FCVS and California License for IMG

[dggopal]

I am trying to get my California medical license now that I am about to finish residency in Michigan and plan to start working in California on July 1. Getting the Michigan medical license was so easy but I have a few questions about the California license.

1)Does FCVS get a copy of all the primary source verified medical education transcripts etc from ECFMG which ECFMG already got during the initial ECFMG certification process?

OR​

Does FCVS just go through ECFMG to send new requests to the med schools for this data at the time of the FCVS application?

2) If FCVS gets copies of all the medical school data from ECFMG, is there any other data that is not provided by FCVS that the California medical board will require directly from the medical school?

I ask because I trained in India and my med school is not going to send in data unless I personally go and get it done. I thought I would have to go to India for this purpose when I initially applied for the California license, but then I found FCVS and thought they would just get copies from ECFMG. Now, rereading their FAQ, I am not so sure.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Locumguy]

Hi!

I've done FCVS long time ago but this is my understanding:

1 - FCVS verifies everything directly with your medical school.

2 - Here's the info from the official California Board:

"The Board will usually accept the following documentation from FCVS:

• 
  
• Examination Test scores;
  
• Medical School Transcripts (if provided to FCVS directly from the medical school; transcripts submitted by the applicant to FCVS are not acceptable);
  
• Medical School Diploma (if provided to FCVS directly from the medical school; diplomas submitted by the applicant to FCVS are not acceptable);
  
• Verification of Postgraduate Training may be accepted in lieu of Form L3A & B – Certificate of Completion of ACGME/RCPSC Postgraduate Training Form (if provided to FCVS directly from the ACGME/RCPSC training program); and
  
• ECFMG certification Status Report for international medical school graduates (if provided directly to FCVS by ECFMG).
  

The Board does not accept the following documentation from FCVS:

• 
  
• Letters of Good Standing / License Verifications; and
  
• Timeline of Activities.
  

Whether or not you choose to use FCVS, you must still submit Forms L1A-L1F of the application. The L2 – Certificate of Medical Education, L4 – Current Postgraduate Training Enrollment (if applicable), L5 – Certificate of Clinical Training (if applicable), and L6 – Certificate of Individual Clerkship Training (if applicable) forms must also be submitted directly from the appropriate organization to the Board."

From my experience, the most painful part was L6 form - it took a lot for my medical school to put all the rotations with dates in the form correctly.

I hope it helps!

 

[dggopal]

Yeah I read that as well but then on the FCVS website under the FAQ question on how they obtain verification of medical education the following is stated:

"Whenever possible, requests for verification of medical education and accredited postgraduate training are sent electronically immediately upon submission of the application. Mailed requests, including those that require a check, are sent within 2-3 days of submission.

For physicians who are ECFMG certified, requests for verification of medical education are processed by ECFMG based on information obtained during the ECFMG certification process."

That last line is sort of vague. Does that mean the request for new forms is sent through ECFMG to the med schools and they have to fill out everything again. Or, does it mean that FCVS will obtain the preexisting data from initial ECFMG certifcation, from ECFMG.

 

[dggopal]

Got a definitive answer from FCVS directly.

FCVS rep said they would obtain copies of all the stuff ECFMG had already (IE transcripts, diploma, etc). In some cases they don't have all the documents in which case a new request is made to the med school but usually not.

 

[letmeinwillya]

I got similar response from FCVS customer service. Looking at my account, it took FCVS few days to receive info from ECFMG and I'm hoping that it would be another couple days before the status changes to Verified. In short, FCVS doesn't contact medical school unless there's something FCVS needs and it can't be obtained from ECFMG which is uncommon.