He means the entity that recognizes training and board eligibility. For Surgery, its the American Board of Surgery (ABS), for IM its the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), etc.
isnt it the job of the acgme to recognize that pgy1?
No. While residency programs obviously have requirements from the ACGME that must be met, they also have requirements by the relevant board in regards to scope of training and training requirements. The ACGME is not in the business of telling specialties what they have to train residents in but rather oversee things like work conditions, Core Competencies, requirements for training facilities, faculty, etc.
For example, ABS specifies the number of weeks that must be spent in doing certain surgical areas (core defined specialties) and what training can be accepted. Only this year has the ABS decided that credit *may* be awarded to training obtained abroad and only after you are in a US training program (ie, you cannot start a PGY-2 surgical residency in the US having been given credit for an intern year done abroad. You must start as an intern and you may be given credit somewhere along the line, usually not for the entire year, and it may shorten your training).
The ACGME is not responsible for dictating what is considered Board Eligible. Programs will not accept someone into training who can never be Board Eligible (for certification) therefore it behooves you to know what the Board's stance is on the issue of training abroad.
do u mean the state boards? who should i ask about it?
Google the Board for the relevant specialty and see what their requirements are for training abroad, whether or not credit can be given.
Once you know you may get credit, then it is up to the individual program as to whether or not they offer it to you. Just because the Board says it is allowed does not mean that residency programs have to approve it.
I have been working as a physician for 3 years after the internship - do you think this will count?
No. "Real world" experience is not given credit for GME in the US. You may or may not be given training credit for the intern year (do not expect to get a full year of credit) but as I and aProgDirector noted above, its first up to the relevant specialty board and then to the individual program. I would advise you to go into this expecting to get no credit and having to start from scratch.