NCFMEA just published the agenda for its meeting on October 6th.
NCFMEA is a committee of the US Education Department. It examines the work of “foreign” medical education accrediting authorities to determine whether or not they are “comparable” with the system used to accredit US medical schools. If the authority is determined to be comparable, US citizens studying medicine in the “comparable” country will be entitled to receive US Federal Loans to finance their studies.
The large proportion of “offshore” medical schools attended by US students is situated in the Caribbean, so many of the agencies appearing before NCFMEA are from that region.
The Agenda
Two accrediting authorities will appear before the committee, representing three countries/territories:
- Netherlands Flemish Accreditation Organization, Netherlands and Flanders Netherlands
- Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions, Antigua and Barbuda
- Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
A “Special Report” will be discussed in the first two cases, and a “Comparability Determination” will be made in respect of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The Netherlands first attained comparability in 1998 and has since been redetermined three times, the last in 2020.
Antigua and Barbuda attained comparability in 2013, then again in 2020.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines attained their first comparability in 2016. This will be their second assessment.
Saint Vincent/Grenadines and Antigua/Barbuda are both Caribbean territories and their accreditation is dealt with by their common accrediting authority.
Which countries are on the list?
Only 18 countries/territories appear on the NCFMEA comparability list. In addition to the Caribbean Islands are: Australia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
“Foreign” medical schools often wish NCFMEA recognition as US students are a valuable source of income for the institution.
Graduates of these schools, although US citizens, are considered “International Medical Graduates” (IMGs) by the US authorities.
