This post is for medical students and graduates wanted to know how to get an ECFMG sponsors note for your medical college’s WDOMS page. This post is specifically for MBBS students or graduates from Indian medical schools, meeting the following 3 criteria-
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Your medschool’s name is enlisted in WDOMS.
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Your medschool is recognised by MCI(now NMC) at present.
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You have the patience to follow up regularly with ECFMG and MCI/NMC via email. Be very polite and professional when you contact these people.
The process can sometimes be long and a bit frustrating, but if your college meets the above 2 criteria, I ASSURE YOU that you will get this done. It can take anywhere from 1-12 months for your college to get an ECFMG sponsors note.
(For instance, After contacting ECFMG, It took my college 8 months, while my friend got her college’s sponsor note in just 1 month. )
PROCEDURE
A. You have to email 2 people mainly-
- ECFMG COORDINATOR- CAROLE BEDE, [email protected]
Send this mail to her:
SUBJECT- Medical School Sponsor Notes in the World Directory of Medical Schools for ECFMG Certification and Examination in respect of [YOUR COLLEGE NAME ]
To
Carole Bede
ECFMG Coordinator
Dear Ma’am,
I, [YOUR NAME]
am [1st/2nd/ 3rd/ 4th year MBBS student/ intern/ MBBS graduate of [YOUR COLLEGE NAME]
belonging to batch of [ YEAR WHEN YOU STARTED MBBS] ( nth batch of my college to graduate or yet to graduate),
affiliated to [STATE/ CENTRAL/ DEEMED UNIVERSITY TO WHICH YOUR MED SCHOOL IS AFFILIATED TO] and
recognised by Medical Council of India(MCI) and National Medical Commission (NMC)
FAIMER SCHOOL ID- [AVAILABLE ON YOUR COLLEGE’S WDOMS PAGE]
My medical school was started in [YEAR WHEN YOUR MEDICAL SCHOOL FIRST STARTED TEACHING MBBS] The first batch of students graduated from my college in [ YEAR WHEN FIRST BATCH FROM YOUR COLLEGE GRADUATED OR WILL GRADUATE]
My medical school listing on the World Directory of Medical Schools, does not include information from ECFMG on the Sponsor Notes tab.
I sincerely request you to guide me through the procedure for getting an ECFMG Sponsor Note for my medical school.
I have already written an email to the MCI, requesting them to send an application to your email id and to [email protected], for making my college eligible for getting an ECFMG Sponsor Note.
Yours sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR Contact no. ]
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NOTE- Mail Carole ONLY during working days in Philadelphia, from 10am to 4pm of Philadelphia time (EST), so that she receives your mail on top of her inbox. She is a very helpful lady.
- ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF MCI, S SAVITHA - [email protected].
Send this mail to her:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------Subject- ECFMG SPONSOR NOTE
To
S Savitha
Assistant Secretary
Undergraduate Section
Medical Council of India
Dear Ma’am,
With due respect, I [ YOUR NAME] ,
a [ 1st/2nd/ 3rd/ 4th year MBBS student/ intern/ MBBS graduate of [YOUR COLLEGE NAME ] belonging to batch of [ YEAR WHEN YOU STARTED MBBS] ( nth batch to graduated or yet to graduate),
affiliated to [STATE/ CENTRAL/ DEEMED UNIVERSITY TO WHICH YOUR MED SCHOOL IS AFFILIATED TO]
and recognised by [MCI and NMC] ,
am requesting you to send an application to the MedSchoolReview section of ECFMG, regarding the proper recognition and affiliation of my college, [YOUR COLLEGE NAME] .
The application letter should also include the ’ Graduation year ', i.e, [ YEAR WHEN FIRST BATCH FROM YOUR COLLEGE GRADUATED OR WILL GRADUATE] (when the very first batch graduated), so that my college becomes eligible for ECFMG sponsor notes. Please mention that this college was started from the year of [YEAR WHEN YOUR COLLEGE STARTED TEACHING MBBS] and my batch year, [ YEAR WHEN YOU GOT ADMISSION IN MBBS] is also to be highlighted.
I sincerely request you to send this application to Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)
Email id – [email protected]
Yours sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR Contact no. ]
NOTE- Now, I know that MCI has recently been dissolved and replaced with NMC. I reckon that the posts and responsibilities of the bureaucrats like Ms Savitha will remain unchanged. So, try to reach out to the above email addresses only. I’ll contact Ms Savitha this week and update this post if there’s any change.
Mail Savitha ONLY during working days, from 10am to 4pm of Indian standard time, so that she receives your mail on top of her inbox.
B. Call Ms S SAVITHA (+ 91 98184 89895) –
After you send the email to Savitha, call her and whatsapp her letting her know that you have sent a mail to her for your college’s sponsor note. Call only on working days (preferably Monday) at IST 9:40 am sharp.
Call her every 2 weeks asking if there’s any update or new email, or communication from ECFMG and Carole.
C. You can expect to get replies from Carole within a week of emailing her, Email her after a week, in case you don’t get any reply. Once you establish contact with her, email her once every fortnight asking for updates regarding the sponsors note for your college. I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep following up with her through mail.
D. Ask your principal/ dean, or any helpful faculty from your college who knows S Savitha, Assistant Secretary of MCI Undergraduate section, or has strong connections in MCI/ NMC, to email/ call Savitha regarding your college’s ecfmg sponsor note. Many of these people, will be knowing Savitha personally, as she handles most of the UG affairs.This should increase the impact of your application.
Finally,
as someone who has been in your shoes, I understand the anxiety when you are preparing for step 1 and suddenly discover that your medschool does not have an ecfmg sponsor note, despite it being well established and recognised by MCI n WDOMS.
This is only a minor obstacle out of the 100s of obstacles an IMG may have to face in their USMLE journey.
Don’t worry. Just follow this process and you’ll get your college’s sponsor note soon.
Feel free to ask any questions.
Let others know in the comments when you get your ECFMG sponsor note, and don’t forget to help someone else who might be facing the same problem.
ALL THE BEST.