ecfmg news letter - sabukvarghese

[ArchivalUser]

did every one got news letter regarding fraudulent letters of recommendation.... check spam

[ArchivalUser]

yes I did

[ArchivalUser]

The ECFMG® Reporter

An E-Newsletter for International Medical Graduates Pursuing Graduate
Medical Education in the United States

Issue 132 - September 30, 2008


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IN THIS ISSUE:

- AN ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING FRAUDULENT LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION


**********************************************

AN ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING FRAUDULENT LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

The submission of fraudulent letters of recommendation by applicants to
ECFMG continues to be of great concern.

In July 2007, The ECFMG Reporter (Issue 116) contained important
information on the issue of fraudulent letters of recommendation.
However, since that time, additional instances of fraudulent letters of
recommendation have come to ECFMG's attention.

The submission to ECFMG of fraudulent letters of recommendation
constitutes irregular behavior as defined by ECFMG.

Examples of fraudulent letters of recommendation include, but are not
limited to:

- writing a letter of recommendation for yourself and signing another
person's name to make the letter appear to be authored by another
person;

- altering parts of an authentic letter of recommendation given to you
by the letter writer; and

- signing another person's name to a letter of recommendation, even if
you believe that person approves of your signing the letter on his/her
behalf.

The submission of fraudulent letters of recommendation is a very serious
matter. Allegations of submission of fraudulent letters of
recommendation, along with all other allegations of irregular behavior,
are reviewed by the ECFMG Medical Education Credentials Committee, a
standing committee of the ECFMG Board of Trustees. If the Committee
determines an individual has engaged in irregular behavior:

- a permanent annotation will be included in his or her ECFMG Status
Reports and Certification Verification Service (CVS) Reports;

- additional information explaining the basis for the finding of
irregular behavior and the resulting action will accompany every ECFMG
Status Report and CVS Report and may also be provided to legitimately
interested entities; and

- the decision will be reported to the Federation of State Medical
Boards' Board Action Data Bank, state medical licensing authorities,
directors of graduate medical education programs, and to any other
organization or individual who, in the judgment of ECFMG, has a
legitimate interest in such information.

Furthermore, ECFMG may:

- bar an individual from exams; and

- withhold or revoke a Standard ECFMG Certificate.

In recent years, the ECFMG Medical Education Credentials Committee has
made a determination of irregular behavior in 14 cases based upon the
submission of fraudulent letters of recommendation. In all but one of
these cases, the physician's Standard ECFMG Certificate was revoked.
Since these individuals are no longer certified by ECFMG, they are not
eligible to enter an accredited residency program in the United States
and are not eligible to take USMLE Step 3, both of which require ECFMG
Certification.

In June 2006, ECFMG instituted the "original document" policy requiring
all international medical students and graduates participating in the
Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS®) to submit original
letters of recommendation. This policy is consistent with U.S. medical
school practices. These letters must be written on official letterhead
and signed by the letter writer in an ink color other than black. For
enhanced authentication, applicants are advised to request the letter
writer to affix an institutional seal to the letter of recommendation.

ECFMG makes a visual inspection of the letters when they are received to
determine if they are originals or copies. If ECFMG determines that a
letter of recommendation is a copy, the document will be stamped to
indicate that it is a copy before it is made available to program
directors. Refer to the letter of recommendation requirements on the
ERAS Support Services at ECFMG website for more information on this
policy.

Directors of residency and fellowship programs are responsible for
verifying the authenticity of letters of recommendation. In most of the
recent cases reviewed by the ECFMG Medical Education Credentials
Committee, the fraudulent letters of recommendation were detected by
program directors attempting to verify a letter's authenticity.

For detailed information on ERAS policies, visit the website of the
Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) at www.aamc.org.

[ArchivalUser]

BUT WHY WORRY??? all those who have fraud letters should..