• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

International medical school verification.

Credentialing Resource Center Connection, January 27, 2005

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Credentialing Resource Center Connection!

Dear Credentialing Colleague:

Recently, I was told of a credentials chair so insistent upon primary source verification of medical school graduation, that many international graduates were having a difficult time applying at the hospital.  Verification of graduation is indeed an important and necessary step in the credentialing process, however there are multiple sources of confirmation of international school graduates available to credentialing staff.

It is important to recognize that some international schools are simply not set up to respond to verification requests in a timely manner. Some schools may not be able to respond in English and others may be in countries that will not respond as a matter of policy.  Fortunately, there are other sources available to hospitals and others seeking to verify this basic credential.  The American Medical Association Masterfile not only verifies medical school graduation, but is considered by the JCAHO to be an authoritative source.  The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) also goes to great lengths to confirm graduation from international schools. 

Most importantly, the majority of international medical school graduates who are applying to hospitals in the US have completed a fully accredited residency training program here in the States.  American schools have vastly improved their procedures since the infamous Michael Swango trial, and hospitals may certainly count upon the combination of confirmation by the AMA Masterfile and graduation in good standing from an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited residency program as confirmation of medical school graduation.

That's it for today.

All the best,

Hugh Greeley

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Credentialing Resource Center Connection!

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive