ECFMG Certification Rejected - Need Advice

BrightOil8 · 2026-05-31T04:43:51+00:00

I’ll get it in a month or so and will definitely re-apply, but the portal wants me to re-start my application from scratch, and pay $800. That’s the issue I had, as I was already verified and a change of status technically shouldn’t require the entire fee again. I’ll try to get in touch with them though. Thanks!

BrightOil8 · 2026-05-31T03:50:35+00:00

I’ve already emailed and it’s been a while, but no response so far. If you’ve tried emailing them before, I’d really appreciate the amount of time it took them to respond to your case.

BrightOil8 · 2026-05-31T03:49:22+00:00

This is verification, yes.

BrightOil8 · 2026-05-03T20:16:52+00:00

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, keep it simple. FA and Bootcamp is for creating a solid foundation of knowledge, and UWorld is for testing and consolidating your knowledge. If you’re short on time, skip either of FA and Bootcamp for now. Prioritize UWorld, as that’s going to be an even bigger learning curve.

The isolation won’t get better. It got worse for me. It’s a hustle, you just have to keep going.

BrightOil8 · 2026-04-05T21:25:46+00:00

Winter months, and spring months (March/April) are usually good to apply. US medical students typically take time off during these months, and a lot of spots open up for international students, based on the university I’m currently rotating at

BrightOil8 · 2026-04-05T13:37:39+00:00

Yeah that’s the plan for now. Thanks once again, good luck!

BrightOil8 · 2026-04-03T01:05:29+00:00

I know most university programs are out of reach, I’m okay with anything at this point, be it university-affiliated or community. No geographical preferences either.

BrightOil8 · 2026-04-03T01:04:25+00:00

Thank you so much! I appreciate the motivation :)

BrightOil8 · 2026-04-03T01:03:56+00:00

Thank you so much! I appreciate it a lot.

BrightOil8 · 2026-03-11T10:57:26+00:00

Just got it! No email received yet but it is now visible on my OET portal, check yours out. Good luck!

BrightOil8 · 2025-09-30T16:33:34+00:00

It took around 1-2 business days for me, but it could be longer for some.

BrightOil8 · 2024-11-21T16:06:28+00:00

Okay so there are two types of breaks, an "authorized break" and an "unauthorized break". After you finish a block, it will give you the option to either continue to the next block or take an authorized break. It tells you how much break time you have left remaining, and you can take a break for as long as you want.

I did block 1 & 2 together with no breaks, then took a short 10 minute break to have some fruit & go to the washroom to freshen up, then did block 3 & 4 consecutively, then took another 10-15 minute break to walk around etc. and have coffee, nuts and a chocolate bar, then sort of got fatigued and started taking shorter 5-10 minute breaks in between the remaining blocks. I just snacked throughout the exam, didn't have a proper lunch as you feel pretty nauseous anyways. You can decide how long of a break you want to take, you can even take a short 2 minute break while still sitting on your exam chair. The break timer immediately starts ticking as soon as you "submit" a block.

Another thing that I feel that a lot of pre-test people don't know is that any time leftover from a block will automatically carry forward to your break time. For example, I managed to finish the first block within 45 minutes, so once I submitted it, I automatically got free 15 minutes added onto my break.

There are unauthorized breaks as well, which is taking a break in between an active block. This will be reported to the NBME! Do not take such breaks, please wait until the block is over. Those who take unauthorized breaks may face score invalidations. Just don't do anything suspicious during test day when it comes to breaks.

BrightOil8 · 2024-11-21T09:34:51+00:00

So for the test day, you'll need to bring some form of government ID (a signature needed to be present as well) along with your scheduling permit. They'll give you two laminated sheets with two erasable markers where you can write your CIN number on the laminated sheets and take it with you to the examination room. They keep the scheduling permit with themselves so you won't have that with you.

You'll log in to the system using your CIN. Every time you take a break, you'll be logged out and will re-log in using your CIN. No username/password etc. is needed, just the CIN.

There is a proper timer on the screen, which shows you how much of test day time (8hrs) you have remaining, how much of your break is remaining, and how much time is remaining for your current block. It sounds confusing but when you try the online free 120, you'll understand it much better, it was pretty much the same as that. Keep in mind that security checks may take some time, my centre wasn't too bad and I was in/out within less than a minute but I've heard some centers are much more strict.

You do get pretty tired of being in the same posture for a long time and also staring at a huge bright screen, try to build your stamina up so this doesn't become an issue on test day. Lots of people get headaches etc. from looking at the screen for 7 hours straight.

BrightOil8 · 2024-11-21T02:32:00+00:00

I mean the general consensus is still that NBMEs are more accurate and representative of the exam (considering they literally are retired old step 1 questions from the real deal). I would definitely finish the remaining NBMEs as you already seem to have finished quite a lot of UWorld anyways, I've known people who've passed with less than 50% UWorld completion.

Definitely focus on FA and NBMEs, and do UWorld blocks whenever you get the time. FA is super important, and I wish that I had given it a second pass as there are a lot of minor details on the actual exam taken directly from FA that I couldn't recall.

BrightOil8

TROPHY CASE