Medical School Accreditation Requirement for ECFMG Certification
In 2024, Medical School Accreditation Requirement was established by ECFMG in 2010 to stimulate international accreditation efforts and enhance the quality of medical education worldwide. The requirement is intended
to encourage the development and implementation of standards for evaluating undergraduate medical education, to
provide greater assurance to both medical students and the public that they will be appropriately trained.
Applicants and other interested individuals are encouraged to check the 2024 Accreditation Requirement section of the ECFMG website periodically for updates at www.ecfmg.org/accreditation.
Accreditation Requirement Starting in 2024, individuals applying for ECFMG Certification, which is required for international medical graduates to enter graduate medical education (GME) in the United States, must be a student or graduate of a medical school that is appropriately accredited. More specifically, the school must be accredited by an accrediting agency that is officially recognized by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME).
The WFME Recognition Programme is the only program accepted by ECFMG at the current time for the recognition of medical school accrediting agencies.
Thus, beginning in 2024, medical schools will need to be accredited by a WFME-recognized accrediting agency if they wish to ensure their students and graduates are eligible for ECFMG Certification.
Eligibility Guidelines. Please note these guidelines may change over time at ECFMG’s sole discretion. All other ECFMG Certification-related policies will continue to apply.
Timing:
• In 2024, individuals will be eligible to apply for ECFMG Certification—the first step in the certification process—
and take the required examinations if, at the time of application, their medical school is accredited (including provisional or conditional accreditation) by an accrediting agency recognized by WFME.
• Individuals who apply for ECFMG Certification prior to 2024 will continue the examination and certification process under current ECFMG policies, including that their medical school must be recognized by the appropriate government authority in the country where the school is located. Graduates of the medical school must also be eligible to practice medicine in that country, among other criteria.
• Individuals already certified by ECFMG will not be impacted by this requirement. Institutions in Process of Accreditation or Recognition.
• In 2024, individuals may not be eligible to apply for ECFMG Certification if their medical school is still in the process of obtaining accreditation by a WFME-recognized accrediting agency.
• Similarly, individuals may not be eligible to apply for ECFMG Certification in 2024 if their medical school is accredited by an accrediting agency still in the process of obtaining recognition by WFME. Note that once the accrediting agency becomes WFME-recognized, schools do not need to be reaccredited unless they are due for reaccreditation.
Loss of Accreditation Status
• Individuals who successfully apply in 2024 or later may not be eligible to complete the required examinations and
obtain ECFMG Certification if, after they apply but before they achieve certification, their medical school loses
accreditation or they transfer to a non-accredited school.
• Individuals who have already achieved ECFMG Certification, however, will not be impacted if their medical school
subsequently loses accreditation.
