Hi
I checked the ECFMG (Educational Commission for Foreign Medical
Graduates) 2009 Information Booklet. In the section Requirements for
ECFMG Certification: Clinical Skills Component, page 7, it states
 “IMPORTANT NOTE: Passing performance on an English language profi
ciency test (such as the Test of English as a Foreign LanguageTM
[TOEFL®]) is no longer a requirement for ECFMG
Certifi cation.” 

It used to be that students had to achieve “a score acceptable to
ECFMG on an English language proficiency test (such as the Test of
English as a Foreign Language™ [TOEFL®] or the former ECFMG English
Test)” in addition to passing the clinical skills assessment. Makes
perfect sense that English language proficiency was tied to CLINICAL
SKILLS assessments. 

Now, it seems this requirement is no longer. Very strange I find this
change to be--

My neck of the woods  has a large medical community and I often hear
complaints from native speakers (once they’ve learned I work in ESL)
about dealing with non-native speakers-- from doctors to x-ray techs-- 
in our local university medical centers, regional hospital, clinics etc.


Does anyone know of any other assessment to use as a standard  rather
than TOEFL or  reinventing the wheel? Our community college has many
internationals in our medical technology programs and there have
definitely been issues surrounding NNS students. 

I agree with the complaints about TOEFL overstating stating the English
ability of the student.

Thanks!
JoAnn

 

JoAnn M. Molnar
ESL Program Coordinator/ Instructor
Durham Technical Community College
1637 Lawson Street, Durham, NC 27703
Phone (919) 536-7221 ext. 3229



>>> Nancy R Faux/AC/VCU <nfaux at vcu.edu> 3/20/2009 10:58 AM >>>

Pat,

Your daughter in law probably had to take the ECFMG, a very rigorous
exam 
for foreign medical school graduates to enter residency programs in the

US.  There is an English language testing component to the exam besides

all the questions related to medicine. 

Nancy

*********************************************************
Nancy R. Faux
ESOL Specialist
Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center
Virginia Commonwealth University
3600 W. Broad Street, Suite 669
Richmond, VA 23230-4930
nfaux at vcu.edu 
http://www.valrc.org 
1-800-237-0178



Patmay1122 at aol.com 
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03/20/2009 10:34 AM
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Subject
[EnglishLanguage 4052] Re: certification of pharmacists via TOEFL






Hi
My daughter in law is a physician from Slovakia.  She had to take
several 
different kinds of tests of her skill level and her English level to be

able to apply for a residency program in the USA.  She didn't have to
take 
the TOEFL.   All the testing was with the Kaplan agency.
Maybe the pharmacist's association should re consider their 
qualifications.
My DIL has good English but there are so many idioms etc that will take
a 
long time to understand.
Regards
Pat in Pa. 

 
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