Hi, I am Dr. Rumana Matadar from India. I have recently given my PLAB 2 exam and awaiting results; once I get my results, I will be overwhelmed to look for jobs in the UK. I am going to share my experience about EPIC verification and the steps in detail.
What are ECFMG and EPIC verification?
ECFMG stands for Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, a non-profit organization based in the USA. It works to evaluate the qualifications of International Medical Graduates (IMGs). On the other hand, EPIC is a service provided by ECFMG to verify your source of primary medical qualification. It stands for the electronic portfolio of international credentials. Once done, the validity of your credential verification lasts for a lifetime.
When is this required?
Once you have passed PLAB 2, and when you would apply for permanent registration with GMC, at that time, GMC would ask for EPIC verification of your primary medical qualification (PMQ). It is usually advised to start the process between PLAB 1 and PLAB 2.
Total Cost (New Updated cost)
$130 + $100 +/- $30
These would be paid at the time of creating the account, uploading your credentials, and opting for courier services, respectively. Opting for courier services is optional.
Requirements
1. Valid and unexpired passport
2. Passport size photo
3. All information about your Medical School
4. Your degree/final diploma certificate.
Steps:
First Section:
1. Go to www.ecfmgepic.org 2. Click on the 'For Physician' tab. 3. Select 'getting started'. 4. Read all the instructions carefully, and then click on complete a request to establish an account. 5. Then click on 'Establish an EPIC account' tab. 6. Now you have to fill in all the details in the Biographic, Medical School, Medical Registration/Licensure, and Passport/Photo tabs. 7. Here are some tips to fill in the information: • Select your medical school's name from the drop-down box, and try to search for it. • Do not forget to select GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL as the authority you are applying for. • Your scanned copies should be in JPEG format and a maximum of 2MB in size. 8. Now in the Summary tab, you can review all the information you have entered and correct any errors. 9. Payment Tab: you will be asked to pay $130, which should be made using an international enabled debit/credit card. 10. You will get an email from ECFMG saying that payment has been received and will ask you to wait 3 working days to establish your account. 11. After 3 days, you will receive an email with a 'temporary username' and another email with a 'temporary password'. You will also receive an email with your EPIC identification number. 12. Using it log into your account, change your username and password, and set 5 security questions. 13. Once you are into your account, go to the 'My identity document tab' and fill in the 'EIF form'. 14. As you fill it out, you will receive an email to get it verified by the 'Notary Cam' link, which will be sent in the same email. You can opt to get it verified immediately (you would have to wait for one of the agents to be free), or you can schedule your verification video call.
15. On the call, they will ask you some questions to verify your identity. They will ask you to make a pledge, and give you 4-5 digital signature options, and you would have to choose one. It should be 5 mins video call.
16. ECFMG will receive your EIF form from Notary Cam within minutes and congratulate you on completing the initial steps.
Second Section:
1. Now in 'my credentials' tab, you can upload your Final Medical Diploma/ Degree certificate in JPEG/PDF format. 2. The cost for this would be $100. 3. Here choose the authority to send the document as GMC and give your GMC number. 4. You can choose courier services to send your documents to your medical college via normal courier (without any tracking) or FedEx/DHL (with tracking) at an extra cost of $30. 5. Now ECFMG will review your credential in 2-3 weeks and send it to your medical school/college. 6. Contact your medical school/college and let them know that you are applying for ECFMG verification, they might need some documents from you, and some institutes have some charges to verify it. 7. Once your school verifies it and sends it back to ECFMG, you will receive an email from ECFMG saying the process is completed, and they will send a report to GMC. 8. CONGRATULATIONS! Your ECFMG process is done.
Total duration
From 2 weeks to 3 months
Support and help
Check out trewlink.com, they have multiple resources to help you. If you have any questions about building your portfolio, I would happily answer them at trewlink.com. You can register using this link https://trewlink.com?referrer=r.m895836. Find me as an Ambassador and Follow my profile, Rumana Matadar, to receive regular support and advice.