Upon your initial, conditional acceptance by a participating medical school and after Jan. 1 for all programs (except applicants accepted by an Early Decision Program, for whom a background check takes place at the point of acceptance), Certiphi Screening, Inc., will send an email to the preferred email address you entered in your AMCAS application. The email will give you access to a secure, online form through which you will provide basic identifying information and consent for a background report to be procured. Your consent will serve for all participating medical schools that offer you conditional acceptance.

Once you have provided consent, Certiphi Screening, Inc., will conduct a background check. When the background check is complete, Certiphi Screening, Inc., will send an email to your preferred email address asking you to review the background check report before its distribution. Once you have received the email, you will have 10 calendar days to contest the accuracy of the contents of the background check report. Once you have reviewed and released the report or after the specified 10-calendar-day period has elapsed, the background check report will be made available to the participating medical school(s) that made a conditional offer of acceptance.

• If you have submitted an AMCAS application to schools participating in the Criminal Background Check Service, you may obtain a preliminary background report before the report is requested by and released to participating institutions by visiting Application Station at applicationstation.certiphi.com and using this code: CERTAP2025. Applicants are responsible for the discounted cost of the preliminary background report, which is $71, plus any fees for international background check research. For more information, please contact Certiphi Screening’s Applicant Services team at 800-803-9582 or ApplicantServices@certiphi.com.
• The preliminary background report is for your information only and will not be made available to any school participating in the AAMC-facilitated Criminal Background Check Service.
• Upon your initial, conditional acceptance to an additional participating medical school, the background check report will be made available to other participating medical schools offering a conditional acceptance after Jan. 1.
• The background check will not be released to any party other than the medical school(s) requesting it.
• History in the background check report that may include infractions and juvenile records will be displayed to you, but medical schools’ policies vary in the content their reviewers can and will view.

Please review the Felony and Misdemeanor section of this AMCAS Applicant Guide for further details.

Below are state-specific notifications that some states mandate for inclusion in advance of a background check. Many state-specific mandates indicate you are required to request in writing a copy of the report procured on you. If you live in one of the states named below, you will receive a copy of the report without requesting it.

For Maine Applicants Only

“Upon request, you will be informed whether or not an investigative consumer report was requested and, if such a report was requested, the name and address of the consumer reporting agency furnishing the report. You may request and receive from us, within five business days of our receipt of your request, the name, address, and telephone number of the nearest unit designated to handle inquiries for the consumer reporting agency issuing an investigative consumer report concerning you. You also have the right, under Maine law, to request and promptly receive from all such agencies copies of any reports.”

For New York Applicants Only

“You have the right, upon written request, to be informed of whether or not a consumer report was requested. If a consumer report is requested, you will be provided with the name and address of the consumer reporting agency furnishing the report.”

For Washington Applicants Only

“If we request an investigative consumer report, you have the right, upon written request made within a reasonable period of time, to receive from us a complete and accurate disclosure of the nature and scope of the investigation. You have the right to request from the consumer reporting agency a summary of your rights and remedies under state law.”

For California,* Minnesota, and Oklahoma Applicants Only

“A consumer credit report will be obtained through Certiphi Screening, Inc., P.O. Box 541, Southampton, PA 18966. Telephone: (800) 260-1680. Website: certiphi.com.

• “If a consumer credit report is obtained, I understand that I am entitled to receive a copy. I have indicated below whether I would like a copy.
• “If an investigative consumer report and/or consumer report is processed, I understand that I am entitled to receive a copy. I have indicated below whether I would like a copy.”

*California applicants: “If you chose to receive a copy of the consumer report, it will be sent within three (3) days of the employer receiving a copy of the consumer report and you will receive a copy of the investigative consumer report within seven (7) days of the employer’s receipt of the report (unless you elected not to get a copy of the report). Certiphi Screening’s privacy practices with respect to the preparation and processing of investigative consumer reports may be found at certiphi.com.”

Para información en español, visite consumerfinance.gov/learnmore o escriba al Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20552.

The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) promotes the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies. There are many types of consumer reporting agencies, including credit bureaus and specialty agencies (such as agencies that sell information about check-writing histories, medical records, and rental history records). Here is a summary of your major rights under the FCRA. For more information, including information about additional rights, go to consumerfinance.gov/learnmore or write to: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20552.

• You must be told if information in your file has been used against you. Anyone who uses a credit report or another type of consumer report to deny your application for credit, insurance, or employment — or to take another adverse action against you — must tell you and must give you the name, address, and phone number of the agency that provided the information.
• You have the right to know what is in your file. You may request and obtain all the information about you in the files of a consumer reporting agency (your “file disclosure”). You will be required to provide proper identification, which may include your Social Security number. In many cases, the disclosure will be free. You are entitled to a free file disclosure if:
  • A person has taken adverse action against you because of information in your credit report.
  • You are the victim of identity theft and place a fraud alert in your file.
  • Your file contains inaccurate information as a result of fraud.
  • You are on public assistance.
  • You are unemployed but expect to apply for employment within 60 days.

In addition, all consumers are entitled to one free disclosure every 12 months upon request from each nationwide credit bureau and from nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies. See consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for additional information.

• You have the right to ask for a credit score. Credit scores are numerical summaries of your creditworthiness based on information from credit bureaus. You may request a credit score from consumer reporting agencies that create scores or distribute scores used in residential real property loans, but you will have to pay for it. In some mortgage transactions, you will receive credit score information for free from the mortgage lender.
• You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. If you identify information in your file that is incomplete or inaccurate and report it to the consumer reporting agency, the agency must investigate unless your dispute is frivolous. Refer to consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for an explanation of dispute procedures.
• Consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information. Inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information must be removed or corrected, usually within 30 days. However, a consumer reporting agency may continue to report information it has verified as accurate.
• Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information. In most cases, a consumer reporting agency may not report negative information that is more than seven years old or bankruptcies that are more than 10 years old.
• Access to your file is limited. A consumer reporting agency may provide information about you only to people with a valid need — usually to consider an application with a creditor, insurer, employer, landlord, or other business. The FCRA specifies those with a valid need for access.
• You must give your consent for reports to be provided to employers. A consumer reporting agency may not give out information about you to your employer, or a potential employer, without your written consent given to the employer. Written consent generally is not required in the trucking industry. For more information, go to consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.
• You may limit “prescreened” offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report. Unsolicited “prescreened” offers for credit and insurance must include a toll-free phone number you can call if you choose to remove your name and address from the lists these offers are based on. You may opt out with the nationwide credit bureaus at 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688).
• You may seek damages from violators. If a consumer reporting agency, or in some cases a user of consumer reports or a furnisher of information to a consumer reporting agency, violates the FCRA, you may be able to sue in state or federal court.
• Identity theft victims and active-duty military personnel have additional rights. For more information, visit consumerfinance.gov/learnmore.

States may enforce the FCRA, and many states have their own consumer reporting laws. In some cases, you may have more rights under state law. For more information, contact your state or local consumer protection agency or your state attorney general. For information about your federal rights, contact the relevant organization in the table below.

Type of Business	Contact
1. Certain financial institutions. a.  Banks, savings associations, and credit unions with total assets of over $10 billion and their affiliates. b.  Such affiliates that are not banks, savings  associations, or credit unions also should list,  in addition to the CFPB.	a.  Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 1700 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20552 b.  Federal Trade Commission:  Consumer Response Center — FCRA Washington, DC 20580 877-382-4357
2. Financial institutions not included in item 1 above. a.  National banks, federal savings associations,  and federal branches and federal agencies  of foreign banks. b.  State member banks, branches and agencies  of foreign banks (other than federal branches, federal agencies, and insured state branches  of foreign banks), commercial lending companies owned or controlled by foreign banks, and  organizations operating under section 25 or 25A of the Federal Reserve Act. c.  Nonmember insured banks, insured state  branches of foreign banks, and insured state savings associations. d.  Federal credit unions.	a.  Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Customer Assistance Group 1301 McKinney Street, Suite 3450 Houston, TX 77010-9050 b.  Federal Reserve Consumer Help Center P.O. Box 1200 Minneapolis, MN 55480 c.  FDIC Consumer Response Center 1100 Walnut Street, Box #11 Kansas City, MO 64106 d.  National Credit Union Administration Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) Division of Consumer Compliance  and Outreach (DCCO) 1775 Duke Street Alexandria, VA 22314
3. Air carriers.	Asst. General Counsel for Aviation  Enforcement and Proceedings  Aviation Consumer Protection Division Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE  Washington, DC 20423
4. Creditors subject to the Surface Transportation Board.	Office of Proceedings, Surface Transportation Board Department of Transportation 395 E Street, SW Washington, DC 20423
5. Creditors subject to the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921.	Nearest Packers and Stockyards  Administration area supervisor
6. Small business investment companies.	Associate Deputy Administrator for Capital Access United States Small Business Administration 409 Third Street, SW, 8th Floor Washington, DC 20549
7. Brokers and dealers.	Securities and Exchange Commission 100 F Street, NE Washington, DC 20549
8. Federal land banks, federal land bank  associations, federal intermediate credit banks, and production credit associations.	Farm Credit Administration 1501 Farm Credit Drive McLean, VA 22102-5090
9. Retailers, finance companies, and all other creditors not listed above.	FTC Regional Office for region in which the  creditor operates or Federal Trade Commission:  Consumer Response Center — FCRA Washington, DC 20580 877-382-4357

Credit report contact information:
Certiphi Screening, Inc.
A Vertical Screen Company
Attn: Consumer Disclosure
P.O. Box 541, Southampton, PA 18966
Toll-free phone: 800-260-1680
Note: All laws cited are subject to change, and although the AAMC will endeavor to keep this information up to date, we will not be held responsible or liable for any changes that may not appear in this document.