Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates
Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates
The American Medical Association (AMA) works with ECFMG to primary-source verify medical credentials of physicians who are applying to the AMA for International Physician Membership. All applicants to the AMA for International Physician Membership who are not ECFMG-certified physicians who reside in and are licensed in the United States must have certain credentials verified through EPIC.
ECFMG-certified physicians who reside in and are licensed in the United States may apply directly through the AMA website (AMA Membership Join or Renew ) without having credentials verified through EPIC. If you are currently in the process of attempting to meet these criteria, we suggest that you contact the AMA to confirm your eligibility with the AMA’s International Membership Division. All other physicians applying for International Physician Membership or applying to renew International Physician Membership will need to have certain credentials verified through EPIC.
To have your credentials verified through EPIC in support of an initial application for International Physician Membership in the AMA, complete the following steps:
To be eligible for the AMA International Physician Membership, your medical school must be listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools, available at www.wdoms.org .
See Getting Started with EPIC for complete instructions. Once ECFMG has processed your request and established your EPIC Account, ECFMG will e-mail you login information so you can access your EPIC Account.
See Confirming Your Identity with EPIC for detailed information. Confirming your identity with EPIC requires you to submit an EPIC Identification Form (EIF). Once this form has been accepted by ECFMG, you will be able to upload credentials required by the AMA to EPIC for primary-source verification.
Log in to your EPIC Account and upload the required credentials for primary-source verification. Credentials required by the AMA are:
Instructions for Submitting a CGS
There are two options for providing your CGS to EPIC for verification.
Under Option 1, the CGS must be sent to ECFMG directly by the appropriate authority and demonstrate that you are licensed and in good standing. If this requirement is not met, you will need to request a new CGS. Once we receive confirmation of your good standing, we will use this confirmation to complete your verification request and report on your good standing to the American Medical Association.
To submit payment to Straker Translations so that EPIC may obtain a translation of your CGS, you must follow these steps:
After you upload the CGS, ECFMG will primary-source verify it with the issuing authority to complete your verification request and send a report on your good standing to the AMA.
If the medical regulatory authority will not send confirmation of good standing directly to ECFMG or to you, or if there is no medical regulatory authority in your country, please contact us at info@ecfmgepic.org for assistance. Please include “AMA CGS” and your EPIC ID in the e-mail’s subject line.
For more information on the credentials verified through EPIC, see Using EPIC.
As you upload each credential, be sure to select the American Medical Association to receive an EPIC Report once the credential is verified. Because the AMA has requested to be notified when their applicants' credentials have been sent for verification through EPIC, a notification will be provided to the AMA when your credential is sent for verification. This notification will include a copy of the credential that you have submitted for verification. For more information on notifications, see the About EPIC Notifications section of the FAQs for Physicians page. If you do not select the American Medical Association to receive an EPIC Report on a credential at the time you upload it, you will be required to send an EPIC Report to the AMA once your credential is verified.
Note: If your credentials have already been primary-source verified by ECFMG for ECFMG Certification or through ECFMG’s International Credentials Services (EICS), you do not need to upload the credentials that were previously verified by ECFMG. These credentials will be added to your EPIC Portfolio at no cost. Simply provide your ECFMG/United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) ID and/or EICS ID when you establish your EPIC Account. ECFMG will review your file typically within 10 business days; if your file is acceptable, ECFMG will add your previously verified credentials to your EPIC Portfolio.
If you selected the American Medical Association to receive an EPIC Report when a credential was uploaded, that report will be sent to the AMA automatically when the credential is verified.
If you did not select the American Medical Association to receive an EPIC Report at the time you uploaded a credential, you must go to the “My Reports” tab in your EPIC Account and request an EPIC Report for the AMA. Be sure to select the American Medical Association from the drop-down list when sending your report.
Once your required credentials have been verified and reported to the AMA, contact the AMA at member.feedback@ama-assn.org to obtain a copy of the International Physician Membership Application.
If you have questions regarding the AMA’s application processes, please contact the AMA at member.feedback@ama-assn.org.
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To have your credentials verified through EPIC in support of an application to renew your International Physician membership with the AMA, complete the following steps:
Log in to your EPIC Account and upload a new certificate/letter of good standing (CGS) that confirms you hold a current, valid license/registration in good standing from your country of graduation or practice location.
Instructions for Submitting a CGS
Confirmation of good standing must be issued by the appropriate authority and demonstrate that you are currently licensed and in good standing. It must have been issued within six months of the date you apply to the AMA.
There are two options for providing your CGS to EPIC for verification.
Under Option 1, the CGS must be sent to ECFMG directly by the appropriate authority and demonstrate that you are licensed and in good standing. If this requirement is not met, you will need to request a new CGS. Once we receive confirmation of your good standing, we will use this confirmation to complete your verification request and report on your good standing to the American Medical Association.
Note for a CGS issued to ECFMG in a language other than English: If your CGS is in a language other than English, and an acceptable English translation was not included with your CGS in the correspondence from the medical regulatory authority, EPIC will obtain an acceptable translation from Straker Translations. You are responsible for payment of the Straker translation fee.
To submit payment to Straker Translations so that EPIC may obtain a translation of your CGS, you must follow these steps:
After you upload the CGS, ECFMG will primary-source verify it with the issuing authority to complete your verification request and send a report on your good standing to the AMA.
If the medical regulatory authority will not send confirmation of good standing directly to ECFMG or to you, or if there is no medical regulatory authority in your country, please contact us at info@ecfmgepic.org for assistance. Please include “AMA CGS” and your EPIC ID in the e-mail’s subject line.
For more information on the credentials verified through EPIC, see Using EPIC.
As you upload each credential, be sure to select the American Medical Association to receive an EPIC Report once the credential is verified. Because the AMA has requested to be notified when their applicants' credentials have been sent for verification through EPIC, a notification will be provided to the AMA when your credential is sent for verification. This notification will include a copy of the credential that you have submitted for verification. For more information on notifications, see the About EPIC Notifications section of the FAQs for Physicians page. If you do not select the American Medical Association to receive an EPIC Report on a credential at the time you upload it, you will be required to send an EPIC Report to the AMA once your credential is verified.
Note: If your credentials have already been primary-source verified by ECFMG for ECFMG Certification or through ECFMG’s International Credentials Services (EICS), you do not need to upload the credentials that were previously verified by ECFMG. These credentials will be added to your EPIC Portfolio at no cost. Simply provide your ECFMG/United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) ID and/or EICS ID when you establish your EPIC Account. ECFMG will review your file typically within 10 business days; if your file is acceptable, ECFMG will add your previously verified credentials to your EPIC Portfolio.
If you selected the American Medical Association to receive an EPIC Report when a credential was uploaded, that report will be sent to the AMA automatically when the credential is verified.
If you did not select the American Medical Association to receive an EPIC Report at the time you uploaded a credential, you must go to the “My Reports” tab in your EPIC Account and request an EPIC Report for the AMA. Be sure to select the American Medical Association from the drop-down list when sending your report.
Once your new certificate/letter of good standing has been verified and reported to the AMA, contact the AMA at member.feedback@ama-assn.org to obtain a copy of the International Physician Membership Application.
If you have any questions regarding EPIC and the EPIC verification process, please contact EPIC at info@ecfmgepic.org or +1 (215) 966-3900. Telephone assistance is available Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time in the United States.
For more information on applying to the AMA for International Physician Membership, please contact the AMA at member.feedback@ama-assn.org.
Please also read the general Frequently Asked Questions for Physicians.
1. I am applying to the AMA for International Physician Membership; do I need to use EPIC?
All applicants to the AMA for International Physician Membership who are not ECFMG-certified physicians who reside in and are licensed in the United States must have certain credentials verified through EPIC.
ECFMG-certified physicians who reside in and are licensed in the United States may apply directly through the AMA website (AMA Membership Join or Renew ) without having credentials verified through EPIC. If you are currently in the process of attempting to meet these criteria, we suggest that you contact the AMA to confirm your eligibility with the AMA’s International Membership Division. All other physicians applying for International Physician Membership or applying to renew International Physician Membership will need to have certain credentials verified through EPIC.
2. I am applying to renew my International Physician Membership with the AMA; do I need to use EPIC?
All applicants to the AMA for International Physician Membership who are not ECFMG-certified physicians who reside in and are licensed in the United States must have certain credentials verified through EPIC.
ECFMG-certified physicians who reside in and are licensed in the United States may apply directly through the AMA website (AMA Membership Join or Renew ) without having credentials verified through EPIC. If you are currently in the process of attempting to meet these criteria, we suggest that you contact the AMA to confirm your eligibility with the AMA’s International Membership Division. All other physicians applying for International Physician Membership or applying to renew International Physician Membership will need to have certain credentials verified through EPIC.
3. Which credentials do I need to submit to the AMA through EPIC?
The following credentials are required by the AMA in support of your application for International Physician Membership:
Instructions on how to submit your credentials can be found in the Initial Application or Renewal Application sections above.
If you have questions regarding the credentials you are required to submit, please contact the AMA at member.feedback@ama-assn.org.
4. How far in advance of applying for the AMA’s International Physician Membership do I need to upload my credentials to EPIC?
We recommend that you create an EPIC Account and upload your credentials to EPIC as soon as possible after you have decided to apply for the AMA’s International Physician Membership. Through EPIC, your credentials are verified directly with the issuing institution. The time required to complete the verification of credentials varies and depends on a number of factors, including the time it takes for the issuing institution to respond to our verification requests. However, please note that the documentation submitted to demonstrate that you are currently licensed/registered to practice medicine and in good standing must be current; it must have been issued within 6 months of the date you apply to the AMA. Therefore, it is important that you time your application appropriately.
1. Will I have access to my medical credentials after I apply to the AMA?
Yes. The credentials that you upload to EPIC remain available to you as part of your EPIC Portfolio. You can use EPIC to send copies of these credentials along with reports verifying their authenticity to organizations worldwide at any time throughout your career.
2. Will the AMA have access to my EPIC Portfolio?
No. The AMA will not have direct access to your EPIC Portfolio. The AMA will have access only to the credentials, notifications, and verification reports that you make available to them through EPIC.
3. I requested that EPIC Reports on my verified credentials be provided to the AMA. How do I know if the AMA received the verification reports and copies of my credentials?
Once your credentials have been verified and EPIC Reports have been sent to the AMA, the AMA will have access to the reports and copies of your credentials through the EPIC Report Portal. If you need to confirm whether the AMA has accessed your reports through the Report Portal, contact the AMA at member.feedback@ama-assn.org.
4. Can I select the American Medical Association to receive EPIC Reports only once, or should I do it for every credential individually?
An EPIC Report will only be sent for a credential if you indicate a report should be sent to the AMA for that credential. You should request a report for the AMA for each credential required by the AMA.
5. Do I need to use EPIC when applying to the AMA if my credentials have already been verified by ECFMG for a purpose other than applying to the AMA?
If your credentials have already been primary-source verified by ECFMG for ECFMG Certification or through ECFMG’s International Credentials Services (EICS), you will need to create an EPIC Account and use EPIC to provide your credentials and verification reports to the AMA. However, you will not need to upload the credentials that were previously verified by ECFMG; they will be added to your EPIC Account at no cost. Simply provide your ECFMG/USMLE ID and/or EICS ID when you establish your EPIC Account. ECFMG will review your file typically within 10 business days; if your file is acceptable, ECFMG will add your previously verified credentials to your EPIC Portfolio.
6. If I have questions or problems regarding EPIC, should I contact EPIC or the AMA?
If you have questions regarding EPIC’s services—such as creating an EPIC Account, uploading your credentials, managing your portfolio, the verification process, sending verification reports, or fees—please contact EPIC at info@ecfmgepic.org or +1 (215) 966-3900. Telephone assistance is available Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time in the United States.
If you have questions regarding applying to the AMA—such as necessary documentation, required credentials, or appropriate membership categories—please contact the AMA at member.feedback@ama-assn.org.
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[Last update: October 25, 2022]
