Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/16/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  ECFMG processing times are not very accurate on their website.According to ************************************************************************, "4. Indicate the method you will use to provide appropriate documentation for each license/registration from the authority that issued it. (...) After you submit your Pathways application, please allow five business days for the status of documentation received in advance by ECFMG from the authority to be updated in your application."When I called them today, they told me I had to give them time to open the e-mail sent by the medical authority, so they only counted the "five business days" from the time they opened the e-mail, which was done after six business days from the time they received the document from the medical authority. I contested that this information was not on their website, and the lady who answered me said I had to "understand" that they received several applications. However, nobody will "understand" my application should be ready by the end of the month.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/11/2024

  I write in response to Complaint ******** .

   

  I am pleased to inform you that this issue has been resolved, and ****************** ******* Chadas ECFMG Certificate has been issued.

   

  Please do not hesitate to contact me directly should you have any questions or concerns pertaining to complaint ********. My direct contact information is listed below.

   

  Regards,

  ***** M. ****

  Supervisor

  Applicant Information Services

  ECFMG  A Division of Intealth

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/13/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am an IMG who graduated from ************************, ******, *******, a medical school my credentials are definitely eligible for source verification. Because of the political crisis, my medical degrees cannot be verified through my medical school. ECFMG has an alternative verification pathway by asking a couple of US-licensed physicians do they know him/her. When they asked for my medical degree verification, ECFMG put my new name ********** which is totally different from my old name *************** Nwe which is also the name on my medical degree. Two US-licenced doctors who also attended the convocation with me denied they knew me. This denial is ECFMG alternative verifications department 's responsibility. Only because ECFMG gave them the wrong lead by not putting full descriptions about my name change history, I got denials for SVR. I have tried all the requests and both of the US-US-licensed physicians afraid to help me attestation further because of the previous denial actions. There are only 2 doctors who are currently holding US-licenced. ECFMG is so negligent and let me just keep on waiting until now. I am desperate as you may know, the longer the recency of independent working, the harder to apply for licencing in ******. Could you please advise?

  Business Response

  Date: 07/16/2024

   write in response to Complaint 21843052.

   

  The processing of Dr. ********** documents is ongoing.  We will contact Dr. ********** once there is an update. However, her claim regarding her name on the attestations is not accurate, as we have indicated her current legal name and her AKA name on all the documents sent to her attestors.

   

  Please do not hesitate to contact me directly should you have further questions or concerns.

   

  Regards,

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

  Supervisor

  Applicant Information Services

  ECFMG  A ******** of ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/08/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My USMLE/ECFMG ID is ********. I have been waiting for them to make a simple change to my birthdate on my account for almost two months now. There has been zero communication as to when its going to be fixed and I need it to be corrected in order to register for STEP 1. I need this issue resolved ASAP and would like an explanation as to why this is taking so long.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/29/2024

  I write in response to Complaint 21266542.

   

  I am pleased to inform you this issue has been resolved. We have contacted *********************************** regarding this matter, and his date of birth has been corrected in his ECFMG records.

   

  Please do not hesitate to contact me directly if you have any questions or concerns about complaint ********. My direct contact information is listed below.

   

  Regards,

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

  Supervisor

  Applicant Information Services

  ECFMG  A ******** of ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/09/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  The organization asks us to submit all the required documents for Promissory Note. ***** ********* University submitted all documents back in March and the organization has not even sent the university any communications. As a medical student of 18 years, our hopes and dreams are being crushed by the unresponsiveness and the refusal of ecfmg to address our concerns.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/19/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  last week i uploaded my credentials through ECFMG to be verified , i attached the document that was uploaded , my username on the ECFMG platform is ahmadkassas , after 5 business days , i get back a refusal verification letter detailing that my translation is not certified by the translator that it is correct , despite the fact the on the third page upper left corner there is a full paragraph dedicated for this , i called ECFMG to explain this issue and pointed out that there is a paragraph in the document addressing the requirement they mentioned , the response i received was to use another service that meets their requirements but i am not obliged in any shape or form to use it , but if i use it ( ******* service , the email i received is also attached ) then it will pass but if not it "may" not , i find that quite unprofessional , considering the time wasted on the matter especially that it is of importance for me , not even mentioning the financial matter.Also i have colleagues who have pretty much the same documents as i do , and they applied using the same translator office and it worked and passed through a year ago.i find what ECFMG did quite unprofessional and disappointing .i am not asking for amending anything because i already paid for the service they recommended despite the fact that it was a needless referral considering the document already met their requirements but they still refused it. i just wanted to complain to someone . thanks.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/18/2023

  I write in response to Complaint ********.

   

  I am pleased to inform you that this issue has been resolved as we have sent Dr. ***** ******’s credential for verification, and Dr. ****** has been notified of this update.

   

  Please do not hesitate to contact me directly should you have any questions or concerns pertaining to complaint ********. My direct contact information is listed below.

   

  Regards,

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/06/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Hello. I am an IMG who applied for USMLE step 2 exam. All my medical credentials were previously verified by EPIC in 2021. When I applied for USMLE, I was told that my credentials cannot be transferred from EPIC to OASIS website and I have to go through verification process again. EPIC and OASIS are just the different departments of ECFMG. I was told that the attempt to transfer was not successful. It does not really help me and shows a weakness inside ECFMG organization. My USMLE is *********** and my EPIC account is C-** ******. The whole situation makes me really upset, how can we trust ECFMG organization if they cannot even send documents from one account to another? I am not satisfied with the statement that Credentials transfer was not successful. Is it an IT issue? Maybe ECFMG should fix internal problems. Thank you.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/10/2023

  I write in response to Complaint . ********

   

  I am pleased to inform you that this issue has been resolved as **. ******************* credentials have been received and verified.

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/01/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  MINC no ****-****-**** Re source verification alternative process Document uploaded 17/04 /23 Enquiry to ECFMG 15 march 2023 I am an IMG applying to Canada to work as a doctor. Despite multiple attempts via MCC and my institution (2 military hospital form email ********************************* to reach out to ECFMG re an alternative option to verify a postgraduate letter from my current employer, there has been no response. The MCC has sent at least 3 follow up queries. I am unable to contact ECFMG myself as they don’t deal directly with individuals. I have tried to call but no help was received. Can you please assist or give me someone in managements details to liaise with. On numerous occasions we have asked for an alternative to using the South African postal system to send documents back to South Africa for source verification. This service has been liquidated recently and does not work. No one in this country will receive any mail sent this way. For courier , one has to be a registered business to set up an account. I feel that this lack of response is discriminatory to people who live in a 3 rd world country. There is no one that’s willing to assist with this process. I’m not even asking for a source verification but just the start of the process to verify a document. This process has started over a month ago and not resolved. This lack of response and using systems which don’t work needs to be updated. This has caused me to miss my registration date for my exams and as a result a more than 6 month wait for the next exam. Can someone please assist with a response. Dr * **** 

  Business Response

  Date: 06/07/2023

  I write in response to Complaint ID *******.

   

  I am pleased to inform you that this issue has been resolved. We have received the necessary verifications for ******************************************* records, and we have been in contact with **** regarding this matter, and he has been satisfied with the outcome.

   

  Please do not hesitate to contact me directly if you have any questions or concerns about complaint ********. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/04/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am an International Medical Graduate trying to get a scheduling g permit to take the USMLE step 1 and 2 exams in preparation for the Match 2024. I was told that The Medical school I graduated from in 2019 would have to update my status. My status was verified two years ago already(received an email stating so). I put in my letter explaining why I had did not take the exam at that time(due to unforeseen health circumstances). I have written a letter to their credentialing to be exempt from this status verification and to be given a scheduling permit to take the exams. I continue to attempt to check my status, and every time I get placed on hold and the representative returns and is unable to update me on my status nor an update on scheduling the exam. I have spoken with a supervisor twice and I get the same response. The second time, I spoke with a supervisor , I was told she would contact their credentialing department and let me know by phone or email. To this day, I have not heard anything. I feel as though my status with ECFMG has taken a back seat and falls on deaf ears every time I call or email. No one seems to be responding. I am looking to be exempt from the verification/status update from graduating medical school and to receive the scheduling permit/authorization to schedule both exams. Thank you kindly to Better Business Bureau with your assistance in this matter. Regards, Concerned International Medical Graduate

  Business Response

  Date: 06/07/2023

  This is to inform you that the issue has been resolved. We have contacted Dr. ******* with an update regarding her ECFMG® records.

   

  Please do not hesitate to contact me directly should you have any questions or concerns pertaining to complaint ********. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/24/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Hi, hope you're well. I'm reaching out as the Dean of *** *** ******** Medical and Dental College, Kasur, Pakistan, ****** ID *******, with reference to our accreditation with ECFMG. We have sent our paperwork for registration last year which was received by ECFMG on June 24, 2022, but we never heard back from ECFMG. Now, we are just waiting for sponsor notes to be added to world directory of medical schools so that our students can get ECFMG certification and write USMLE exams but there is no proper response from ECFMG. We have emailed on [email protected] and [email protected] but no response. We just want to get this issue sorted out. Our governing Body, ******** Medical and Dental Council (*MDC), already answered your inquiry about our medical school but again the registration is pending. All we ask is to register our medical school and add the sponsor notes as current. If there is any issue on our part, let us know so that we can resolve it as soon as possible. We are writing to BBB to mediate this issue as we are not getting a response from ECFMG. An urgent response to this matter would be appreciated. Best Regards, Prof. Dr. ****** ***** ******* Dean | *** *** ******** Medical and Dental College ****** ID *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/08/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I was dismissed from my residency program in a retaliatory fashion, 6 months prior to graduation. I attempted to report concerns to the ECFMG, however they were completely uninterested in hearing my case and/or investigating in my interest. Furthermore, prior to the appeals process, when I spoke to representatives from the ECFMG, they never informed me that such a decision would prevent me from further J1 sponsorship. They further did not respond to inquiries regarding my institution's TPL, or any supporting information. Had they been transparent regarding their decision making, and/or provided any written guidance regarding their decision to provide further J1 sponsorship, I would have employed an attorney as part of the appeals process to advocate on my behalf. Due to complete lack of regard for my circumstances, details of my case and the retaliation that was the basis for the dismissal, they are now depriving me of the opportunity to continue on to any other program, as I would require J1 Visa  sponsorship to do so. ECFMG's behavior in this regard has been incredibly exploitative of foreign medical graduates such as myself, who suffered extensively and provided valuable service to this country during the COVID19 pandemic. Being denied the opportunity for further training, after 3.5 years of service is not only devastating, but completely arbitrary and discriminatory in nature.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/08/2023

  March 7, 2023 

  
  Dear *** *******, 
  

   

  Thank you for your letter of February 8, 2023, which I received on February 27, 2023. The physician in question  was sponsored by ECFMG for a J-1 visa in order to participate in an accredited program of graduate medical  education. Physicians sponsored by ECFMG for a J-1 visa are required to adhere to ECFMG policies in alignment  with the federal regulations governing the J-1 visa program. When applying for J-1 sponsorship, the physician  attests to the following:  
  I understand that the decision as to whether I qualify for J-1 sponsorship rests solely and exclusively with ECFMG  and that ECFMG's decision-making authority is ongoing. Further, I understand that ECFMG reserves the right to  deny the application or reapplication for J-1 visa sponsorship of any prospective, current or returning applicant  for any reason, including but not limited to: … the applicant has previously resigned or been dismissed from a  program of graduate medical education (GME) due to legal issues; the applicant has a deficit in one of the  ACGME-identified core competencies (e.g., patient care and procedural skills, medical knowledge, practice-based  learning and improvement, professionalism, interpersonal and communication skills, etc.); or there is a  significant incident or allegation concerning the applicant. Denial decisions are within ECFMG’s sole discretion. 

   

  In addition, ECFMG relies on the framework of accreditation established by the Accreditation Council for  Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and its associated policies and procedures. These are designed to ensure  that trainees are afforded due process. As stated on our website, disciplinary actions by a host institution/training program are expected to follow ACGME requirements for Sponsoring Institutions. ECFMG  defers discretion for disciplinary actions related to the training program and/or trainee performance to the host  institution. ECFMG does not intervene in institutional contractual issues.  

  
  The physician was dismissed by a training program following a series of documented deficiencies. The physician  was given the opportunity to appeal; the dismissal was upheld upon appeal. As stated in the attestation above,  ECFMG reserves the right at its sole discretion to deny future sponsorship when deficiencies are documented. 

  
  Thank you for reaching out to ECFMG on behalf of this individual and providing an opportunity to respond. 

   

  Sincerely, 
  
  Christine *. S******, MBA, MSL 
  Director, Regulatory Services 
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/08/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  

  Per § 62.11 Duties of Responsible Officers and Alternate Responsible Officers.

   

  ECFMG and its responsible officer were required to Monitor that the exchange visitor obtains sufficient advice and assistance to facilitate the successful completion of his or her exchange visitor program;, they failed this obligation, prior to the emergence of any disciplinary issues.

   

  Furthermore, when I expressed to them fears that my employer was violating Federal FMLA regulations, they had no interest in investigating.

   

  EFMG, as a private business obtains fees, ensuring that it will provide the services that support its sponsees. However, it provides no such services, and despite being aware of the lack of awareness that foreign graduates would have regarding US Employment Laws, makes no efforts to investigate such violations.

  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************