Application and approval of qualifications

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Application

The first thing you must do is please to fill in our online application form which cannot be stressed enough the importance that you do this before submitting the below-mentioned EPIC reports.

Fill in the application form.
Send the form electronically

6-year-rule
Note that applications from medical doctors who have completed primary medical qualifications more than 6 years prior to the receipt of a fully documented application at the Danish Patient Safety Authority will be rejected, unless the application (step 5) is accompanied by a document stating professional experience as a medical doctor for at least 12 months during the 6 years preceding the date when we receive an application.

EPIC reports

The Danish Patient Safety Authority (DPSA) has partnered with the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG®), USA, a member of Intealth, to primary-source verify medical education credentials of medical doctors seeking medical registration/licensure in Denmark. If you are a graduate of a medical school located outside of the EEC and/or a citizen of a country located outside the EEC, you must have certain required medical education credentials verified through ECFMG’s Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials (EPIC) service prior to submitting your application to the DPSA. You must yourself cover the costs of the primary-source verification process.

For additional information and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on using EPIC in support of your application to the DPSA, visit Special Instructions and FAQs for Applying to the Danish Patient Safety Authority on the EPIC website.

If you have any questions regarding EPIC and the EPIC verification process, please contact EPIC.

To have your credentials primary-source verified through ECFMG in support of an application to the DPSA, you must complete the following steps:

Step 1 - Establish an EPIC Account.

See Getting Started on the EPIC website 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.

Step 2 - Confirm your identity with EPIC.

See Confirming Your Identity with EPIC on the EPIC website 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 Danish Patient Safety Authority for primary-source verification.

Step 3 - Upload the required medical education credentials for primary-source verification through EPIC.

Final Medical Diploma (completed primary medical qualifications)
Final Medical School Transcript (of primary medical qualifications which must give information of all relevant medical subjects, including such subjects as neurology, neurosurgery and dermatology etc.)
License to Practice Medicine issued by the competent health authorities in the most recent country of work as a medical doctor.

No further EPIC reports are required.

Once uploaded, you can check on the status of your credentials at any time by logging in to your EPIC Account. See Using EPIC on the EPIC website for more information.

Certificate of non-registration

If you are not yet registered with a license to work as a medical doctor in any country and for that reason is unable to upload your license to practice medicine to EPIC for primary-source verification, please read this information before you upload the other two documents to EPIC for primary-source verification.

Step 4 - Send reports on your verified credentials to the DPSA.

Did you beforehand fill in our online application form? In case not, then please fill it in now or else we have no contact information of you.

ECFMG will notify you by e-mail as each credential is verified. Once your three credentials have been verified, go to the "My Reports" tab in your EPIC Account and request that the EPIC Reports for each verified credential be provided to the DPSA. For more information on EPIC Reports, see the EPIC Reports section of the Using EPIC page on the EPIC website.

Upon receipt of the three mentioned EPIC reports, the DPSA will send you a receipt by e-mail as soon as possible (please, however, expect at least 7-14 days) to the e-mail address stated in the online application form that you have sent electronically to the DPSA. Your application will be processed only after receipt of the three EPIC reports.

Step 5 - Send your application by post (after receipt of the confirmation mail mentioned under step 4)

Send your application with the required documentation by post to the DPSA when all three mentioned EPIC reports have been received by the DPSA. We will then assess whether your qualifications meet the requirements for completing the process of obtaining Danish authorisation.

You can also hand in your application and documentation at the reception desk at the DPSA. See contact information and opening hours on Contact. Make sure that you enclose an cover letter including your name, address and signature (or perhaps fill in application form) with your documentation.

Please note that when the DPSA has received your application with the required documentation by post, the report issuing date on the EPIC report which concerns the primary-source verification of your license to practice medicine/certificate of good standing/certificate of non-registration most not be more than 3 months old. If the report issuing date in the mentioned EPIC report is more than 3 months old we might find it necessary to ask you to submit a new and updated verification of your license/certificate through EPIC.

Required documentation

Each document must be numbered according to the below list. For example, add number 2 to the documentation of name, date of birth and nationality.

Please only forward the documentation mentioned below. The documents that you have uploaded to EPIC we already have received with the EPIC reports.

Cover letter with your name, address and signature or perhaps fill in and signed application form
Documentation of name, date of birth and nationality (e.g. a certified copy of the relevant page in your passport).
Name change certificate, if any.
Translation of name change certificate, if the certificate has not been issued in English.
Curriculum vitae, listing your qualifications and work experience in chronological order.
Documentation for registration of specialist qualifications (if you hold specialist qualifications). Please note that if the duration of your specialist training does not appear from your documentation, it will not be part of our assessment.
Translation of the documentation for registration of specialist qualifications into Danish or English, if the document has not been issued in English.
Documentation of at least 12 months’ medical work experience. (Only if you completed your training more than 6 years before this application – (the 6-year-rule)). The documentation must confirm full-time employment and detailed information of your daily professional tasks.
Documented part-time employment for a period corresponding to 12 months of full-time employment can also fulfill the requirement for 12 months of work experience, provided that the work experience is acquired within the last 6 years prior to the date where we receive an application.
Power of attorney, if another person, including job centres, municipalities etc., handles your application.

The DPSA cannot assist you in contacting foreign authorities, universities etc. in order to obtain documentation. A certificate of good standing is not required as mentioned in our application form. The application form is obsolete and is about to be reviewed.

You must send the above documentation by post in 2 copies:

Copy 1: Original documentation or certified true copies (black/white).
Copy 2: Ordinary copies of copy 1 (the copies must be black/white in A4 format without paper clips, folders etc.).

Please do not forward any color copies.

Address

The address of the DPSA is:

The Danish Patient Safety Authority
Registration & EU Health Insurance
Islands Brygge 67
2300 Copenhagen S
Denmark

Certified true copies

If you do not want to send the original documents, but prefer copies, the copies must be certified to be true copies by an (any) embassy/consulate, notary public, the police or the authority that issued the document. The certified copy must bear a stamp and signature to confirm in English or Danish that the copy is a true copy of the original document. The authority/signatory must be easily identifiable. Private individuals, employees of employment agencies etc. cannot make certified copies.

Original documents

We may ask you to present your original documents. The translations must always be submitted in the original form. Original documentation will be returned to you by registered post.

Translation into Danish or English

If your documents are not in English, you may enclose translations into Danish or English of the enclosed documentation (we also accept translations into Norwegian or Swedish). You can also wait until we have processed your application and assessed which documents need to be translated. You should, however, expect an extended assessment time if you do not enclose translated documents.

Translations must be made by one of the following:

The university or authority that issued the document.
A translator.

The translator’s name and stamp must appear clearly from the translation. If the stamp is not in Danish or English, it must be translated by the translator. The translator must use a band, seal or the like to attach the translated document to the document in the original language.

Assessment

When we have received your application and documentation by post, we will as soon as possible send you an e-mail to confirm receipt of your application (please check your junk mail folder, since our emails are sometimes delivered in that folder).

You will not receive confirmation upon receipt of any additional documentation.

We either use the World Directory of Medical Schools or make an individual assessment of your primary medical qualifications to assess whether you are eligible for testing. If we make an individual assessment of your medical qualifications, we may ask you to provide additional documentation of the study program.

When we have finalised the assessment of your application, we will notify you by e-mail or by digital post to e.g. e-Boks (online Danish digital mailbox, if you hold Danish CPR-number), if we need additional documentation or we will send you a letter with your documentation. If we have approved your formal qualifications, the letter will inform you about the requirements for obtaining Danish authorisation and permission to work independently as a medical doctor. Please note that this letter is not your authorisation.

Our letter including your documentation will be sent to the address you have stated in the application form by either regular or registered post. Please let us know if you change your address by sending an e-mail or a letter. If you live abroad, you must make sure that you have written your full address in the application form and that you can receive letters by postal service as we do not send letters with courier, GLS/TNT or the like.

Application processing time

We process applications in the order in which they are received.

Currently the Danish Patient Safety Authority is processing applications received in November 2020.

As of 1 March 2022, we have hired in more examiners to, among other things, process applications from holders of qualifications from third countries. Consequently, we expect soon to be able to bring down the time it takes for an application to be processed.

We expect to initiate applications before the end of the second quarter of 2023 for applications received in 2020.

We expect to initiate applications before the end of 2023 for applications received in 2021.

We expect to initiate applications before the end of the second quarter of 2024 for applications received in 2022.

Moreover, The Danish Patient Safety Authority has decided to prioritize those applicants who are closest to being able to contribute to the Danish healthcare system. This prioritization is balanced between the consideration of the benefit of society and the consideration of the individual applicant.

From 1 March 2022 the Danish Patient Safety Authority will prioritize applicants, who have:

a Danish CPR number and
who live in Denmark, cf. the Danish CPR Register

It applies to all applications not yet processed, thus including applications received before 1 March 2022.

If you are already registered in our system with a CPR number and live in Denmark, you do not have to contact us. We will automatically prioritize your application. If we receive many applications for registration from applicants who have a CPR number and live in Denmark, these applications will be processed in the order they are received.

If you have a CPR number, but have not yet informed the Danish Patient Safety Authority about it, please contact us by phone +45 72 28 66 00 or send by secure e-mail.

The Danish Patient Safety Authority cannot answer questions regarding Danish CPR number. For more information about Danish CPR number, please go to Life in Denmark.dk.