Seminar 22 April: Altruism or nationalism? Exploring global approaches to medical school regulation

The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) is the ‘gatekeeper’ for entry to the medical profession in the United States of America, certifying graduation in good standing from medical schools elsewhere in the world. In 2010, ECFMG announced that from 2023, overseas doctors will only be eligible for certification if they have graduated from a medical school that is accredited by a ‘recognised’ agency.

This policy empowered the World Federation of Medical Education (WFME) to create a recognition programme for regulatory agencies in 2012. This presentation summarises the findings of Ahmed's doctoral research project that used critical discourse analysis, drawing on the theoretical perspectives of Edward Said and Michel Foucault, to analyse the discourses that enabled this ‘globalising’ policy decision to be made. Ahmed will argue that two discursive strands, one altruistic and one nationalistic, have dominated, and explore the implications of this for the legitimacy of WFME as an organisation that represents all of the world’s medical schools.