- Who are ECFMG and what is EPIC?
- Which qualifications need to be verified?
- Before you begin EPIC verification
- How to verify your documents
- What happens once my qualification is verified?
- How long will the process take?
- Costs
Who are ECFMG and what is EPIC?
If you’re applying for a license to practise with the General Medical Council (GMC), then you will need to have your qualifications independently verified before your registration can be granted.
Verification is carried out by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), who will verify that your qualification is genuine by checking directly with the awarding institution. This is done via their online system, which is known as the EPIC service.
EPIC stands for: Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials.
Which qualifications need to be verified?
If you’re applying to register with the GMC using a postgraduate qualification (PGQ), then you will need to have both your primary medical qualification (PMQ) and post-graduate qualification verified.
If you’re applying to register with the GMC by taking the PLAB tests, then you will need to have your primary medical qualification verified.
Before you begin EPIC verification
You should check that the GMC accept your qualification(s) before starting the EPIC verification process.
You can find the criteria for acceptable primary medical qualifications here and the accepted post-graduate qualifications here.
If you hold a primary medical qualification, specialist or GP qualification awarded in the EEA or Switzerland, you can check whether the GMC accept it as a Relevant European qualification here.
Note that if your qualifications don’t meet the GMC criteria, they won’t be able to grant your registration with a licence to practise (even if they have been verified by ECFMG).
How to verify your documents
To start the verification process, you’ll need to create an EPIC account and provide basic biographic information, details about your medical education and licensure history, a recent photo and a scanned image of the photograph page of your passport.
Once your identity has been confirmed, you can then upload electronic copies of your qualifications to EPIC for verification.
Once uploaded, the ECFMG will verify that your qualification is genuine by communicating directly with the awarding institution – You will receive an email from the ECFMG when they send your qualification for verification.
What happens once my qualification is verified?
The ECFMG will email you when your qualification has been verified. If you have confirmed that they can share this information with the GMC, then they’ll automatically send them the report as well.
How long will the process take?
How long the process takes depends on:
- the time it takes for your awarding institution to respond to ECFMG (most schools respond within 90 days)
- whether your awarding institution accepts these requests electronically (sending requests by post or courier take longer).
You can monitor the status of your verification via your EPIC account.
Costs
You can find out the full costs for EPIC services here.
Note that fees are charged in USD.
