Primary source verification

Primary Source Verification (PSV) means verifying the credentials or awards that an international medical graduate (IMG) has achieved from the source, that is from the training organisation that awarded the credential or qualification.

Primary source verification through ECFMG is required for all international medical graduates seeking medical registration in Australia.

MyIntealth is a new online environment for accessing services offered by Intealth and its members, ECFMG and FAIMER. MyIntealth will consist of a portal for International Medical Graduates pursuing verification of medical credentials. By using the MyIntealth environment, users will be able to establish and maintain accounts, request services, manage payments, and retrieve important messages by ECFMG.

ECFMG is a member of Intealth and serves international organisations and authorities involved in medical registration, licensing and assessment by obtaining primary source verification of the medical education and registration credentials of medical graduates who completed their medical education outside their jurisdictions. 

The AMC uses ECFMG’s MyIntealth platform for the verification service of medical credentials. ECFMG provides the AMC with a rigorous primary source verification process. The verification outcomes are uploaded to the AMC accounts, and are used by the Medical Board of Australia for registration purposes, and by relevant Australian/Australasian specialist medical colleges for assessment purposes (if applicable and a college is nominated by the international medical graduate). 

For more information about the MyIntealth account process and verification service, refer to the ECFMG website. 

Also refer to ECFMGs Special Instructions for Physicians Applying to Practice in Australia for important notes on credentials verified through ECFMG. 

The Medical Board of Australia (the Board) and the AMC are two different organisations with different responsibilities in relation to international medical graduates.  

For IMG assessment processes, the AMC is the verifications authority of Australia, and is also responsible for the assessment of non-specialist IMGs who are not eligible for the competent authority pathway to registration.

The AMC is also responsible for maintaining the AMC’s portal with information and updates on verifications processed by ECFMG, all AMC examinations and assessment outcomes and specialist assessment outcomes. 

This portal is used by the Board for registration purposes and by the Australian specialist medical colleges for specialist assessment purposes. 

The AMC can only accept the following three credential categories from ECFMG for verifying a medical degree (final medical diploma/primary qualification): 

• Final Medical Diploma 
• Final Medical Transcript 
• Alternate Graduation Document. 

If you have any questions about your credentials please contact ECFMG directly as the AMC is unable to provide advice about document requirements. 

Once a verification in any of the three categories above has been received, the AMC will upload the verification status to the relevant international medical graduate’s AMC account. The international medical graduate can proceed with the relevant assessment process. 

If you submit either a final medical school transcript or alternate graduation document/medical school letter for verification, the Medical Board of Australia may require the final medical diploma for verification when applying for registration. If additional documents require verification, there will be additional costs from both the  AMC  and ECFMG. 

Regardless of which pathway you apply for, you must obtain verification of your required qualification(s) through ECFMG and establish an AMC initial portfolio. 

Once you have determined the eligible pathway, note the following if applying for the: 

• Standard pathway (AMC examinations and assessment) the credential to submit for verification is: 
  • Medical degree (final medical diploma/primary medical qualification). This does not apply to Australian or New Zealand medical degrees. 
• Competent authority pathway the credential to submit for verification is: 
  • Medical degree (final medical diploma/primary medical qualification). This does not apply to Australian or New Zealand medical degrees.
• Specialist pathway 
  • Specialist recognition
  • Specialist area of need
  • Short term specialist training
• Expedited specialist pathway
• The credentials to submit for verification are: 
  • Medical degree (final medical diploma/primary medical qualification) – This does not apply to Australian or New Zealand medical degrees; and
  • Specialist qualification(s) and/or postgraduate medical credential(s). Enquire with the respective Australian/Australasian specialist medical college.
  • For the Expedited Specialist pathway, specialist qualifications are submitted directly to Ahpra, see the expedited Specialist pathway accepted qualifications list.

The following types are NOT eligible/acceptable and should not be added to an AMC  account. An administration processing fee will be charged if you add non-eligible document details to your AMC account when applying. These include:

• medical registrations/license to practise
• PhDs
• research based (eg Phd, Bachelor of Science, etc)
• internship/ housemanship/foundation documents
• partially completed training/qualifications
• scientific (for e.g. Bachelor of Science) 
• short courses
• Australian/Australasian qualifications.

If any are added to an AMC application (initial portfolio or additional qualification(s)), these will NOT appear on an AMC account. 

To be eligible, an international medical graduate must submit their medical degree (final medical diploma/primary medical qualification) in clinical medicine and surgery for verification. It is important to determine that the medical school as well as the degree title and graduation year are eligible. This means that all of the examination and training requirements are finished and you have been awarded the medical degree. 

For those with a New Zealand medical degree (final medical diploma/primary medical qualification) obtained from an eligible medical school, you do not need to obtain verification of the medical degree (final medical diploma/primary qualification) from ECFMG.  

The AMC encourages you to seek advice from the Board to determine medical registration requirements. 

All qualification(s) previously submitted to the AMC for EICS verification and confirmed as passed, are still valid. They do not need to be verified again. A Verification of Medical Qualification (otherwise known as EICS verification certificate) would have been issued to confirm the verification of the qualification(s).  You can view/download this document in the AMC account.

If the Board has requested a final medical diploma or any other particular qualification to be verified, then this would need to be verified through ECFMG and an AMC portfolio would need to be established.

Refer to FAQs section for further information – Can I view/obtain a copy of the EICS verification of my qualification(s)? 

All qualifications previously verified through EPIC verification process, are also still valid.

All verification status(es) will appear in the AMC account and available to the Board for registration purposes and to the nominated specialist college(s) for specialist assessment purposes.

Frequently asked questions

Refer to the FAQs page for more information.