Using EPIC is easy. With EPIC, you can:
Once you have established your EPIC Account and you have a valid EPIC Identification Form (EIF) on file, you can start building your portfolio of credentials.
If you are pursuing ECFMG Certification and applying for USMLE, you are not required to use EPIC. You will provide your medical education credentials to ECFMG for verification through the ECFMG Certification program.
You are welcome to use EPIC to build a portfolio of your medical credentials, if desired, at any time. Please contact us if you have any questions.
You can add medical credentials to EPIC by uploading them through the “My Credentials” tab of your EPIC Account. For more information on the credentials you can add to your EPIC Portfolio, including definitions and document specifications, see Medical Credentials below.
As we receive your credentials, they will be primary-source verified using ECFMG’s rigorous, multi-step process—a process that has been used to verify more than 1,000,000 medical credentials over the last three decades. You will be able to monitor the status of the verification of your credentials through the “My Credentials” tab.
Once we have received verification of a credential, you will be able to send EPIC Reports demonstrating the authenticity of that credential to organizations around the world. These reports will be delivered electronically using our secure EPIC Report Portal, so the organizations receiving the reports will have the confidence of knowing they are coming directly from ECFMG. For more information, see EPIC Reports below.
There are fees associated with the services you request through EPIC. For more information on fees and payment, see EPIC Fees.
As an EPIC Account holder, you are also responsible for reading and becoming familiar with the ECFMG Policies and Procedures Regarding Irregular Behavior.
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Currently, you can add the following types of credentials to your EPIC Portfolio. Unless otherwise indicated, you can add multiple documents for each type of credential.
EPIC can accept credentials in PDF, JPG, and TIF formats, with a maximum file size of 10MB. All pages of the credential must be combined into one file for upload.
When you upload the credential, you will be required to indicate the type of credential, as listed above. Please note that if the credential type you select is incorrect, ECFMG may correct this. If ECFMG changes the document type, this will be reflected in your EPIC Account and in the e-mail advising you that the credential has been sent for verification.
When you upload the credential, you will also be asked to indicate whether the credential is in English. If the credential is not in English, you must also upload an English translation that meets ECFMG’s translation requirements.
Any document you upload to EPIC that is not in English must be accompanied by an English translation that meets ECFMG’s translation requirements. ECFMG strongly encourages you to obtain translations from its recommended translation service, Straker Translations . Translations from this service meet ECFMG’s translation requirements and therefore will not be rejected for not meeting these requirements.
Please note that you are not required to use Straker Translations and ECFMG cannot guarantee that Straker will provide you with services. If you use a translation service other than Straker, it is your responsibility to ensure the translation meets ECFMG’s translation requirements.
Straker Translations provides convenient, efficient on-line translation service for any document, including medical credentials and other documents that you upload to EPIC.
Fees charged by Straker Translations vary depending on the number of pages in the document that you wish to have translated, and the source language.
To use Straker Translations to translate your document(s), you must go through the ECFMG landing page of the Straker Translations website at http://www.strakertranslations.com/ecfmg . You will need a PDF file of the document you would like to have translated. Please visit http://www.strakertranslations.com/ecfmg and complete the following steps:
Step 1 – Choose the source language of your document, and upload the PDF file.
Step 2 – Provide the required information.
Step 3 – You will receive an immediate on-screen price quote from Straker Translations followed by an e-mailed quote. Review the price quote. If you would like to proceed with the translation, continue to step 4.
Step 4 – Follow the instructions in the price quote e-mail and make your on-line payment to Straker Translations.
Step 5 – Review and confirm the translated document returned to you via e-mail from Straker Translations. Please note: this is a review copy only and should not be submitted to ECFMG as the final certified translation.
Step 6 – Upload the final PDF of your certified English translation document (certified translation includes the translator’s signature and seal) and the PDF of your original language document to EPIC.
English translations that you upload to EPIC must:
An English language certificate issued by the medical school or institution that is not a word-for-word English language version of the credential in the original language is not acceptable as a translation.
Translations can be uploaded to EPIC in PDF, JPG, and TIF formats, with a maximum file size of 10MB. All pages of the translation must be combined into one file for upload.
English translations that do not meet the requirements above will not be accepted. Examples of unacceptable translations include, but are not limited to:
Additionally, you are not permitted to translate your own documents.
It is important for ECFMG to ensure that the credentials uploaded for verification belong to the account holder. If the name on your credential does not match the name associated with your EPIC Account, you will be contacted to provide documentation to confirm that both names belong to one and the same person. For the purpose of verifying your name, examples of the document(s) you may submit include:
Examples of documentation that is not acceptable include:
ECFMG will also review, for the purposes of verifying your name, a letter from the medical education institution that issued your credential verifying that the names refer to one and the same person. If you choose to submit a letter from your issuing institution to verify the name on your credential, the letter you submit must be completed and signed by an official at the institution issuing your credential. The official must provide his/her name, official title, and the institution name. The official must compose the letter on institution letterhead with the appropriate seal. The letter also must include the following statement:
This certifies that the names [name on document] and [name in ECFMG record] belong to one and the same person.
Please note that if you do not have government-issued documentation, you must provide a letter as above from each institution that issued a credential to you with a name that does not match your EPIC Account. If you are able to secure letters from your issuing institutions to verify your names, you may send the letters to EPIC as PDF files once your documents have been uploaded.
If the name documentation is written in a language other than English, it must be accompanied by a certified, word-for-word translation that meets ECFMG requirements.
Please note that documentation acceptable to EPIC for the purpose of validating a difference in name may not necessarily be acceptable to the authority that receives an EPIC Report on the verified credential. Please contact the institutions to which you plan to send EPIC Reports for guidance on their name documentation policy.
If your credentials have been primary-source verified by ECFMG for ECFMG Certification or through ECFMG’s International Credentials Services (EICS), you may not need to upload these credentials through EPIC and pay the associated fee. Within 10 business days of establishing your EPIC Account, ECFMG will review your file, and if these verifications are acceptable, we will add the verified credentials to your EPIC Portfolio at no cost.
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EPIC Reports are an innovative way to demonstrate the authenticity of your credentials—with just a few clicks you will be able to request verification reports for any organization involved in evaluating your qualifications.
Physicians can use EPIC to request that their credentials, and reports verifying the authenticity of those credentials, be sent to any organization anywhere in the world. ECFMG works with medical regulatory authorities around the world in the verification of credentials for their applicants; see EPIC Partner Organizations for more information. In the United States, where medical licensure is granted by authorities (“state medical boards”) of the individual states and territories, ECFMG works closely with the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and its Federation Credentials Verification Service (FCVS) . Nearly all U.S. state medical boards accept FCVS for licensure and some require that applicants for licensure use FCVS. If you are considering licensure in a U.S. jurisdiction, you should verify licensure application requirements directly with the jurisdiction.
There are two ways to request an EPIC Report.
Included on each EPIC Report are:
Each EPIC Report is also accompanied by:
These reports will be delivered electronically using our secure EPIC Report Portal, so the organizations receiving them will have the confidence of knowing they are coming directly from ECFMG.
If the organization to which you have sent an EPIC Report has an EPIC Report Portal Account, the report will be available for one year following the date the report was sent.
If the organization to which you have sent an EPIC Report does not have an EPIC Report Portal Account, the report will be available for 60 days. Please note: If you are asked to provide an e-mail address for the report recipient at the time you request a report, the organization does not have an EPIC Report Portal Account.
If an organization indicates that they need access to your report after the expiration period, you will need to request a new report for that organization and pay the associated fee. Please see EPIC Fees for information on current pricing.
EPIC Reports are intended only for the report recipient (the entity you enter when you request a report) and are valid only if the report recipient obtains the report through the EPIC Report Portal.
You can request an EPIC Report for yourself, but you cannot send that report to or share it with other individuals or organizations. If you name another entity as a report recipient, neither you nor the report recipient can send that report to or share it with third parties. ECFMG makes no claims about the authenticity of any verification report not obtained by the report recipient through the EPIC Report Portal. Any reproduction, transfer, distribution, or other dissemination for use other than by the report recipient is strictly prohibited and could result in legal action.
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[Last update: March 24, 2023]