IUFS Postgraduate Medical Studies

All students studying medicine at the University have as their primary objective, earning their medical doctor degrees. Students electing to enroll into the MD/USMLE program have as their secondary objective, ultimate licensing as physicians in the United States of America.

Students in the " Special MD " program are grouped and instructed separately with students whose professional goals include pursuing licensing in the US, and receive instruction in separate classroom and laboratory classes, not combined with students in the General MD program.

Like students in the General MD program, their medical education follows the curriculum requirements of the Ministry of Health, but additionally prepares the student for American licensing examination purposes.

Medical doctors educated outside the US, even US citizens educated in medical schools outside the US, must meet certain requirements in order to enter post graduate training in the US, which is a requirement for eventual licensing as a physician.

Among other requirements, in order for a Foreign Medical Graduate (FMG) to practice medicine in the US, he or she must apply to an American organization known as The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). ECFMG basically determines if the foreign doctor's qualifications and education meet American standards. Successfully meeting all ECFMG requirements, will earn the foreign educated doctor a "ECFMG Certificate", which permits the doctor to enter postgraduate hospital training, required for licensing as a US physician.

In order to earn the "ECFMG Certificate" the FMG must take and pass certain exams. The exams are The United States Medical Licensing Examinations (USMLE). There are three (3) parts or "Steps" to the examinations that must be successfully passed. American students take USMLE Step 1 after the first half of their medical studies, as a condition to being advanced into the second half, and complete USMLE Step 2 when they complete medical school. The third step is taken after graduation, and unlike Steps 1 & 2, which are given in many countries around the world, USMLE Step 3 is only given in the US.

The common practice for a FMG is to apply to ECFMG after they graduate from their medical schools, and then to take the USMLE exams. However, the ECFMG rules permit students educated in foreign medical schools to start to take their USMLE exams (like American students), after completing the first half of their medial studies, or after 3 years of a 6-year curriculum. Students qualify for Step 2 after they are within 12 months of completing their medical studies and earning their degrees.

The USMLE exams are only given in the English language.

For a student still in medical school to apply to ECFMG to take Steps 1 & 2, the Dean or other authorized official from their medical school must certify them directly to ECFMG. The rules for students to register with ECFGM are found at www.ecfmg.org

The major advantage to taking USMLE Steps 1 & 2 while the student is still in medical school, is that the information to be tested is still fresh in his or her mind. Generally the first half of medical education teaches the basic medical sciences, and the second half teaches clinical studies. These are what Steps 1 and 2 test, respectively.

Additionally, if the goal of the medical student is to pursue their post graduate (residency) training in the US, completing these tests while still in medical school, will permit them to reach their goals sooner, by as much as two years and longer.

The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine cannot certify the student for ECFMG examination, unless he feels the student is proficient in the English language and properly prepared for the examinations. As a result, unless the student has been enrolled and completed the first three years of their medical education, in the English language MD/USMLE program, the Dean will not certify them to ECFMG for USMLE purposes while they are in medical school