ECFMG INTRODUCES MEDICAL SCHOOL WEB PORTAL

ECFMG is pleased to announce the introduction of the ECFMG Medical
School Web Portal (EMSWP), a significant addition to ECFMG's on-line
offerings and the first exclusively for international medical schools.
Through EMSWP, international medical schools have access to a free,
web-based program that enables them to verify the status of their
students and graduates who have applied to ECFMG for the United States
Medical Licensing Examination(tm) (USMLE(tm)).

ECFMG requires that international medical schools verify the status of
their students who apply to ECFMG for USMLE examinations. Prior to the
launch of EMSWP, ECFMG verified student status through a paper
Certification Statement, completed by the student and his/her medical
school for each USMLE application. Now, for a student whose medical
school participates in EMSWP, a paper Certification Statement is no
longer required for each exam application; instead, the student and
his/her medical school will complete a paper Certification of
Identification Form. Once it is accepted by ECFMG, the Certification of
Identification Form remains valid for all exam applications submitted
during the following five-year period. During this period, the student
will be able to complete the exam application process entirely on-line
using ECFMG's Interactive Web Application (IWA), and the medical school
will verify the student's status on-line using EMSWP in response to
each
exam application. For students from non-participating schools, ECFMG
will continue to require a completed Certification Statement for each
exam application. Students will be able to determine if their medical
school participates in EMSWP and obtain the appropriate form
(Certification of Identification Form or Certification Statement) after
completing the on-line part of the exam application using IWA.

Following a year of development, EMSWP represents a major investment by
ECFMG to increase use of the Internet to benefit international medical
students/graduates and international medical schools who use ECFMG's
services. To educate medical schools about the portal, ECFMG held a
number of web-based seminars featuring a demonstration of the EMSWP
prototype and the verification program. More than 140 medical school
representatives took part in the seminars and provided ECFMG with
feedback and suggestions. Participants were enthusiastic about the
program and indicated it will significantly streamline the amount of
work required of them in the verification process. To date, more than
400 international medical schools have begun the process of
establishing
EMSWP accounts. These schools represent more than 80% of the students
registered for USMLE by ECFMG in 2007.

Verification of the student/graduate status of USMLE applicants is the
first of a series of web-based services that ECFMG plans to make
available through EMSWP. This year, ECFMG will begin development of
EMSWP functionality that will allow for web-based primary-source
verification of the medical education credentials required for ECFMG
Certification.

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