Category: General

Steven D. Kirkpatrick Selected as Next ECFMG/FAIMER Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer

The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG®) and its Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER®) announced today that Steven D. Kirkpatrick, CPA, has been selected as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. Mr. Kirkpatrick will join ECFMG/FAIMER on September 30, 2019, succeeding Dennis M. Donohue, CPA, MBA, MS. Mr. Kirkpatrick will serve as a member of the ECFMG/FAIMER Executive Leadership Team.

“Steve has an extraordinary talent for balancing strategic expansion with continued smooth operation of existing services in the health care space,” said William W. Pinsky, MD, ECFMG President & CEO and FAIMER Board Chair. “He is an invaluable addition to our Executive Leadership Team as we seek continued development of our services to promote quality medical education and health care around the world.”

Mr. Kirkpatrick’s extensive experience includes strategic development, operations, and financial management of hospital systems, physician networks, and life care. Before joining ECFMG/FAIMER, Mr. Kirkpatrick was Director of Finance for the Main Line HealthCare Physician Network, a multi-specialty network of 400 physicians and more than 100 Advanced Practitioners serving suburban Philadelphia. Prior to this, he held a number of executive leadership roles with Fornance Physician Services and the Montgomery Healthcare System supported by Fornance, including Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of Fornance, President of Fornance, and Senior Vice President of the Montgomery Healthcare System. As Senior Vice President of Einstein Physicians, Mr. Kirkpatrick led the integration of Fornance Physician Services into the Einstein Healthcare Network. Mr. Kirkpatrick’s experience also includes fourteen years as a Senior Audit Manager for Ernst & Young, where he served health care, non-profit, and other clients. As part of his responsibilities at Ernst & Young, Mr. Kirkpatrick provided strategic financial consultation on debt and equity financing transactions, business combinations, and start-up organizations.

For the past 20 years, Mr. Kirkpatrick has volunteered for Waverly Heights, Ltd., a senior living community serving the Main Line Philadelphia suburbs, where his roles have included Director; Chair of the Audit Committee; and member of the Finance, Risk Management, and Foundation Committees. Since 2006, he has volunteered as a Trustee of The Walden School, an independent, Montessori-based preschool and elementary school in Media, Pennsylvania, where his past roles also include Vice President and Treasurer of the Board of Trustees. He also has served on the ECFMG/FAIMER Board of Trustees.

Mr. Kirkpatrick is a Certified Public Accountant in Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and the Medical Group Management Association. Mr. Kirkpatrick earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Delaware.

ECFMG’s 2020 Information Booklet on ECFMG Certification and Application Materials Now Available

ECFMG’s 2020 Information Booklet on ECFMG Certification and the 2020 exam application materials are now available on the ECFMG website. The ECFMG Information Booklet is the definitive source of information on ECFMG Certification and is required reading for applicants.

For the United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®) Step 1/Step 2 CK, you can use the 2020 materials to apply for:

  • available USMLE Step 1/Step 2 CK eligibility periods ending in 2019 (September 2019-November 2019 and October 2019-December 2019) and
  • all USMLE Step 1/Step 2 CK eligibility periods ending in 2020, beginning with the November 2019-January 2020 eligibility period.

For USMLE Step 2 CS, you can use the 2020 materials to obtain a 12-month eligibility period that begins on the date that the processing of your application is completed. You will be notified once ECFMG has processed your application.

Please monitor the ECFMG website, and follow ECFMG on Facebook and Twitter, for updates and important information.

(posted August 8, updated August 28)

Information on 2023 Accreditation Requirement for ECFMG Certification Now Available in 11 Languages

An overview of the 2023 Medical School Accreditation Requirement for ECFMG Certification is now available in 11 languages! To access a convenient PDF of the overview in Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, or Spanish, visit the Resources page of the 2023 Medical School Accreditation Requirement section of our website.

For all of the latest details on the upcoming requirement, remember to visit www.ecfmg.org/accreditation, and check back periodically. Updates will be posted to this section as they become available.

ECFMG’s IWA Unavailable August 26-27

Due to required maintenance, ECFMG’s Interactive Web Applications (IWA) will be unavailable for up to 24 hours, beginning at approximately 6:00 p.m., Eastern Time in the United States, on August 26, 2019.

During this maintenance period, you will be unable to perform any IWA transactions, including working on or submitting an Application for ECFMG Certification or USMLE exam application, accessing a USMLE scheduling permit, or requesting an extension of a USMLE Step 1 or Step 2 CK eligibility period.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation as we work to maintain high-quality on-line services.

Incomplete USMLE Exam Applications in IWA Will Be Deleted on August 26

As part of the transition to the ECFMG 2020 Information Booklet and exam application materials, any United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®) applications that have been saved but not submitted via ECFMG’s Interactive Web Applications (IWA) will be deleted. If you have a saved exam application in IWA, you must complete and submit the application, including payment, by 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time in the United States, on Monday, August 26, 2019. If you have begun but not yet submitted the on-line part of an exam application when IWA becomes unavailable on August 26, your incomplete application will be deleted. If your application is deleted, you will be required to begin a new application in order to apply for examination.

Call for Nominations to ECFMG/FAIMER Board of Trustees

DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG®) (www.ecfmg.org) and its Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER®) (www.faimer.org) are seeking nominees to serve on their combined Board of Trustees. We invite your participation in this important process.

Commitment to Diversity                        

ECFMG and FAIMER are privileged to have a dedicated, volunteer board of up to 21 members with backgrounds in international and domestic medical education, hospital leadership, law, accounting, philanthropy, education, accreditation, business leadership, community health, and other fields.

ECFMG and FAIMER are committed to board diversity including, but not limited to, gender, race, ethnicity, age, and professional background.

Board Member Responsibilities

  • Board members accept programmatic and fiduciary responsibility for ECFMG and FAIMER.
  • Members are expected to prepare for and engage in three in-person board meetings per year, as well as virtual committee meetings for the committees on which they serve.
  • Board members support the philanthropic efforts of FAIMER and make an annual gift to the organization (of any amount).
  • Board members are expected to review and abide by the Bylaws of ECFMG and FAIMER and the Board Operational Policies and Procedures.
  • Board members are required to report all conflicts of interest.

Board Member Criteria

The Governance Committee will use these criteria as part of their assessment of candidates. A successful candidate need not satisfy each criterion.

  • Demonstrated capacity for organizational decision making with voluntary public service activities.
  • Maintain the highest professional and personal ethics.
  • Be a highly motivated individual who is committed to the furtherance of ECFMG’s and FAIMER’s missions.
  • Possess a sense of accountability to ECFMG and FAIMER.
  • Have good people skills and interact well with others.
  • Be capable of being a spokesperson on behalf of ECFMG and/or FAIMER.
  • Possess the interest, commitment, and time to devote to Board of Trustees meetings, committee assignments, appeal hearings, fundraising events, and other work of the Board.

Nominations

To recommend an individual for consideration as an ECFMG/FAIMER Trustee or to self-nominate:

  • Submit a current CV or resume, a brief statement of the individual’s qualifications for the role, and a description of your relationship to the nominee. Self-nominees should provide a brief statement of their qualifications with their CV or resume.
  • Materials should be submitted as soon as possible and no later than September 20, 2019, via e-mail to Maureen Sabo, Secretary of the Board, msabo@ecfmg.org.
  • New Board members will be elected in early December 2019. Members are elected to an initial term of four years and are eligible for reelection to a final four-year term.

Certain ECFMG On-line Services Briefly Unavailable August 7

Due to scheduled maintenance, certain ECFMG on-line services will be unavailable beginning at approximately 5:00 p.m. on August 7, 2019. Services are expected to be restored by 6:00 p.m. on the same day. All times are calculated using Eastern Time in the United States.

During this maintenance period, you will be unable to access the following:

  • IWA—Interactive Web Applications
  • OASIS—On-line Applicant Status and Information System
  • Step 2 CS Calendar and Scheduling
  • IAN—IMG Advisors Network
  • CVS ON-LINE—Certification Verification Service On-line
  • MyECFMG mobile app

Thank you for your patience and cooperation as we work to maintain high-quality on-line services.

ECFMG Co-Organizing Symposium to Address Global Health Workforce Accreditation and Regulation Issues

ECFMG is pleased to announce that it is partnering with the World Health Organization and the Global Health Workforce Network to convene a Global Symposium on Health Workforce Accreditation and Regulation. The Global Symposium, to be held December 10-12, 2019 in Istanbul, Turkey, will engage global experts to address issues in the accreditation of health worker education and the regulation of health workers, with the goal of expanding and optimizing the global health workforce. More information is available in the announcement.

We are now inviting abstracts for poster presentations related to the Global Symposium’s themes. For more information on submitting an abstract, please visit the Global Symposium website at http://www.healthworkforce2019.org.

New Case Studies Offer Actionable Insights to Reduce Clinician Burnout and Improve Well-Being

Clinicians of all kinds, across all specialties and care settings, are experiencing alarming rates of burnout. New case studies from the National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM) Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience provide an overview of initiatives that reduce clinician burnout and support clinician well-being at organizations across the country.

The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG®) is a member of the NAM Action Collaborative. Every year, ECFMG sponsors more than 11,000 foreign national physicians in J-1 visa status to participate in U.S. clinical training programs. These residents and fellows face the stresses of living and working in a foreign country in addition to the significant demands of their training programs. ECFMG and its Exchange Visitor Sponsorship Program (EVSP) are refining several initiatives to support these physicians and meet their unique needs.

“Our mission at ECFMG/FAIMER is to advance medical education and help improve health care worldwide,” said Dr. William W. Pinsky, President and CEO of ECFMG and Board Chair of FAIMER. “These case studies are important examples of how we can attend to the needs of clinicians, so they can attend to the needs of their patients.”

The NAM hopes that each case study serves as an idea-generating resource for leaders to implement programs and policies at their own organizations that address systemic factors that contribute to clinician burnout. Each case study is designed to help readers more fully understand the successes that organizations have had in implementing well-being programs.

Ohio State University Case Study

At Ohio State University, initiatives to address burnout and promote the well-being of medical, nursing, and health sciences students, trainees, and practicing clinicians are supported by the highest levels of leadership, including the university president. This case study explores the central coordination and alignment of well-being initiatives that span the university, as well as focused examples of programs and policies within the College of Nursing, College of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine Residency Program, and the Wexner Medical Center. The Ohio State University case study also explores the role of the University Chief Wellness Officer in advancing the professional fulfillment and well-being of the entire university community. Ohio State calculates a cumulative productivity net savings of over $15 million from wellness programming as well as a $3.65 return-on-investment for every dollar invested in wellness. Additional impact includes decreased anxiety, depression, stress, and suicidal intent among students, faculty, and staff as well as increased academic performance and levels of healthy lifestyle behaviors. University Chief Wellness Officer Dr. Bernadette Melnyk notes, “Leaders, faculty, and managers must ‘walk the talk’ and provide needed wellness resources as well as support for ‘grassroots’ initiatives. The return on and value of investment—including faculty, staff, and students who are happy, healthy, and engaged—will be well worth it.”

Virginia Mason Kirkland Medical Center Case Study

The Virginia Mason Kirkland Medical Center, an outpatient clinic located outside of Seattle in Kirkland, WA, utilizes an innovative, system-wide management method to improve patient care and safety by eliminating waste and inefficiencies. This management method is used to streamline repetitive aspects of care delivery, standardize clinical roles, and engage in continuous learning activities. Two pillars play a central role in improving wellbeing at the medical center: (1) Workflow optimization and (2) Promoting a culture of collegiality, respect, and innovation. Kirkland Medical Center relies heavily on the integration of clinical pharmacists into the care team to free up time for physicians, physician assistants, and advanced registered nurse practitioners to see patients with more complex conditions. Medical assistants help reduce clinician workload and manage administrative tasks, such as confirming patient medications, processing orders, and replying to patient portal messages. Mandatory “pauses” after every 3-5 patient visits allow clinicians to address documentation needs throughout the day, ensuring that all clinicians can leave for home within one hour of seeing their last patient. Surveys from the medical center show that 90% of Kirkland Medical Center’s non-clinician staff and 93% of clinicians are “content” or “engaged.”

The development of each case study was informed by expert interviews with professionals from each organization. The NAM conducted preliminary interviews, in-person site visits, extensive follow-up interviews, and document review for each case study. Additional case studies are forthcoming.

Read the full case studies: nam.edu/clinicianwellbeing/case-studies.

For questions, please contact the National Academy of Medicine at ClinicianWellBeing@nas.edu.