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The reason I said pull with the AMA is that because I am, for no fault of my own, ineligible to give the USMLE. If not, there would be relatively fast options like the fastrack programs in under-served regions of Texas and Mississippi that would let foreign doctors begin working without repeating residency.
A cause of endless suffering and angst for me, I assure you. At least I'm licensed in the UK, which is a modest step up from India. Maybe it's a fixable issue, in which case I may make it to the States yet.*
*Fixing it entails unavoidable wrangling with unaccountable NGOs and maybe $50k. My cheapskate med school is unlikely to pay up, and I certainly can't afford that myself.
Ah that hyperlink didn't work for me. What is the nature of the issue?
https://old.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/14tkrow/apologetics_for_america/
Is that better? I cross-posted it here too, but it's buried so deep it would be a pain to dredge it up.
To cut a medium length story short, there's an non-profit called the ECFMG, based in the US, that doles out certificates that endorse med schools as meeting the standards for their graduates to attempt US Residency exams. My med school doesn't have one. The reasons roughly boil down to the majority of its graduates not having aspirations of going abroad, or if they do, they end up going to the UK /Germany (and a handful of other places, none great) when they find out the US isn't an option. That's because they have their own certification/licensing regime.
While a terrible blow when I found out at the end of med school (I'd have dropped a year and tried for a better place if I had any inkling), it also locks me out of relatively congenial options like Australia, Canada and New Zealand as well.
This is an issue at the level of the med school, and even if I accrue an entire alphabet after my name, without it being fixed I simply can't apply to those countries, even if I was to become a senior consultant in the UK.
It's not that my med school is illegitimate, (though I certainly wish I had gotten into a better one), this is not a legal requisite like being recognized by the Indian Medical Council, but it's expected, such that nobody realizes it's a problem before it's too late. I didn't.
To fix it, the med school needs to reach out to the ECFMG. Which they did after much coaxing, but didn't get a reply. I suspect half because they're cheap bastards who used a gmail account. And were the ECFMG to proceed, they subcontract other agencies that charge fees ($50k in question) that the med school pays. I have reason to believe that one of the sub agencies has already extended blanket approval to all Indian med schools, including mine, but they aren't going to proactively reach out to the ECFMG, but the risk remains that the cheapskates will be asked to pay what in India is an enormous sum (like the net combined tuition of 5 students over 5 years) and I am grappling with overwork, UK exams and depression, so my plan is to work with my juniors and march in force to demand this gets done.
Hence why I've been focused on the UK, while my desire to move there is half-hearted at best, it's still a mild improvement.
Trust me, the moment I ever become eligible, if I do, I'm setting my GMC license on fire and grinding the USMLE so hard you won't see me for a year haha.
I'm sure you have already considered all options far more thoroughly than a quick google. But this seems like to me (I could be 100% wrong) that if your med school meets all the requirements they don't actually need to be ECFMG certified as long as they COULD be ECFMG certified. Does your school meet the requirements?
An individual’s eligibility for ECFMG Certification... IMGs can continue to apply for and pursue ECFMG Certification, even if their medical school currently does not meet the requirements of the Recognized Accreditation Policy. IMGs can pursue ECFMG Certification as long as their medical school meets ECFMG’s current requirements.
The individual’s medical school must meet requirements established by ECFMG. Schools that meet all requirements will be listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools (World Directory) with an ECFMG note stating that the school meets eligibility requirements for its students and graduates to apply to ECFMG for ECFMG Certification and examination. The ECFMG note also will include the graduation years for which the school meets these requirements. Since ECFMG is a sponsor of the World Directory, the ECFMG note is located on the “Sponsor Notes” tab of the medical school listing. If there is no ECFMG note on the Sponsor Notes tab of the medical school’s listing, its students and graduates are not eligible to apply to ECFMG for ECFMG Certification and examination. To confirm that a medical school meets ECFMG’s requirements, access the World Directory at www.wdoms.org . For more information on the ECFMG Sponsor Note, see Information on Sponsor Notes in the World Directory of Medical Schools.
Once you're on wdoms.org you can look up your med school and look in the notes. If you see something like this you should be all set.
Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), United States of America Students and graduates of this medical school are eligible to apply to ECFMG for ECFMG Certification and for examination, provided that: For medical school students officially enrolled in this school, the graduation years are listed below as “current”. For graduates of this medical school, their graduation year is included in the graduation years listed below. Graduation Years: 1970 - Current The degree title of the final medical diploma the student will earn, or the graduate has earned (and must provide), is listed in the Reference Guide for Medical Education Credentials. All other eligibility requirements are met. Refer to the ECFMG Information Booklet for detailed information.
Thank you for looking into it, but sadly it is precisely the absence of that sponsor note that's the issue :(
It's nigh ubiquitous, hence why nobody notices its absence, but that's precisely what my med school needs to do a better job reaching out and acquiring.
I asked the ECFMG, and they stated it can be applied retroactively to past graduates if the med school shows it met requirements at the time, but that's the easy part haha
Can you put together an ECFMG package in PDF format and have the hospital sign off on it? You may need to be your own advocate for this. I can help if I know what hospital it is.
I'm not sure what you mean, but feel free to DM me since I try to maintain the bare minimum tattered rags of OPSEC haha
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