The Academic Registrar for the CMSA will offer Virtual Office Hours from 13:00 – 15:00 on Wednesdays for matters relating to examinations.

Please email us at academic.registrar@cmsa.co.za to schedule your virtual appointment.

Candidates should contact the staff members listed below, who are assigned to your particular constituent college.

Unresolved concerns with the assigned staff members should be forwarded to the Candidates Manager:

Candidates’ can apply for the online examinations via our website by following the steps below:

• www.cmsa.co.za
• Go to the examinations tab
• Select the “Apply for an Examination” tab.

2.2 Candidates' applications are submitted online.

2.3 Candidates must submit the necessary documentation for the examination they are applying for, as stipulated in the regulations.

2.4 When a candidate's application is approved, our webmaster will automatically send an acceptance letter and a timetable to the candidate.

2.5 Examination cards will NOT be posted to candidates but will be available at the venue on the day of your first written examination. ID book or passport must be produced in order to confirm your identity.

2.6 The CMSA will contact ALL the candidates, using the email address supplied by you on your application form.

2.7 Please note that no venue change requests will be accepted 1 week before the written examination date. All venue change requests are to be made in writing and emailed to admin@cmsa.co.za

2.8 Fees cannot be deferred but you may apply for a 90% refund in writing if you are unable to attend the examination.

2.9 Official results will only be released to candidates within 6 weeks of the written examination. Candidates do not need to request a breakdown of results; this will be emailed to you.

2.10 NO stationery will be provided. Candidates may only bring stationery in a clear plastic bag into the examination venue, including a simple calculator if allowed for your examination.

2.11 Before sitting for an examination, the candidate will get a declaration for the examination, which will require them to accept the format of the examination.

2.12 Candidate examination numbers will only be accessible once all applications have been processed and numbered. Applicants will be notified when they may access their CMSA profiles to view their candidate numbers.

2.13 Candidates need to bring their own refreshments.

Images used within an examination should be of a high resolution, however, the zoom function will cause the image to become distorted as you maximize the zooming in. Images in the generic tests are not high-resolution images used.

• Candidates will be given a candidate information leaflet that contains information on the structure of the examination.
  All papers will be completed by candidates at a CMSA approved venue. The CMSA will provide all candidates with a laptop, uninterrupted power supply and internet connection. Invigilators as well as IT specialists will be available to address any technical issues.
• All papers will be completed online using the Speedwell interface. All candidates will have an opportunity to test the speedwell software.
• Fellowship, Diplomas, and subspecialty candidates will be notified by email if they are successful to proceed to the oral/clinical examination component.

After the ratified examination results are published, all candidates will be sent a breakdown of his/her examination marks. A candidate who has passed the examination may not lodge an appeal against the outcome of his/her examination results. Any candidate who has failed the examination and wishes to lodge an appeal against the outcome of his/her examination results must, within 21 (twenty-one) days from the date of receiving the breakdown of his/her examination results advise the CMSA in writing, email: appeals@cmsa.co.za. Please note that MCQ’s cannot be remarked or reviewed.The current Appeals Mechanism policy of the CMSA is on our website.

In order to accommodate Muslim Candidates, the CMSA will make available washing facilities and a room for prayer on a Friday afternoon between 12pm and 2pm. Candidates are required to bring their own prayer mats.

It is important to note that this arrangement will only be made for candidates who have an exam during this time.

Please inform the CMSA within 24 hours if you will need these facilities in order for us to make the necessary arrangements, email: shanelle.visagie@cmsa.co.za

All sites are equipped with generators or uninterrupted power supply (UPS) units with a battery of up to 4 hours which aid in the continuation of examinations across all sites even during load shedding.

Issuing of Certificates

• Certificates will be printed within 4 weeks of final ratified results being released to candidates.
• Only one (1) certificate is issued per candidate.
• Certificates will be distributed to venues for candidates to collect – currently only Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.
• Candidates will be informed via SMS and/or email of address and times for the collection of certificates.
• Courier costs to personal addresses for certificates are at an additional set fee.
• The CMSA on behalf of all candidates that have completed CMSA examinations, applies to the HPCSA for accreditation irrespective of Diploma, Fellowship and Certificate examinations. Once the candidate receives his/her certificate from the respective CMSA offices, there is a Form 19 at the back of the certificate that is signed off by the Academic Registrar as well as the proof of CPD accreditation with the HPCSA. It is the candidate’s responsibility to then register this with the HPCSA.

Re-print of Certificates

• Should a certificate be damaged or lost, a reprint of the certificate may be requested.
• Should a candidate require more than one (1) certificate, the candidate will receive one (1) original certificate and the other certificates will be reprints.
• The reprint of certificates is done at an additional fee.
• Requests for the printing of certificates should be directed to certificates@cmsa.co.za
• Fees and banking details will be emailed to candidates upon request.
• Certificates will only be printed on receipt of payment.

Candidates are welcome to send another person on their behalf to collect their certificates. Please provide written proof that this person has permission to collect the certificate.

The following are the detailed steps of the verifications processes

ECFMG/MDCN Verification

• The ECFMG/MDCN forward documents to the verifications email (verifications@cmsa.co.za) of the CMSA that pertain to the documents of the Doctor.
• The ECFMG/MDCN notifies the Doctor that they have sent through the documents for verification to the CMSA and advise that there is a fee to pay.
• The Doctor forwards an email to verifications requesting the fee for verification to be done.
• Verifications send Accounts Department an email requesting an invoice for payment verification(s).
• The Accounts Department send the invoice to Verifications and Verifications forward the invoice to the Doctor requesting proof of payment after payment has been made.
• While waiting on the invoice we go through the records; inception list, application system etc to gather proof that the candidate has indeed completed the examination with the CMSA.
• When Verifications receive proof of payment, the documents get verified with the proof of completion and sent via email to the Academic Registrar for approval.
• After the approval of the Academic Registrar, the verified documents are sent directly to the ECFMG/MDCN via email.

Generated Verifications

• The candidate sends an email to verifications with an attachment of his/her obtained qualification.
• Verifications send Accounts Department an email requesting an invoice for payment verification(s).
• The Accounts Department send the invoice to Verifications and Verifications forward the invoice to the Doctor requesting proof of payment after payment has been made.
• While waiting on the invoice we go through the records; inception list, application system etc to gather proof that the candidate has indeed completed the examination with the CMSA.
• The certificate sent by the candidate is saved in a folder where all templates of the generated letter are saved.
• Verifications select the correct letter and make the necessary amendments in correspondence to the certificate sent.
• Verifications forward the letter and proof of completion via email to the Academic Registrar for approval.
• After obtaining the approval of the Academic Registrar, the confirmation/generated letter is sent to the candidate via email.
• For Verifications related queries contact verifications@cmsa.co.za.