ECFMG Certification at the time of application

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123tbd

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Question on behalf of a friend.

Step 1 and Step 2CS are complete. Plan on taking Step 2Ck in August, but apparently scores for examinees testing from late July through August 2014 will be available only at the end of September 2014.

Since that score is needed to complete the ECFMG certification process, will applying when ERAS opens on Sept 15, 2014 make your application be set aside till you are certified?

Thanks

no…but you still won't be "certified" after the CS is reported….you will however be "verified" which is all that is required to participate in the match….and you need to be verified by the time the ROL is due in February.

to become certified, you have to have passing scores in the required steps AND have graduated and have a diploma…most people applying as a 4th year won't have the diploma until May.
 
Each program can do whatever it wants. Programs can specifically exclude applicants who don't have their steps completed, or only review applications where full ECFMG certification is complete. There's no "rule" about this, and it's impossible to know how many programs use which criteria.

If you're going to apply this year, there isn't a reason to wait for ECFMG certification (or your Step 2 CK score). You apply whenever you want, and any program that's waiting for your CK score will see your application as soon as the result is available. You don't gain anything by waiting for the score to be in first (and you never know some programs may review your application without it)

My sense is that most programs want all parts of Step 1 and 2 done to review IMG applications. Some may insist on full ECFMG certification, especially those that take large numbers of IMG's -- they want to avoid late starts due to ECFMG or visa issues.
 
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