Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates
Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates
ECFMG, a division of Intealth, partners with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) to primary-source verify medical credentials of internationally educated physicians who are applying for registration to practice medicine in South Africa. If you are applying for registration with the HPCSA and you obtained your basic medical qualification in a country other than South Africa, you must have certain required medical credentials verified through EPIC.
To have your credentials verified through EPIC, complete the following steps:
To be eligible for registration with the Council, your medical school should be listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools, available at www.wdoms.org .
For information on establishing a MyIntealth Applicant Portal account, see the Online Services Overview. Establishing your MyIntealth account will include confirming your identity with ECFMG, a division of Intealth. Once your MyIntealth account is fully established, which means you have a valid Intealth Identification Form (IIF) on file and have been issued a MyIntealth ID, you can submit a request to establish an EPIC Portfolio.
To request an EPIC Portfolio, log in to MyIntealth, select “Services” in the main navigation, and then select “EPIC” from the drop-down menu. In the EPIC section, click the “Credential Verification” tab. Then, click the “Establish EPIC Portfolio” button to begin your request. Select the Health Professions Council of South Africa as the organization to which you are applying.
Log in to your MyIntealth account and upload the required credentials for primary-source verification. See Credentials Required by the HPCSA below to determine which credentials you need to upload. As you upload each credential, be sure to select the Health Professions Council of South Africa to receive an EPIC Report once the credential is verified. Because the HPCSA has requested to be notified when their applicants' credentials have been sent for verification through EPIC, a notification will be provided to the HPCSA when your credential is sent for verification. This notification will include a copy of the credential that you have submitted for verification.
Please note: It is very important that you select the HPCSA to receive an EPIC Report for each required qualification, as you upload it. If you do, the HPCSA will be notified when your credential is sent for verification and an EPIC Report on that credential will be automatically sent to the HPCSA when the credential is verified. If you do not select the HPCSA 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 HPCSA once your credential is verified.
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. Simply log in to your MyIntealth account, select “Services” in the main navigation, and then select “EPIC” from the drop-down menu. In the EPIC section, click the “Credential Verification” tab. Then, click the “Establish EPIC Portfolio” button to begin your request. Once you submit your request to establish an EPIC Portfolio, ECFMG will review your Intealth record, typically within 10 business days, for credentials that have been previously primary-source verified; and if your file is acceptable, ECFMG will add your previously verified credentials to your EPIC Portfolio.
If you selected the HPCSA to receive an EPIC Report when a credential was uploaded, that report will be sent to the HPCSA automatically when the credential is verified.
If you did not select the HPCSA to receive an EPIC Report at the time you uploaded a credential, you will need to log in to your MyIntealth account and request an EPIC Report for the HPCSA. Be sure to select Health Professions Council of South Africa from the “Report Recipient” search results when sending your report.
Once reports on all of your required credentials have been sent to the HPCSA, you can submit your application to the HPCSA. You should not submit your application to the HPCSA until all of your required credentials have been verified and EPIC verification reports on those credentials have been sent to the HPCSA. The HPCSA will not consider your application until all required credentials have been verified and all EPIC Reports on your verified credentials have been sent to the HPCSA.
For more information on applying to the HPCSA for registration to practice medicine in South Africa, please visit the Registrations section of the HPCSA website or contact the HPCSA .
Credentials required in support of your application to the HPCSA depend on whether you are applying for registration as a General Practitioner or a Specialist, as outlined below:
For more information on the credentials verified through EPIC, see Using EPIC.
For a full accounting of EPIC Fees and Payment methods, please visit the EPIC Fees page.
If you have any questions regarding EPIC and the EPIC verification process, please contact us.
If you have questions regarding the HPCSA’s application processes, please contact the HPCSA .
Back to top
Please also read the general Frequently Asked Questions for Physicians.
1. I am applying to the HPCSA for registration; do I need to use EPIC?
Medical graduates applying for registration to the HPCSA who obtained their basic medical qualification outside of South Africa will need to establish an EPIC Portfolio in MyIntealth and have their credentials (qualifications) primary-source verified through EPIC.
2. I already submitted an application to ECFMG’s International Credentials Service (EICS) in support of my application to the HPCSA; do I need to have my credentials (qualifications) primary-source verified through EPIC?
If you have credentials that need to be verified and reported to HPCSA, you will need to use EPIC.
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. Simply log in to your MyIntealth account, select “Services” in the main navigation, and then select “EPIC” from the drop-down menu. In the EPIC section, click the “Credential Verification” tab. Then, click the “Establish EPIC Portfolio” button to begin your request. Once you submit your request to establish an EPIC Portfolio, ECFMG will review your Intealth record, typically within 10 business days, for credentials that have been previously primary-source verified; and if your file is acceptable, ECFMG will add your previously verified credentials to your EPIC Portfolio.
3. Which credentials (qualifications) do I need to submit to HPCSA through EPIC?
Credentials required in support of your application to the HPCSA depend on whether you are applying for registration as a General Practitioner or a Specialist, as outlined below:
If you have questions regarding the credentials you are required to submit, please contact the HPCSA .
4. How far in advance of applying for registration to the HPCSA do I need to upload my credentials (qualifications) to EPIC?
We recommend that you start the EPIC verification process as soon as possible after you have decided to apply to the HPCSA. 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. You should not apply to HPCSA until all of your required credentials have been verified through EPIC.
1. Will I have access to my medical credentials (qualifications) after I apply to the HPCSA?
Yes. The credentials that you upload to EPIC through MyIntealth 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 HPCSA have access to my EPIC Portfolio?
No. The HPCSA will not have direct access to your EPIC Portfolio. The HPCSA will have access only to the credentials (qualifications), notifications, and verification reports that you make available to them through the EPIC service.
3. I need to have my Intern Duty Certificate verified through EPIC, but there seems to be no category for this credential. Which category should I select?
Intern Duty Certificates, Certificates of Experience, Attestations of Postgraduate Training, and equivalent documents should be uploaded to EPIC as Postgraduate Training Credentials.
4. I requested that an EPIC Report be sent to the HPCSA. How do I know that the HPCSA received this report?
When a report is sent to the HPCSA, the HPCSA will have access to the report and a copy of your credential through the MyIntealth Entity Portal. To confirm that the HPCSA has received a report for your credential, you must contact the HPCSA . After a report is sent to the HPCSA, please allow the HPCSA two business days to access your EPIC Report.
5. Can I select the HPCSA 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 HPCSA for that credential. You should request an EPIC Report for the HPCSA for each credential required by the HPCSA.
6. Do I need to use EPIC when applying to the HPCSA if my credentials (qualifications) have already been verified by ECFMG for a purpose other than applying to the HPCSA?
If you are applying to the HPCSA on or after August 1, 2016, and your credentials have already been primary-source verified by ECFMG for ECFMG Certification or through ECFMG’s International Credentials Services (EICS), you will still need to establish an EPIC Portfolio in MyIntealth and provide your credentials and verification reports to the HPCSA. However, you will not need to upload the credentials that were previously verified by ECFMG; they will be added to your EPIC Portfolio. Simply log in to your MyIntealth account, select “Services” in the main navigation, and then select “EPIC” from the drop-down menu. In the EPIC section, click the “Credential Verification” tab. Then, click the “Establish EPIC Portfolio” button to begin your request. Once you submit your request for an EPIC Portfolio, ECFMG will review your Intealth record, typically within 10 business days, for credentials that have been previously primary-source verified; and if your file is acceptable, ECFMG will add your previously verified credentials to your EPIC Portfolio.
7. If I have questions or problems regarding EPIC, should I contact ECFMG or the HPCSA?
If you have questions regarding EPIC’s services—such as establishing an EPIC Portfolio, uploading your credentials (qualifications), managing your portfolio, the verification process, sending verification reports, or fees—please contact us.
If you have questions regarding applying to the HPCSA—such as necessary documentation, required qualifications, or registration categories—please contact the HPCSA .
Back to top
[Last update: August 18, 2025]
