W.D. Dauphinee is adjunct professor, Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, and member of the Clinical and Health Informatics Research Group, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Acad Med. 2019 Jul;94(7):934-936. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000002676.
The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) has a distinguished history of providing high-quality, innovative products and services to international medical graduates (IMGs) seeking to study and practice medicine in the United States. In 2010, the ECFMG board introduced a policy stating that, starting in 2023, all IMGs applying to the ECFMG for credentialing must have graduated from a medical school that has been accredited by an internationally recognized accrediting body akin to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education in the United States or the World Federation for Medical Education. In this issue of Academic Medicine, Tackett reviews the reasons for the policy and its adoption worldwide. After eight years, the number of schools meeting the new standard is modest. He is concerned about the negative effect a continuing low rate of adoption will have on U.S. postgraduate medical education programs and workforce supply. The author of this Invited Commentary offers three perspectives: an overview of the ECFMG's successes, alternative measurement tools to ensure the quality of IMGs entering the United States, and frameworks by which an organization like the ECFMG can refine its policy positions and processes for the future. Academia can expect the ECFMG, given its history of successful collaboration and public accountability, to continue using best practices and to adjust policies according to evidence. As a publicly accountable authority, the ECFMG should debrief key stakeholders on current policies, track IMG practice patterns, and share the resulting data with stakeholders to inform their IMG-related planning decisions.
外国医学毕业生教育委员会 (ECFMG) 拥有悠久的历史，为希望到美国学习和从事医学工作的国际医学毕业生 (IMG) 提供高质量、创新的产品和服务。2010 年，ECFMG 委员会出台了一项政策，规定从 2023 年起，所有向 ECFMG 申请认证的 IMG 必须毕业于已获得国际认可的认证机构认证的医学院，这些认证机构类似于美国的医学教育联络委员会或世界医学教育联合会。在本期《学术医学》中，Tackett 回顾了该政策的出台原因及其在全球范围内的采用情况。八年过去了，符合新标准的学校数量并不多。他担心持续低采用率对美国研究生医学教育项目和劳动力供应会产生负面影响。本文特邀评论员从三个角度提供了看法：概述 ECFMG 的成功经验、替代衡量工具以确保进入美国的 IMG 的质量，以及 ECFMG 等组织可以为未来调整其政策立场和流程的框架。学术界可以期待 ECFMG 继续采用最佳实践，并根据证据调整政策，因为它有成功合作和公共问责的历史。作为一个公共问责机构，ECFMG 应该向主要利益相关者介绍当前政策，跟踪 IMG 的实践模式，并与利益相关者分享由此产生的数据，为他们的 IMG 相关规划决策提供信息。
