for international medical schools. Through EMSWP, international medical schools have access to a free, web-based program that enables them to verify the status of their students and graduates who have applied to ECFMG for the United States Medical Licensing Examination™ (USMLE™).
ECFMG requires that international medical schools verify the status of their students who apply to ECFMG for USMLE examinations. Prior to the launch of EMSWP, ECFMG verified student status through a paper Certification Statement, completed by the student and his/her medical school for each USMLE application. Now, for a student whose medical school participates in EMSWP, a paper Certification Statement is no longer required for each exam application; instead, the student and his/her medical school will complete a paper Certification of Identification Form. Once it is accepted by ECFMG, the Certification of Identification Form remains valid for all exam applications submitted during the following five-year period. During this period, the student will be able to complete the exam application process entirely on-line using ECFMG’s Interactive Web Application (IWA), and the medical school will verify the student’s status on-line using EMSWP in response to each exam application. For students from non-participating schools, ECFMG will continue to require a completed Certification Statement for each exam application. Students will be able to determine if their medical school participates in EMSWP and obtain the appropriate form (Certification of Identification Form or Certification Statement) after completing the on-line part of the exam application using IWA.
Following a year of development, EMSWP represents a major investment by ECFMG to increase use of the Internet to benefit international medical students/graduates and international medical schools who use ECFMG’s services. To educate medical schools about the portal, ECFMG held a number of web-based seminars featuring a demonstration of the EMSWP prototype and the verification program. More than 140 medical school representatives took part in the seminars and provided ECFMG with feedback and suggestions. Participants were enthusiastic about the program and indicated it will significantly streamline the amount of work required of them in the verification process. To date, more than 400 international medical schools have begun the process of establishing EMSWP accounts. These schools represent more than 80% of the students registered for USMLE by ECFMG in 2007.
Verification of the student/graduate status of USMLE applicants is the first of a series of web-based services that ECFMG plans to make available through EMSWP. This year, ECFMG will begin development of EMSWP functionality that will allow for web-based primary-source verification of the medical education credentials required for ECFMG Certification.