ECFMG is closer to requiring all international medical schools be part of a formal accreditation process.

So many years ago as a staff member of the Texas Medical Board I became concerned about the number of medical schools popping up all around the world. Many of these new schools were fly by night and have since closed, but others grew as they aggressively recruited students from nations other than where the school was located.

I attended a meeting of the International Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities in Boston and it was so obvious that not only was I concerned but so many others about all these new medical schools. The main concern at that meeting seemed to be the fact that the Caribbean, with so many new schools, could not agree on using an accreditation system. But it was not only the Caribbean, there was much discussion about schools of the former Soviet Union and how aggressive they had become at recruiting students from countries outside their locale. The question being asked was, “were these students not qualified in their home countries and were simply shopping for a medical school?”

For many years I have had distraught parents call me upset that their son or daughter was have difficulty returning to Texas to practice medicine. I would always ask just how many US schools their child had applied to and invariably they would say two or three. I never understood why someone would leave the US to attend medical school until they had been turned down by every single LCME or AOA accredited school. Although the barriers have softened in the past years in regard to IMG applicants for Texas this 2023 ECFMG process is going to possibly create new barriers, but much needed barriers.

Here is the link to the ECFMG site – it’s important news.

https://www.ecfmg.org/accreditation/accreditation-requirement.html