Category: General

The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG®) has launched a new resource for students who plan to apply to medical school. Designed to assist in identifying schools offering quality medical education, this new resource is a valuable tool for those who are beginning their medical education, as well as for current medical school students who plan to transfer to a different medical school. The new resource is available on the ECFMG website at www.ecfmg.org/medschoolselection.

In recent years, there has been rapid growth in the number of medical schools around the world, and there are a small number of schools that engage in spurious business practices. It also has become more common for students to migrate for medical education—attending medical school outside their home country. This situation creates challenges for students who are evaluating schools and deciding where to apply, according to William W. Pinsky, M.D., President and CEO of ECFMG and Board Chair of ECFMG’s Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER®).

“With more than 3,000 medical schools worldwide, selecting the right school can be an intimidating task and a significant financial investment,” Dr. Pinsky said. “Our new guide provides prospective medical students around the world with information on the characteristics to consider and questions to ask when evaluating medical schools before applying so they can make a well-informed decision.”

The guide covers such important considerations as accreditation status, curriculum, faculty, educational resources, and the structure of clinical rotations. It also prompts students to ask questions about the student experience, consider how schools market themselves, and talk to alumni about their success in and beyond medical school.

As leading experts on the world’s medical education systems and their graduates, ECFMG and its foundation are uniquely positioned to provide this important guidance to the next generation of physicians. The new resource is an important addition to the collection of services offered by ECFMG and FAIMER to physicians and the medical education community around the world.

Philadelphia-Based Non-Profit Also Receives Family-Friendliest Workplace Award

For the second consecutive year, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) and its Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) have been selected by Modern Healthcare as a Best Place to Work in Healthcare. ECFMG/FAIMER also received the Family-Friendliest Workplace Award for the second year in a row, and was a finalist for the Healthiest Workplace Award.

The Best Places to Work in Healthcare program identifies and recognizes outstanding employers in the health care industry nationwide. Modern Healthcare partners with the Best Companies Group on the assessment process, which includes an extensive employee survey.

“Being recognized by Modern Healthcare as a best place to work nationally is a tremendous honor, especially because it is based on the feedback of our employees,” said William W. Pinsky, M.D., President and CEO of ECFMG and Board Chair of FAIMER. “This honor reflects the passion our employees have for ECFMG/FAIMER and our vision to improve world health through excellence in medical education.”

Modern Healthcare published a feature story on ECFMG/FAIMER as the recipient of the Family-Friendliest Workplace Award. The complete list of this year’s winners is available here. Modern Healthcare will publish a special supplement featuring ranked lists of all the winners with the October 1 issue.

In addition to the Modern Healthcare honor, ECFMG/FAIMER was recognized earlier this year as a Top Workplace in Philadelphia by the Philadelphia Media Network, publishers of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News.

John J. Norcini, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER®), has announced that he will retire effective July 1, 2019. Dr. Norcini became FAIMER’s first president in May 2002, and has established numerous worldwide initiatives and programs in medical education, research, and data resource development during his 16-year tenure.

William W. Pinsky, M.D., President and CEO of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG®) and Board Chair of FAIMER, said an international search for Dr. Norcini’s successor will begin immediately.

“John’s dedication to FAIMER’s mission, his energy, and his broad vision have positioned FAIMER as a leader in the promotion of excellence in international health professions education through programmatic and research activities,” Dr. Pinsky said. “ECFMG’s and FAIMER’s board, staff, and partners are proud to share in John’s legacy.”

Dr. Norcini played an instrumental role in the development of FAIMER’s fellowship programs for health professions educators that include the FAIMER Institute, FAIMER Regional Institutes, and the International Fellowship in Medical Education (IFME)–a program originally sponsored by ECFMG, which transitioned to FAIMER in 2001. He championed the alignment of these programs with each other to create an educational pathway that allows international health professions educators to become outstanding local resources for improving health professions education.

Under Dr. Norcini’s supervision, the FAIMER Distance Learning program has flourished, offering health professions educators the knowledge and skills to advance health professions education at their institutions to the highest international standards. Since 2013, he has served as Co-Director of the FAIMER-Keele Master’s in Health Professions Education: Accreditation and Assessment program, conducted in partnership with Keele University and the Centre for Medical Education in Context (CenMEDIC); and he serves as lead faculty for the newly launched FAIMER-Gulf Medical University joint Master in Health Professions Education program.

Dr. Norcini has overseen FAIMER research activities in the broad domains of the international migration of physicians, U.S. physician workforce issues, and international medical education programs. FAIMER also designs and conducts studies focused on international health professions education, including the quality of medical schools and their graduates, international accreditation, licensure, and certification processes. FAIMER frequently conducts these investigations in collaboration with other institutes and researchers, and aims to inform policy makers in government, academia, and various other interested organizations.

FAIMER has also made significant strides in achieving its goal of building information resources on medical education worldwide under Dr. Norcini’s leadership. He has overseen the development of the Directory of Organizations that Recognize/Accredit Medical Schools (DORA), directories of master’s and doctoral programs in health professions education, the Postgraduate Medical Education (PME) Project, and the World Directory of Medical Schools—a resource created and maintained in collaboration with the World Federation for Medical Education.

Dr. Norcini received several awards and honors, including the 2014 Karolinska Institutet Prize for Research in Medical Education for his pioneering research on knowledge decay, specialty certification, and the development of new methods of assessment. In 2009, he received the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) John P. Hubbard Award for his commitment to excellence in medical education, his rigorous pursuit of high standards in scholarship, his broad and prolific publications and presentations history, and his tireless work on behalf of FAIMER. Dr. Norcini’s accomplishments in the field of assessment are considered both wide-ranging and pioneering.

Dr. Norcini has served on the editorial boards of seven peer-reviewed journals in measurement and medical education, has lectured and taught in nearly 50 countries, and has published extensively. He has served on countless committees contributing to the fields of education, assessment, and research.

Before joining FAIMER, Dr. Norcini spent 25 years with the American Board of Internal Medicine serving as Director of Psychometrics, Executive Vice President for Evaluation and Research, and Executive Vice President of the Institute for Clinical Evaluation. He earned his bachelor’s degree from LaSalle University and his doctorate from Bryn Mawr College.

Francine Halushka Katz, Esq., Joins ECFMG and FAIMER in New Role

The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) and its Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) have established an Office of General Counsel. Francine Halushka Katz, Esq., has joined ECFMG and FAIMER in this new role, also serving as Senior Vice President and a member of the organizations’ executive team.

According to ECFMG President and FAIMER Board Chair William W. Pinsky, MD FAAP FACC, the organizations are engaged in a strategic expansion of the services they provide to global communities of physicians, patients, medical educators, medical regulators, and researchers. He said the General Counsel will facilitate that strategic growth by supporting diverse activities including contracts and collaborations, policy development, investigation and notification of fraudulent activity, and the development and stewardship of the organizations’ data and information resources.

“The General Counsel is a critical component of advancing our mission to improve world health,” said Dr. Pinsky. “The addition of Ms. Katz as in-house counsel and a member of our leadership team has strengthened our ability to provide leadership, enhance service to constituencies, and protect the public.”

Ms. Katz, a resident of Huntingdon Valley, PA, has extensive experience in the health care and life sciences sectors in both non-profit and for-profit environments. Before joining ECFMG in March 2018, she served as Vice President and General Counsel at Saint Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ, and later at St. Joseph’s Healthcare System in Paterson, NJ. She has also served as Senior Attorney with Axiom Law—Life Sciences Group, NY and has consulted for RWJ Barnabas Health, New Jersey’s largest health care system. She earned her Juris Doctor degree, with a concentration in Health Law, from Georgetown University Law Center and a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Relations from the University of Florida. She is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association and the Association of Corporate Counsel and is engaged in a number of civic and community service activities.