Information for overseas doctors who want to apply in the UK All doctors must have registration with a license and undertake activities restricted by laws to doctors.
The license to practice is issued by the General Medical Council (GMC), follow the GMC’s good medical practice guidance and subject to the
GMC Fitness to Practice actions and applies to all doctors in the UK regardless of whether they are working in the NHS or Independent sector,
either on full or part time, permanent or locum basis.

Doctors who have never been registered with the GMC will have to apply for registration
with the license to practice. They will not be able to apply for registration without a license.
Doctors who hold registration but not licensed, may be working as academic or outside the United Kingdom,
they cannot undertake any activities- clinical work – for which UK law requires them to hold a license to practice.

The requirements for registration in the UK will depend on a number of factors:

• Your nationality
• The country in which you gained your primary medical qualification
• The type of work you want to do
• Whether or not you have completed a period of post-graduate training or an internship

International medical graduates (IMGs) will be required to demonstrate their medical knowledge and skill,
and all applicants may have to demonstrate they are competent in using the English Language before they registered.

Being registered with the GMC does not guarantee that you will find employment within the UK.

FOUNDATION PROGRAMME

All UK medical graduates are required to undertake a two-year Foundation Programme immediately following graduation.
The Foundation Programme forms the bridge between medical school and specialist/general practice training.
Trainees will have the opportunity to gain experience in a series of placement in a variety of specialties and health settings.

Once doctors have completed the Foundation Programme, they may apply for specialty or general practice training programme.

Types of Registration

Provisional Registration

(alongside a license to practice) only allow newly qualified doctors
to undertake an approved Foundation year 1 post. The law does not provisionally register doctors to work in any type of post.
On successful completion of Foundation Year 1, you will be able to apply for full GMC registration.

Provisional registration is available to doctors with the following nationality, rights and qualifications:

• UK medical graduates who will have completed their medical degree at a UK university recognized in the Medical Act 1983
• International medical graduates who have an acceptable primary medical qualification and who have passed the PLAB test but who have not completed an internship
• Nationals from the EEA, Switzerland and other countries with EC rights who qualified outside of the EEA and Switzerland
• Nationals from the EEA, Switzerland and doctors who have EC rights who qualified at EEA or Swiss medical Schools
• Doctors who have qualified in an EEA member state can apply to do their practical training (internship)
  in the UK if the practical training counts towards a medical degree which requires this for compliance with Directive 2005/36/EC

Full Registration

enables doctors to work in any form of professional medical practice in the UK,
provided they hold a license to practice. Doctors must, however, also hold specialist registration to take up a
consultant post (other than locum consultant post); and those wishing to work as GPs must be on the GP register.

Doctors qualifying from outside the UK may be eligible to apply directly for full registration
if they hold an acceptable primary medical qualification and have completed a period of clinical experience (internship).

A doctor will need to provide documentary evidence to support their application. Only original documents are accepted.
To complete the process, all doctors must visit the GMC in person to undergo a pre-registration identity check.
A photograph of the doctor will be taken, and this will be made available to employers so they can be assured of the doctor’s identity.

UK graduates and IMG’s who are new to full registration and taking up a new job or restoring their names
to the register after prolonged absence from practice, are required to work within an approval practice setting
(APS) as assessed by the GMC as suitable for doctors new to full registration. The GMC recommends that
EEA graduates ensure that they also work in an APS when they first taken up employment in the UK under full registration.
Most NHS employers will have approved setting of practice status.

The purpose of APS system is to provide public protection by requiring doctors new, or returning,
to full registration in the UK to work within a system with appropriate supervision and appraisal arrangements or assessments.

Specialist Registration

All consultants (other than a locum consultant appointment) must be on the
specialist register of the General Medical Council (GMC). To be eligible to apply
for specialist registration with the GMC, doctors must have successfully completed a GMC
approved training programme and must have granted one of the following certificates:

• Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT)
• Certificate confirming Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR)

Doctors who have not completed a full GMC approved training programme and wish to have training,
qualifications and experience assessed for eligibility for entry onto the specialist register must make an
application under The General and Specialist Medical Practice Order for a CESR. It is not possible to hold
specialist registration without also holding full registration.

GP Registration

Since 1 April 2006, all doctors working in general practice in the NHS in the UK
(other than doctors in the training such as GP registrars) are required to be on the GP Register. This requirement extends to locums.

If you have not completed the UK GP Certificate of Completion Training
programme you will need to apply for a Certificate of Eligibility for General Practice Registration (CEGPR),
which will then enable you to enter on GP Register.

English Language Proficiency

Overseas doctors applying for registration must satisfy the GMC that they have the necessary knowledge of English.
This can be demonstrated though the International Language Test System (IELTS) or the Occupational English Test (OET).

International English Language Test System (IELTS)

For the IELTS, candidates will be required to provide that they meet the GMC’s requirements in the
academic version of the International Language English Test System (IELTS) has four areas:

• Speaking
• Reading
• Writing
• Listening

Prospective registrants for the GMC’s register must score 7.5 or more over all if using the IELTS.

Further details about the test is on the IELTS website.

Occupational English Test (OET)

The OET provides an alternative to IELTS and was introduce on 8 February 2018. Further details

About the OET are available on the GMC website.

The OET is an international English language test designed specifically for the healthcare sector.

In an English speaking environment. It is specifically design for healthcare professions, and in the UK is an option for doctors, nurses and midwifes.

For the OET, candidates will need to achieve a Level B in each skill (listening, reading, writing, and speaking) to meet the GMC’s requirements. The test is design for healthcare professionals with an emphasis on real situations medical staff might encounter.

Further details about the test is on the OET website.

Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB)

The GMC uses the PLAB Test to ensure that international doctors have
the basic medical competence and communication skills to practice in the UK.
Doctors wishing to take the PLAB test must have successfully completed the International English Language Test System (IELTS) or the Occupational English Test (OET).

The candidates can take the first part of the PLAB test at a number test centers overseas,
but the second part must be in the UK. Further details about the PLAB test including dates, test centers and cost, can be obtain from the GMC website.