According to the ECFMG website, they have now approved two organizations for the recognition of medical school accrediting agencies. Medical schools accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by either WFME or NCFMEA will now satisfy the requirements of the Recognized Accreditation Policy.
The difference between WFME and NCFMEA recognition is explained here.
Bureaucratic Burden
Until recently, even if an international accrediting authority had NCFMEA recognition, it still needed to get WFME recognition to satisfy the ECFMG’s Recognized Accreditation Policy. This was particularly onerous for some countries as it required them to obtain both NCFMEA and WFME recognition – doubling their bureaucratic burden.
Many of the countries that commenced (and some completed) the WFME process would no longer be required to do so.
UK’s General Medical Council
It is unclear when this decision was taken by ECMFG, but it might have arisen out of concern that countries upon which the US medical profession relies for immigrant doctors have been slow in preparing themselves for the Recognized Accreditation Policy.
This might apply to the UK’s GMC which, as of October 2022, has not commenced the WFME process. GMC has NCFMEA comparability until spring 2023. As things currently stand, if it renews its NCFMEA recognition, it will no longer be required to apply for WFME.
