Foreign medical graduates educational commission for foreign medical graduates

Medical Education Credentials

Medical Education Credential Requirements

 | Transfer Credits | 

Credentials for ECFMG Certification

 | 

Final Medical

Diploma and Transcript

 | 

Transcript(s) to Document Transferred Credits

 | 

Name on Medical Diploma and Transcript(s)

 |

English Translations

 | 

Verification of Credentials

Transfer Credits

Transfer credits are credits earned for a course taken at one institution (such as a medical school) that are accepted

by a medical school toward meeting its degree requirements. For example, a student attends a medical school for one

year and earns credits for 12 courses. The student transfers to another medical school, which accepts the credits for

those 12 courses toward meeting its degree requirements. The credits for those 12 courses are then referred to as

transfer credits.

If you transferred credits to the medical school that awarded or will award your medical degree, you must disclose and

document these credits when you apply to ECFMG for examination, regardless of when the credits were earned.

See 

Credentials for ECFMG Certification

 in Medical Education Credentials. Failure to disclose and document these

credits may have a number of negative consequences, including delaying exam registration and certification by

ECFMG, and may result in a finding of irregular behavior. See 

Policies and Procedures Regarding Irregular Behavior

.

Additionally, for the purpose of ECFMG Certification, credits earned on or after January 1, 2008 that are transferred to

the medical school that awarded or will award your medical degree must meet all of the following criteria:

If credits for more than eight courses were transferred, all credits must have been transferred from a medical

school that is either:

located in the United States or Canada and listed in the World Directory, or

listed in the World Directory as meeting ECFMG eligibility requirements.

Credits must be for courses that were passed at the medical school at which the course was taken.

If your transferred credits do not comply with all the criteria listed above, you will not meet the requirements to be

registered by ECFMG for examination or the requirements to be certified by ECFMG. If your transferred credits do not

meet all the criteria listed above, you may request an exception from the ECFMG Medical Education Credentials

Committee.

Important Note: The requirement that credits must be transferred from a medical school that meets the

criteria above does not apply to credits transferred only to the pre-medical portion of the curriculum of

the medical school that awarded or will award the medical degree. If you transferred credits to the pre-

medical portion of the curriculum at the medical school that awarded or will award your medical degree

from an institution that does not meet the criteria listed above, you must provide ECFMG with a letter from

the medical school that awarded or will award your medical degree confirming that the credits were

transferred to the pre-medical portion of the curriculum only. This letter must be on the letterhead of the

medical school and be signed by an authorized official of your medical school. This letter must be

submitted in conjunction with the application for examination and must accompany the Certification of

Identification Form (Form 186) or Certification Statement (Form 183). Applications received without this

letter may be rejected. This letter is in addition to disclosing and documenting all transferred credits

as described above.

Last updated: September 7, 2017

Copyright © 2017 by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. All rights reserved.

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Medical Education Credentials

Medical Education Credential Requirements

 | 

Transfer Credits

 | Credentials for ECFMG Certification | 

Final Medical

Diploma and Transcript

 | 

Transcript(s) to Document Transferred Credits

 | 

Name on Medical Diploma and Transcript(s)

 |

English Translations

 | 

Verification of Credentials

Credentials for ECFMG Certification

The credentials required for ECFMG Certification are:

Final Medical Diploma and Transcript

Transcript(s) to Document Transferred Credits

, if applicable

All documents that are not in English must be accompanied by an official 

English translation

 that meets ECFMG’s

translation requirements. See 

Final Medical Diploma and Transcript

, 

Transcript(s) to Document Transferred Credits

,

and 

English Translations

 for complete information on required items.

Important Note: You must include your full name and USMLE/ECFMG Identification Number on the front

of all credentials before sending them to ECFMG.

If you are a medical school graduate when you submit your first exam application, your credentials must be

submitted with this initial exam application. If you have graduated and met all requirements for your medical diploma

but your medical diploma has not yet been issued, a letter completed and signed by an authorized official of your

medical school must be submitted with your exam application. Each medical school has been requested to provide

ECFMG with a list of authorized officials. The letter you submit must be completed and signed by an official on this list.

The official must provide his/her name, official title, and the institution name. The official must affix the institution's seal

to the letter. The letter also must include the following statement:

This is to confirm that [applicant name] has graduated and completed all requirements to receive

the [degree title] degree from [medical school/university name]. The degree will be issued [month

and year].

You must then send your diploma to ECFMG as soon as the diploma is issued.

If you graduated from medical school and do not submit your medical diploma or a letter from your medical

school, as described above, and these documents have not been received previously by ECFMG, your exam

application will be rejected.

If you are a medical school student when you submit your first exam application, send your medical education

credentials as soon as you graduate and receive them.

You may not submit the credentials required for ECFMG Certification to ECFMG until you apply for an exam. If you

send credentials to ECFMG before you apply for an exam, they will not be processed. To submit your credentials at

the time of application, follow the instructions for additional documents in the exam application 

overview

 in ECFMG's

IWA.

After you have applied for an exam, if you need to send credentials to ECFMG separately from an exam application,

you must send the credentials to the following address:

Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)

Attn: Certification Credentials Services

3624 Market St., 4th Floor

Philadelphia, PA 19104-2685

USA

If your credentials are complete, you are generally not required to resend these documents when you apply for

subsequent exams.

ECFMG will not accept letters or other deliveries that arrive with postage or other fees due.

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