Qualifying Criteria

Qualifying in any of the health care professions is an important personal responsibility and, as a practitioner, there are several legal obligations. 

Registration with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) is a pre-requisite for professional practice, and it is also a legal requirement to keep all personal details up to date at all times. 

An annual fee is payable for this registration and failure to pay this fee could result in suspension from the register. If, for some reason a practitioner is suspended from the register, they can redeem themselves by applying for restoration and paying the restoration fee. 

Voluntary erasure from the register is possible if the practitioner does not intend to practice his/her profession in South Africa for a given period of time. A request has to be submitted in writing before 31 March of the year voluntary erasure is requested. 

There are nine main registration categories (not all categories apply to all professions), namely:

• Student
• Internship
• Student Intern
• Public Service - Community Service
• Supervised Practice
• Independent Practice
• Private Practice
• Specialised Practice
• Sub-Specialised Practice

Other categories for temporary or restricted registration include:

• Education
• Post Graduate
• Volunteer

After completing the requirements of each of the registration categories, the onus is on the individual to formally apply for registration in the next category. Penalty fees are charged upon application for a new registration category if the individual has not been registered as student in the required category.