Synergy - September/October 2012 - 15

industry feature

more than 2,000 international medical schools. The library’s holdings also include institutional seals and lists of the officials authorized by the various medical schools to sign ECFMG verification forms. The materials in the library are in both digital and hard-copy format. ECFMG sends its verification requests only to the medical school or institution and will accept responses only if ECFMG receives them directly from the institution. In the paper process, this means ECFMG mails the request directly to the medical school and the medical school mails its response directly to ECFMG. In the electronic process, this is accomplished by posting requests for a particular medical school to that school’s EMSWP account. As already noted, only authorized medical school officials are granted access to the EMSWP account to verify their graduates’ credentials.

and final medical school transcripts electronically through EMSWP. The issues of transit times and potential postal delays associated with mailing paper documents have been eliminated. The process is now faster. The time it takes is no longer a significant issue. During the six-month pilot, from January through June 2012, ECFMG completed 2,462 verifications with 22 medical schools. These schools are located in regions throughout the world, including Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, the Mideast and North America. As shown in the accompanying chart, there was a consistent decrease in the time it took to receive verifications. For the school in Iraq, the decrease is among the most dramatic, from an average of more than 100 days to nine days, a 90 percent decrease. For the schools in India, the response time decreased by about 75 percent, from an average of a little more than 35 days to fewer than nine. Medical schools in three countries (Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia) saw average responses decrease from more than 100 days to fewer than 30 days. Even for schools for which the paper process was not especially lengthy, such as the United Kingdom and Lebanon, the decreases were substantial: a decrease from 29 days to three days in the United Kingdom and a decrease from 18 days to eight days in Lebanon.

During the pilot, our internal monitoring, the results of surveys of the schools, and feedback from both internal and external users provided ECFMG with valuable insight into the volume capabilities, ease of use and functionality of the electronic Credentials Verification program. These data have enabled ECFMG to make improvements to the performance of the program and to identify a number of potential modifications for future releases. The results of the pilot confirm the value of this initiative for medical schools, their students/graduates and ECFMG. In early July 2012, ECFMG expanded the pilot and sent invitations to hundreds of other medical schools worldwide to encourage them to use the new electronic Credentials Verification program. ■

Results of the Pilot Electronic Credentials Verification Program
As discussed, the significant advance in the electronic process is in the method by which the credentials and associated documents and data are exchanged between ECFMG and the medical school. The new program allows authorized medical school officials to upload and verify final medical diplomas

William C. Kelly, MS, has been involved in the credentialing of international medical graduates for 20 years. He is currently associate vice president for operations at the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates® (ECFMG). His areas of responsibility include the primary-source verification of physician credentials in the ECFMG certification and international credentials services programs. Kelly earned his undergraduate degree at LaSalle University and his master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania.

September /Oct Ober 2012 SYNERGY

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Synergy - September/October 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Synergy - September/October 2012

Synergy - September/October 2012
Contents
Editor's Column
President's Column
Contracting 101, Part 2
ECFMG Update
Case Study
Veterans Affairs MSPs Are a Lot Like You
The Certification Commission of NAMSS Announces Scaled Scores
Bylaw Bits
NAMSS News
Happenings
Consultants Directory
Synergy - September/October 2012 - Synergy - September/October 2012
Synergy - September/October 2012 - Cover2
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 1
Synergy - September/October 2012 - Contents
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 3
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 4
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 5
Synergy - September/October 2012 - Editor's Column
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 7
Synergy - September/October 2012 - President's Column
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 9
Synergy - September/October 2012 - Contracting 101, Part 2
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 11
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 12
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 13
Synergy - September/October 2012 - ECFMG Update
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 15
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 16
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 17
Synergy - September/October 2012 - Case Study
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 19
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 20
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 21
Synergy - September/October 2012 - Veterans Affairs MSPs Are a Lot Like You
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 23
Synergy - September/October 2012 - The Certification Commission of NAMSS Announces Scaled Scores
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 25
Synergy - September/October 2012 - Bylaw Bits
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 27
Synergy - September/October 2012 - NAMSS News
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 29
Synergy - September/October 2012 - 30
Synergy - September/October 2012 - Happenings
Synergy - September/October 2012 - Consultants Directory
Synergy - September/October 2012 - Cover3
Synergy - September/October 2012 - Cover4
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