WFME accreditation
Back in September 2011, the US Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) announced that only graduates from countries recognised by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) would be allowed to appear in the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) after January 2023. The decision came about after officials ascertained that the quality of foreign graduates was deteriorating due to the mushrooming of private colleges. Therefore, enough time was given to countries to take the necessary steps required for accreditation.
With the deadline fast approaching, Pakistani doctors may have until January 2024 before they are unable to continue their practices in the US. Their careers are in jeopardy due to Islamabad’s failure to take timely action. PMDC had initiated the accreditation process and invited WFME’s delegation for a visit but was later dissolved in 2019 via a presidential ordinance. The claims made by Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC), established in place of PMDC, that the process is still ongoing and will be completed before 2024 have been refuted by officials of the Pakistan Medical Association who fear that Pakistan may very well jump the deadline. A decade should have been enough time to improve standards through concrete and timely measures. Unfortunately, negligence and mismanagement seem to be a common pattern witnessed in all local institutions.
The repercussions will have to be faced by thousands of medical professionals who spent hefty sums of money to study in local medical colleges for a better future abroad. Many of these send remittances home to their families while some even spend a few months practicing within Pakistan. With their livelihoods hanging in the balance, medical boards must come together and do whatever is required for the sake of current and future doctors.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 2nd, 2022.
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