Intealth ECFMG

Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates

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Change to ECFMG’s Transfer Credit Policy for IMGs Applying for ECFMG Certification and USMLE

To be eligible for ECFMG Certification, an international medical graduate (IMG) must have been awarded credit for at least four credit years (academic years for which credit has been given toward completion of the medical curriculum) by a school that is listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools as meeting eligibility requirements for its students and graduates to apply to ECFMG for ECFMG Certification and examination. ECFMG’s transfer credit policy places restrictions on credits transferred to the degree-granting medical school that can be used to meet this requirement.

Effective July 14, 2015, ECFMG modified its transfer credit policy for IMGs who apply to ECFMG for ECFMG Certification and for the United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®). Following is the modified transfer credit policy, which represents an update to the ECFMG 2015 Information Booklet.

Transfer Credits

Transfer credits are credits earned for a course taken at one institution (such as a medical school) that are accepted by another medical school toward meeting its degree requirements. For example, a student attends a medical school for one year and earns credits for 12 courses. The student transfers to another medical school, which accepts the credits for those 12 courses toward meeting its degree requirements. The credits for those 12 courses are then referred to as transfer credits.

If you transferred credits to the medical school that awarded or will award your medical degree, you must disclose and document these credits when you apply to ECFMG for examination, regardless of when the credits were earned. (For more information, see Credentials for ECFMG Certification in the Medical Education Credentials section of the 2015 Information Booklet.) Failure to disclose and document these credits may have a number of negative consequences, including delaying exam registration and certification by ECFMG, and may result in a finding of irregular behavior.

Additionally, for the purpose of ECFMG Certification, credits earned on or after January 1, 2008 that are transferred to the medical school that awarded or will award your medical degree must meet all of the following criteria:

  • If credits for more than eight courses were transferred, all credits must have been transferred from one medical school to another medical school, both of which must be:
    • located in the United States or Canada and listed in the World Directory, or
    • listed in the World Directory as meeting eligibility requirements for its students and graduates to apply to ECFMG for ECFMG Certification and examination.*
  • Credits must be for courses that were passed at the medical school at which the course was taken.

If your transferred credits do not comply with all the criteria listed above, you will not meet the requirements to be registered by ECFMG for examination or the requirements to be certified by ECFMG. If your transferred credits do not meet all the criteria listed above, you may request an exception from the ECFMG Medical Education Credentials Committee.

*Important Note: The requirement that credits must be transferred from one medical school that meets the criteria above to another medical school that meets the criteria above does not apply to credits transferred only to the pre-medical portion of the curriculum of the medical school that awarded or will award the medical degree. If you transferred credits to the pre-medical portion of the curriculum at the medical school that awarded or will award your medical degree from an institution that does not meet the criteria listed above, you must provide ECFMG with a letter from the medical school that awarded or will award your medical degree confirming that the credits were transferred to the pre-medical portion of the curriculum only. This letter must be on the letterhead of the medical school and be signed by an authorized official of your medical school. This letter must be submitted in conjunction with the application for examination and must accompany the Certification of Identification Form (Form 186) or Certification Statement (Form 183). Applications received without this letter may be rejected. This letter is in addition to disclosing and documenting all transferred credits as described above.

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