Iceland – Evidence of qualifications

This page is to explain what evidence of qualifications doctors who qualified in Iceland need to supply to support their registration application.

Below is information about

Medical regulatory authority

The Directorate of Health
Austurströnd 5
170 Seltjarnarnes
Iceland
Tel: +354 510 1900
Email: postur@landlaeknir.is

Provisional registration

You will need to hold:

A Candidatus Medicinae et Chirurgiae/prof í læknisfrædi frá læknadeild Háskóla Islands' (diploma from the medical faculty of the University of Iceland).

Full registration

If you have previously held provisional registration you will need to hold:

An Almennt laekningaleyfi (certificate of practical training in a hospital of at least 12 months) The Directorate of Health.

To apply for full registration if you have previously held provisional registration and completed your internship in the UK you will need to hold:

A Certificate of Experience form completed by an authorised officer of your UK medical school or deanery. Please contact us to obtain a blank Certificate of Experience form that you will need to pass to your medical school or deanery to be completed.  

Please note that you cannot apply using the UK on-line registration method through MyGMC.

Note: If you are granted full registration in the UK, your primary medical qualification may not be automatically recognised in another EEA member state. You can check by contacting the medical regulatory authority in the country in which you wish to obtain registration.

If you have not previously held provisional registration you will need hold:

A prof í læknisfrædi frá læknadeild Háskóla Islands' (diploma from the medical faculty of the University of Iceland)

AND

An Almennt laekningaleyfi (certificate of practical training in a hospital of at least 12 months) issued by The Directorate of Health

AND

An Almennt laekningaleyfi (certificate of practical training in a hospital of at least 12 months) issued by The Directorate of Health.

If you qualified or began your medical training in Iceland before 1986, in addition to the documents above, you will need to hold:

A letter from The Directorate of Health or the registration authority of the EEA Member State or Switzerland where you are now working, which confirms that you have effectively and lawfully been engaged in actual medical practice for at least three consecutive years during the last five years (as required by Article 23.1 of the Directive 2005/36/EC).

Specialist register

To hold specialist registration you must also hold full registration.

Your specialty must be listed in Annex V of the Directive 2005/36/EC by the country that awarded it and have a corresponding entry for the United Kingdom.

If you want to apply for specialist registration and you do not already hold full registration, you should apply for full and specialist registration at the same time.

You will need to hold:

A Sérfrædileyfi (certificate of specialist in medicine) issued by The Directorate of Health.

If the Icelandic specialist certificate was awarded before 1 January 1994 or if the training leading to its award started before that date you will need to hold either:

A letter from The Directorate of Health confirming that the training leading to the award of the specialist certificate meets the standards in Articles 25, 26 and 27 as appropriate of Directive 2005/36/EC.

OR

If the training leading to the award of the specialist certificate does not meet those standards, a letter from The Directorate of Health or the medical regulatory authority of the country where you are now working confirming that you have been practising in the specialty in which your specialist certificate was awarded for the period required by Article 23.1 of Directive 2005/36/EC.

If the title of your Icelandic specialist certificate is not described above or the specialty in which it is awarded is not the same as that specialty listed in Annex V of Directive 2005/36/EC you will also need to hold:

A letter from The Directorate of Health confirming that your training leading to the award of the specialist certificate meets the standards laid down in Articles 25, 26 and 27 as appropriate of Directive 2005/36/EC and that the specialty is treated in law by Iceland as a certificate of medical specialisation in the relevant speciality as set out in Annex V of Directive 2005/36/EC.

If you are not eligible to enter the specialist register via the criteria outlined (above) you can apply to the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) to be assessed via the Article 14 equivalence route. Doctors applying via the Article 14 route will be required to demonstrate that their specialist qualifications, knowledge and experience gained are equivalent to that of a doctor completing a UK specialist training programme in your specialty. For further guidance, including application forms and a list of frequently answered questions, please visit the PMETB website. Please note that PMETB cannot accept CVs/resumes in isolation.

GP register

To hold GP registration you must also hold full registration. If you want to apply for GP registration and you do not already hold full registration, you should apply for full and GP registration at the same time.

You will need to hold either:

An Almennt heimilislækningaleyfi (Evrópulæknaleyfi) (certificate of specific training for general practice) awarded byThe Directorate of Health. If the certificate does not clearly state that your training for general medical practice meets the standards laid down in Article 28 of Directive 2005/36/EC you will need to hold a letter from the Chief Medical Doctor of the Ministry of Health and Social Security of Iceland which confirms that your training meets those standards.

OR

A certificate of acquired rights for general medical practice awarded by The Directorate of Health. The certificate must state that it was issued to you in accordance with Article 36(4) of Directive 2005/36/EC.

If you are not eligible to enter the GP register via the criteria outlined (above) you can apply to PMETB via the Article 11 equivalence route. Doctors who apply using this method will have their training, qualifications and experience compared against the standard required for doctors completing a UK General Practice training programme. Successful applicants will be given a statement confirming their eligibility for entry to the GP Register and hence eligible to work as a GP in the UK. For further information and to request an Article 11 application pack, please visit the PMETB website. Please note that PMETB is unable to accept CVs/resumes in isolation and cannot process applications that are not made through the correct channels.