Educational commission for foreign medical graduates certification and specialty board certification among graduates of the Caribbean medical schools.
BACKGROUND
To determine the variability among Caribbean medical schools in the performance of their students against markers of quality.


METHODS
The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) database and the American Medical Association (AMA) Masterfile were linked. Analyses were restricted to ECFMG applicants, from 1980 to 2000, who attended the 12 Caribbean medical schools that produced 200 or more U.S. International Medical School Graduates (USIMGs).


RESULTS
The schools produced 17,049 USIMG (48% of all USIMGs) and 5,840 non-USIMG (5% of all non-USIMGs) applicants for ECFMG certification. By school, the ECFMG certification rate ranged from 28% to 86% for USIMGs and from 27% to 82% for non-USIMGs. Specialty Board certification for graduates of these schools also varied widely.


CONCLUSIONS
Medical schools in the Caribbean play an increasingly important role in supplying the U.S. workforce. There is considerable variability among them, both in the numbers of physicians they produce and the performance of their students against indicators of quality such as ECFMG and specialty Board certification.
Norcini
John J
JJ
Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research, 3624 Market Street, Fourth Floor, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. jnorcini@faimer.org
McKinley
Danette W
DW
Boulet
John R
JR
Anderson
M Brownell
MB
D002568:Certification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005550:Foreign Medical Graduates / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013044:Specialty Boards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014900:West Indies