ECFMG Pathway 6 for the 2027 Match: the deadlines that matter
Applying through Pathway 6 for the March 2027 Match? Your application is due January 31, 2027, and all six Mini-CEX evaluations must reach ECFMG by February 15, 2027.
If you are an international medical graduate using Pathway 6 to meet ECFMG's clinical and communication skills requirements for the March 2027 Match, two dates set your whole timeline. Your 2027 Pathways application must be submitted by January 31, 2027 (US Eastern Time). All six completed Mini-CEX evaluations must be received by ECFMG by February 15, 2027. ECFMG cannot approve your application until every evaluation has been received and accepted.
Pathway 6 requires six real, in-person clinical encounters, each observed and scored by a licensed physician using ECFMG's Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX). Each physician can evaluate you on no more than two encounters, so you need at least three different physicians (and up to six).
The encounters must take place in a formal outpatient setting with a registered outpatient, in primary care or general practice (for example internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics or OB/GYN). Telemedicine, virtual, standardized-patient, emergency room, urgent care and inpatient encounters do not count.
Order matters. Each encounter has to happen after you submit your Pathway 6 application and after that physician accepts your request in ECFMG's online portal. An encounter that happens before the physician accepts cannot be entered, and submitting one may lead to a finding of irregular behavior.
Two 15-day clocks run for every request. A physician has 15 days to accept your request after you send it, and then 15 days after accepting to complete and submit the evaluation. If either window passes, the request is withdrawn automatically and you have to send a new request, and the physician has to observe a new encounter.
Physician evaluators must hold a full, unrestricted license where the encounter takes place, and must have held one for at least five years. They cannot be your relative, and they cannot be paid by you or by any third party to do the evaluation (beyond their normal salary from the clinic where the encounter happens). Each physician can evaluate up to 10 applicants in the 2027 season.
Our advice: work backward from February 15. Line up at least three eligible physicians now, submit your application well before January 31 so you have time for six encounters, and send each request only when the physician is ready to see you within the 15-day windows.
These details come from ECFMG's official 2027 Pathways pages, and ECFMG's rules can change. Always confirm the current requirements on ECFMG's website before you apply.