Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates
Finding safe solutions to accommodate examinees’ testing needs has been the United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®) program’s main focus and highest priority over the past few months. Due to increasing uncertainty around having wider availability of in-person testing at Prometric test centers, the USMLE program has identified several alternate test delivery methods for Step … Read More
Prometric announced their extended closure of test centers until May 31, 2020 with the exception of a limited set of essential services programs. The United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®) is considered an essential program, and certain centers will still be able to resume testing in accordance with local social distancing guidelines on May 1, 2020. … Read More
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has indicated additional temporary flexibilities around the issuance of the home country Statement of Need (SON) for physicians seeking J-1 visa sponsorship during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. ECFMG sought and received temporary authorization to accept SONs issued by foreign embassies in the United States, if authorized by the respective … Read More
President Trump issued a new Executive Order (EO) on April 22, 2020 temporarily suspending the issuance of immigrant visas. Non-immigrant visa classifications, such as the J-1, are not included in the EO and are, therefore, exempt from the provisions of the order. As previously reported, the U.S. Department of State has advised that physicians and … Read More
The United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®) program recognizes that the testing shutdown has created great stress, uncertainty, and disruption for examinees and medical schools, affecting academic progression, curricular schedules, and application for residency. The USMLE program is doing everything it can to make decisions that prioritize the safety and health of examinees and test … Read More
ECFMG|FAIMER will assist the State of New Jersey by confirming the authenticity of certain credential information of internationally licensed physicians seeking temporary medical licensure to help in New Jersey’s fight against the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. New Jersey announced its program to reinforce the state’s health workforce in a press release today. ECFMG|FAIMER is the leading … Read More
Prometric announced on April 10 that test centers in the United States and Canada will remain closed until May 1, 2020. In response to the previously announced closures, the United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®) program extended eligibility periods to December 2020 for all examinees who had a USMLE Step 1, Step 2 CK, Step 3, or … Read More
The Coalition for Physician Accountability on Thursday issued a statement in support of strengthened efforts to safeguard the public and protect our nation’s health care workforce during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. ECFMG|FAIMER offers its strongest endorsement of the Coalition’s call for adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and adequate testing. Both are essential to protecting our … Read More
In the United States, the individual states are responsible for setting medical licensure requirements for physicians in their jurisdictions. Individual state medical licensing authorities set licensure requirements both for graduates of U.S. medical schools and for international medical graduates (IMGs). State medical licensing authorities set requirements both for physicians in their states’ training programs and … Read More
Over the past three weeks, ECFMG|FAIMER staff have been in daily communication with officials at the U.S. Department of State (DOS) to communicate specific concerns related to COVID-19 and foreign national physicians participating in, or seeking to participate in, U.S. residency and fellowship training programs. These communications directly resulted in the following developments: Working in partnership … Read More
Back to top
