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WFME joins the ICRC list of signatories for the Health Care in Danger Declaration opposing violence against health care workers

Violence against health care workers must stop. This resolution applies to all aspects of health care, including the critical component of educating our young medical professionals on this important issue. See Declaration by Health Care in Danger community on violence against health care workers.

Health care workers save lives. In collaboration with the leadership of the World Medical Association and the International Council of Nurses, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) published a Comment piece in The Lancet on May 20, 2020, entitled “Attacks Against Health-Care Personnel Must Stop, Especially as the World Fights COVID-19.”

 

#HealthyRecovery: show your support!

As a signatory, WFME supports the G20 leaders #HealthyRecovery letter requesting that governments directly involve their medical and scientific community in the production of all economic stimulus packages, seek reports from them on the short- and long-term public health repercussions that these may have, and secure their stamp of approval as direct support for health professionals that take care of people when they are at their most vulnerable.

[Read more…] about #HealthyRecovery: show your support!

ECFMG 2023 Accreditation Requirement – Moved to 2024

An important stimulus to the WFME Recognition of Accreditation Programme is the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG®) 2023 Accreditation Requirement

ECFMG announced on 13 May 2020 that its accreditation requirement, previously commencing in 2023, will now be implemented in 2024.

WFME welcomes this recognition that the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed or restricted the work of some accrediting agencies. Those that are not yet recognised by WFME are urged to apply for recognition soon. We are expecting increased applications for the recognition process once our service recommences. Application now will secure the first available place.

To date, 21 accrediting agencies have received WFME recognition, a further 13 are in progress and 8 more are soon to enter the process. Interested accrediting agencies are encouraged to apply as soon as possible to ensure timely completion of the recognition process.

From ECFMG’s announcement:

“ECFMG previously announced that, starting in 2023, applicants for ECFMG Certification will be required to be a student or graduate of a medical school that is appropriately accredited. More specifically, the medical school must be accredited by an agency recognized by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME). … We are energized by the commitment to quality improvement demonstrated in response to this initiative.

At the same time, we recognize that many countries have been forced to suspend or limit their accreditation efforts due to COVID-19 (Coronavirus). As such, we are moving the implementation of the requirement to 2024. We will announce an effective date as we approach 2024; we will also continue to reassess this timeline as needed.

Further details regarding this change will be provided in the coming weeks on our website at www.ecfmg.org/accreditation.”

Applications for WFME Recognition

Any accrediting agency that is planning to apply to WFME in the Recognition Programme does not need to delay.  The administration of the Recognition of Accreditation Programme continues without interruption.

For the time being, site visits to accrediting agencies are not possible but will resume as soon as constraints on travel are relaxed.  We are still accepting applications and processing them through the first stages so the visits can be made as soon as international travel is allowed.