International Briefs

ECFMGChange in Provision of USMLE Service FunctionsThe co-sponsors of the United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®), the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), and NBME, are developing plans to centralize all USMLE service functions. As part of these plans, USMLE services currently provided to international medical students and graduates (IMGs) by ECFMG®, a division of Intealth™, will transition to the USMLE co-sponsors.This change will consolidate all USMLE examinee services, including exam registration, score report delivery, and USMLE customer service, with the USMLE co-sponsors. The goal of this change is to streamline the examinee journey and to create a more consistent and efficient examinee experience.The transition of USMLE services is expected to take place no earlier than mid-2025. Until then, ECFMG will continue to provide USMLE services to IMGs.Further information is available at https://www.usmle.org/change-provision-usmle-service-functionsIrelandWellbeing Support Service LaunchedThe Medical Council of Ireland has launched CAREhub, an independent, confidential service operated by Lyra Health International. The service provides wellbeing support to medical students, doctors, and members of the public who are engaging with the Medical Council's regulatory processes.CAREhub provides independent mental health support to doctors, medical students, and members of the public who are engaging with the Medical Council's regulatory processes. This service offers confidential, impartial, and empathetic guidance to those interacting with the Medical Council's regulatory processes, such as education, training, complaints, investigations, and fitness to practice procedures.Paul Byrne, Executive Director of Regulatory Operations and Support Services at the Medical Council welcomed the new initiative: “As a key strand of our new Liaison and Support Services framework, CAREhub strengthens the Medical Council's mission to support a healthcare system where the health and wellbeing of our key stakeholders—doctors, medical students, and the public—is of utmost importance. By embedding kindness and empathy into our regulatory processes, we hope to provide a more compassionate and effective regulatory environment.”Further information is available at https://www.medicalcouncil.ie/news-and-publications/press-releases/press-release/press-releases.htmlUnited KingdomEquality, Diversity, and Inclusion Report ReleasedThe General Medical Council (GMC) has released its annual update on work to tackle discrimination and inequality in medicine and progress against its commitment to eliminate discrimination, disadvantage and unfairness in medical education and training.This year's update, titled Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Targets: Progress and Priorities for 2024, shows promising signs of progress. The disparity in fitness to practice referrals in relation to a doctor's ethnicity or place of qualification has continued to reduce. Since the initial benchmark three years ago there has now been a reduction of 43%—from 5.6% down to 3.2%—in the proportion of employers where data suggests excess referrals of non-UK or ethnic minority doctors. Differences in overall rates of referrals between ethnic minority and white doctors, and between UK-qualified and non-UK qualified doctors, have also fallen over the same period, by 54% and 62% respectively.The GMC has committed to eliminating disproportionality in referrals by 2026 and forecasts now show that, in principle, key indicators can be reduced towards that target.The full report is available at: https://www.gmc-uk.org/-/media/documents/equality-diversity-and-inclusion---targets-progress-and-priorities-for-2024_pdf-108776261.pdf