Dear Shah Zaidi
Via Whatdotheyknow.com
Your information request - IR1-3667475773
We’ve considered your request about New Vision University under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I should explain that under the FOIA you can request recorded information held by an organisation; this will not necessarily provide sufficient information or clarification for you to make a personal decision.
The Directory of Medical Schools has no association with the GMC and, as I understand it, makes no claim that the universities listed will offer qualifications acceptable to the GMC. The GMC does not accredit overseas medical degrees.
Primary Medical Qualifications (PMQs) from New Vision University are on our 'may accept’ list. The GMC identified a concern that a student could potentially graduate after completing a number of hours that falls below the minimum number of hours specified in our acceptable overseas qualification criteria. When an institution is on this list it means that we will carry out an individual assessment of each applicant who has qualified from that institution against our current criteria at the time of application. The criteria, and inclusion in the ‘may accept’ list could change from time to time.
Applications in the last 5 years, up to 20 September 2022
2017 – 2020: none
2021: one application received
2022 : two applications received
Of these applications, none were accepted. The reasons were administrative and we did not proceed to an assessment of the applicants’ qualifications.
If you wish to check up to date statistics in the future, you can find it via the Data Explorer tool on our website, filtering registration data by PMQ.
I hope this is helpful. If you have any concerns about the way I’ve handled this FOI request, please write to [GMC request email]. For queries about registration please email [email address].
Kind regards
Christine Abdy
Information Access Officer
General Medical Council
-----Original Message-----
From: Shah Zaidi <[FOI #891688 email]>
Sent: 26 August 2022 19:41
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)
Dear General Medical Council,
I hope you are well.
I would like to request details under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Background;
It is to my understanding that medical universities listed on the world directory of medical schools (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.wdoms.org/__;!!IeEvfY6EA4c!wm0h8Y_wdpav5AjmGPZnOra-XP1nbyThAQV4JGKTP2wRcwzcNFbHnyCyT1TEVUW2Kfkzdtylv49rcV2oFp0MmBtJ5GBjXQAS$ ) are accredited by the GMC. Meaning students studying at these universities meet the registration requirements to register with GMC.
New vision university in Georgia is on this world directory of medical schools, so one would assume that the medical course meets the requirements to register with gmc. However, this university is also on the 'May accept' list published by the gmc (https://www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/join-the-register/before-you-apply/acceptable-overseas-qualifications/overseas-medical-qualifications-we-may-accept).
Questions regarding new vision university;
1 Please can you clarify why this university is placed on both the world dictionary of medical schools and on the May accept list?
2 Please can you clarify if the medical course provided by this university is fully GMC accredited?
3 In regards to this university, can you please provide some statistics, separately for each year, from the last five years, as to how many candidates had applied for GMC registration, how many had been approved for GMC registration?, how many had been denied GMC registration? And how many of those denied were because of qualifications?.
4 If the GMC has had any direct concerns with this university either now or in the past?
5 How often this university has been reviewed by the GMC? I would like apologise ahead of time for the long email and many questions, however I think it's best to better understand the risks associated with studying at this university before deciding to apply.
May I take this time to thank you in anticipation of your assistance in this matter.
Kind regards,
Shah Zaidi
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