Educational commission for foreign medical graduates

ECFMG Certification 

About ECFMG Certification

 | 

Requirements for ECFMG Certification

 | 

Standard ECFMG Certificate

 | Validity of 

Examinations for Entry into Graduate Medical Education  

Validity of Examinations for Entry into Graduate Medical Education 

Clinical Skills Examinations 

For individuals who satisfy the clinical skills requirement for ECFMG Certification by passing Step 2 CS, this 

passing performance is not subject to expiration for the purpose of entering U.S. programs of graduate medical 

education. 

For individuals who satisfied the clinical skills requirement for ECFMG Certification by passing the former ECFMG 

CSA and an English language proficiency test, passing performance on the CSA may be subject to expiration for 

the purpose of entering U.S. graduate medical education, as described below. 



Passing performances on CSA administrations that took place on or after June 14, 2001 are not subject to 

expiration for the purpose of entering graduate medical education programs. If you are certified by ECFMG 

and your Standard ECFMG Certificate lists a “valid through” date for an administration of the CSA that took 

place on or after June 14, 2001, you may request a permanent validation sticker (indicating the CSA 

passing performance is “valid indefinitely” for entry into graduate medical education) that you can affix to 

your certificate. To request a sticker, access 

OASIS

.  



Passing performances on CSA administrations that took place before June 14, 2001 are valid for three 

years from the date passed for the purpose of entering graduate medical education programs. The date 

through which passing performance on the CSA remains valid for entry into graduate medical education 

(the CSA “valid through” date) will be listed on the applicant’s Standard ECFMG Certificate. If the applicant 

entered a program before expiration of the valid through date, the applicant may request permanent 

validation. This means that the CSA date is no longer subject to expiration. To request permanent 

validation, the applicant and an authorized official of the training institution must complete a 

Request for 

Permanent Validation (Form 246)

, available in the Resources section of the ECFMG website and from 

ECFMG, upon request. On receipt of this form, ECFMG will provide a permanent validation sticker to be 

affixed to the certificate. If an applicant who passed CSA before June 14, 2001 did not enter a program 

within three years of the CSA pass date, the applicant’s CSA passing performance has expired for the 

purpose of entering graduate medical education. Before entering a program, these applicants must pass 

Step 2 CS. Passing performance on Step 2 CS does not expire for the purpose of entry into graduate 

medical education.  

English Examinations 

Passing performances on the English language proficiency test formerly required by ECFMG (such as the TOEFL 

exam or the former ECFMG English Test) are not subject to expiration for the purpose of entering U.S. graduate 

medical education programs, regardless of the date passed. If you are certified by ECFMG and your Standard 

ECFMG Certificate lists a “valid through” date for an English language proficiency test, you may request a 

permanent validation sticker that you can affix to your certificate. To request a sticker, access 

OASIS

. 

Requesting Duplicate Permanent Validation Stickers 

If you lost or did not receive your permanent validation sticker(s), you may request duplicates by completing a 

Request for Duplicate Permanent Validation Sticker (Form 296)

. Form 296 is available in the Resources section of 

the ECFMG website and from ECFMG, upon request. 

Important Note: The preceding discussion of validity and expiration of examinations, and the “valid 

through” and “valid indefinitely” designations on the Standard ECFMG Certificate (if applicable), are 

relevant only for the purpose of entry into programs of graduate medical education in the United 

States. They do not pertain to eligibility for USMLE Step 3 or to any time limits imposed by medical 

licensing authorities or other entities for the completion of all USMLE Steps. 

 

 

6

---

Last updated: September 15, 2011 

 

Copyright © 2011 by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. All rights reserved.

 

7

---

Your ECFMG Record 

USMLE/ECFMG Identification Number | 

Your Name

 | 

Changing or Verifying Your Name

 | 

Contact Information

  

USMLE/ECFMG Identification Number 

Before you can submit an Application for ECFMG Certification or apply to ECFMG for an exam, you must obtain a 

USMLE/ECFMG Identification Number. You can obtain a USMLE/ECFMG Identification Number by accessing 

Interactive Web Applications (IWA)

. 

The information you provide during the process of obtaining a USMLE/ECFMG Identification Number will 

become a part of your permanent ECFMG record. If you fail to provide your correct and current legal name, you 

will be required to submit acceptable documentation, as described in 

Changing or Verifying Your Name

 in Your 

ECFMG Record, to change the name in your ECFMG record. If ECFMG determines that the biographic 

information you submit is inaccurate, not complete, or insufficient to assign a USMLE/ECFMG Identification 

Number to you, your request for the USMLE/ECFMG Identification Number will not be processed. 

Once ECFMG informs you of your number, you must include it on all communications, applications, medical 

education credentials, request forms, and payments that you send to ECFMG. You will also need your 

USMLE/ECFMG Identification Number to use ECFMG’s 

on-line services

. 

Your USMLE/ECFMG Identification Number cannot be changed. If you forget or lose your USMLE/ECFMG 

Identification Number, you can obtain it by accessing 

IWA

 or by 

contacting ECFMG

. Use the contact information 

for General Inquiries on the Contact ECFMG page of the ECFMG website. To protect the privacy of applicants, 

ECFMG will not provide USMLE/ECFMG Identification Numbers by telephone. 

Important Note: As part of the process of obtaining an Identification Number, you will be asked if you 

previously submitted an application to ECFMG for examination. You also will be asked if you were 

previously assigned a USMLE Identification Number by the National Board of Medical Examiners 

(NBME). When applying to ECFMG for examination, you will be asked whether you have submitted an 

application to the NBME previously and, if you answer “Yes,” to provide the Identification Number 

assigned to you if you know it. If you were previously assigned a USMLE Identification Number by 

NBME or have submitted a prior exam application to either organization, you must answer “Yes” to the 

applicable question(s), even if you submitted the prior application under a different name or did not 

take the exam for which you applied. You must answer “Yes” regardless of whether you submitted an 

on-line application or a paper application. If you were previously assigned a USMLE Identification 

Number by NBME or have submitted an application to ECFMG or NBME but indicate that you were not 

previously assigned a number or have not applied previously, this may result in a finding of irregular 

behavior. See 

ECFMG Policies and Procedures Regarding Irregular Behavior

. 

 

 

Last updated: September 15, 2011 

 

Copyright © 2011 by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. All rights reserved.

 

8

---