All medical professionals applying for full or provisional registration with the GMC will need to have their primary medical qualification (PMQ) and post graduate qualification (PGQ) independently verified through the Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials (EPIC) verification. This only applies to you if you:
- Qualified with a medical school outside of the UK, European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland;
- Are an international medical graduate with a European medical qualification (not including any UK qualifications) AND you do not already hold provisional registration.
We recommend that you apply for EPIC verification of your primary medical qualification in advance as it is difficult to say how long the process will take. There are multiple factors for this, including just how long it might take your medical school to verify the qualification. If the GMC doesn’t have your EPIC verification within 90 days of you submitting your initial application, they will close the application.
The process to having your qualification(s) verified through EPIC
Step 1 – Make sure to follow the online GMC tool that’s available to identify which registration process you will need to follow and what qualification(s) you will need to have primary-source checked. This is detailed in our ‘Registering with the GMC’ resource.
With most applications, you will only be required to have your primary medical qualification verified. Your PMQ is your final medical diploma; this is issued to you by your medical school or university once you have completed all necessary stages to your course and have been awarded your medical degree.
If you are applying for Specialist Registration via the Acceptable Postgraduate Qualification or Postgraduate Medical Education route, then you will be required to submit both your PMQ and your postgraduate qualification for EPIC verification.
• If you completed a clinical medical training program after you obtained your medical degree and your qualification was issued by a medical school, university, or hospital, you will need to upload the document as a Postgraduate Medical Education Credential in EPIC.
• If you completed a specialty board certification, membership/fellowship of a specialist college or diplomate certificate, you will need to upload as a Specialist Qualification in EPIC.
Step 2 – Set up an online account with EPIC
To open an account, you will need to complete a request to establish an account. Submitting a request will require you to provide some basic personal details, information about your medical education, and any postgraduate education, as well as details of your current medical licenses. A list of what you will need to provide can be viewed below:
• A photograph of your face (must be in full-colour)
• A scanned copy of the photograph page of your passport (it must be in-date and in full-colour)
• Details about your medical education; including degree issue dates and medical school ID number (if applicable)
• Details about your current medical licenses (if applicable)
• Your ECFMG ID number (if you have one)
• Your ECGMG International Credentials Services (EICS) ID number (if you have one)
Full payment will be required upon your request to create your EPIC account. Fees can be viewed on the EPIC via the ECFMG website.
You will then be emailed with details on how you can log in to your account.
Step 3 – Log in to your EPIC account and upload the required qualification(s) for verification.
When you have uploaded a qualification, initially ECFMG will conduct a check. Once the qualification has been deemed acceptable, it will be sent to the issuing institution for verification.
Select the General Medical Council when uploading each document and by doing this it will automatically update the GMC once your qualification has been approved. If you don’t, it may cause further delays with your results.
You will also be able to log into your EPIC account to track the progress of your verification.
Step 4 – Create an application for registration with the GMC, if you haven’t already, and provide your EPIC ID to your advisor.
Your EPIC ID can be found in the emails you receive from ECFMG relating to your verification application. If you are having problems finding your EPIC ID, or would like to discuss any other issues, you can contact EPIC on info@ecfmgepic.org.