Synergy - September/October 2012 - 14

industry feature

ECFMG Update: Innovations in PrimarySource Verification of Physician Credentials
By William C. Kelly, MS

n January 2012, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates® (ECFMG) launched a pilot to verify electronically the medical education credentials of physicians applying to ECFMG for United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE) exams and ECFMG certification1.

schools participating, this program has helped resolve the main issue associated with the traditional paper verification method: the time the process takes. The foundation of the new program is the ECFMG Medical School Web Portal (EMSWP), an existing online ECFMG service for international medical schools. EMSWP is a secure, web-based interface between ECFMG and international medical schools, developed by ECFMG at no cost to the schools. The first ECFMG program for medical schools using EMSWP was introduced in 2008. This program allows schools to verify the status of their students and graduates who are applying to ECFMG for USMLE exams. Currently, more than 700 medical schools worldwide have an EMSWP account for one or more ECFMG program. For the new ECFMG electronic Credentials Verification program, medical schools first establish a program account, just as they do for other EMSWP programs. Only officials authorized by the medical school have access to the account and are able to verify credentials. Industry standard authentication protocols are used for the medical school officials to access their EMSWP accounts.

Based on the successes of the pilot, most notably the dramatic decrease in the time required to complete verifications, ECFMG is offering this electronic Credentials Verification program to additional international medical schools. This article will discuss the value of primary-source verification and describe how ECFMG has utilized the Internet to address the main issue we all face in primary-source verification: the time it takes.

had to rely on the U.S. and international postal services. For some foreign countries, mail delivery could take several weeks. Frequently there are disruptions due to civil unrest, strikes and weather causing delays. While courier service is an option, it is expensive. Even after we’ve sent the request for verification, we may not receive a timely response. We then have to send follow-up requests, adding even more time to the process. In the new electronic program, ECFMG and the medical schools send and receive information online instantaneously. We no longer have to rely on the vagaries of postal service.

ECFMG’s Primary-Source Verification Process
ECFMG’s experience with primary-source verification dates to 1986 when primarysource verification of a physician’s credentials became a requirement for ECFMG certification. Throughout the years, ECFMG has primary-source verified hundreds of thousands of physician credentials. There are multiple steps taken by ECFMG to ensure the integrity of the primary-source verification process. For medical diplomas

What Is Primary-Source Verification?
Primary-source verification is recognized as the gold standard for verifying an individual’s credentials. For a physician’s credentials, we request primary-source verification by communicating with the medical school, hospital or other institution that is the source of the physician’s credential. In the communication, we ask that an official certify whether or not the document is authentic. In verifying the credential at its source, we provide ourselves with the best protection against fraudulent documents.

ECFMG’s New Electronic Credentials Verification Program
The electronic Credentials Verification program is ECFMG’s newest program for international medical schools. Introduced as a pilot in January 2012, with 22 medical
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In verifying the credential at its source, we provide ourselves with the best protection against fraudulent documents.
Instead of mailing paper forms and documents as we have since 1986, through the electronic program, ECFMG now uses the Internet. The program allows ECFMG and the medical schools to transmit digital images of credentials, associated documents and data. For ECFMG, the vast majority of our requests for verification are to institutions located outside of the United States. When sending a paper request, we and transcripts, which represent the vast majority of physician credentials received by ECFMG, the first part of the process entails a comparison of the physician’s credential against sample verified credentials from the same medical school as contained in the ECFMG Credentials Reference Library. We call this the “prima facie” review. This library, developed throughout the last 50 years, contains sample credentials from

Physicians who graduated from medical schools located outside the United States and Canada (international medical graduates (IMGs)) must be certified by ECFMG to start a residency program in the United States. ECFMG is the registration entity for IMGs applying for Steps 1 and 2 of the USMLE. For complete information on ECFMG, visit the ECFMG website at www.ecfmg.org.

SYNERGY September/O ctO ber 2012

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Synergy - September/October 2012

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