By Health In Five Writer
Doctors and nurses applying for positions in the United States can now validate their English language proficiency with OET, the world’s only international English language test specifically for healthcare professionals. The test has been formally recognised by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates|Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (ECFMG® |FAIMER®), the Florida Board of Nursing and the Oregon State Board of Nursing.
ECFMG Certification evaluates whether international medical graduates (IMGs) are ready to enter residency or fellowship programs in the US that are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and to obtain a license to practise from a Medical Licensing Authority. ECFMG has identified pathways for meeting the clinical skills requirements for ECFMG Certification for IMGs seeking to enter accredited U.S. residencies or fellowships in 2021 as a result of the suspension of the Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) component of the United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®) due to Covid-19. These pathways include assessment of English proficiency by OET.
OET’s approval by Nursing regulators in the states of Florida and Oregon will be written into the respective states’ rules by the end of 2020; we will advise those interested in working in these states as soon as their OET results will be accepted.
The grades required of IMGs for ECFMG Certification are a minimum score of 350 (Grade B) on each of the four measured components of the OET (Medicine): Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. Nurses applying to Oregon must achieve a minimum of 4 Grade Bs (minimum score of 350) and those nurses applying for licensure in Florida must achieve a minimum of 4 Grade C+s (minimum score of 300). OET CEO Sujata Stead said she was delighted about the test’s acceptance in the US.
“IMGs and nurses world-wide who would like to enter the US health care system can now do so using an English proficiency test that is designed specifically for them. OET test tasks replicate real-life communication scenarios that they are likely to encounter in the healthcare workplace and are therefore far more relevant to their careers,” she said. “Moreover,” she added, “with OET now recognised in the US as well as nine other countries, including the UK and Australia, it truly is the healthcare professional’s passport to an international career.”
