Working in the UK

Applying to join an Emergency Medicine training programme in the UK

ACCS EM recruitment will be coordinated by Shared Services London, in association with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, for CT1/ST1 posts throughout England, Wales and Scotland.

See the person specifications.

See guidance on applying for specialty training.

See specific guidance for overseas nationals on the applicant guidance page under the “Right to work in the UK” tab, or in the overseas sponsorship for Medical Specialty Recruitment .

GMC registration

All doctors wishing to practice medicine in the UK will need to hold full registration with a licence to practice with the General Medical Council (GMC).

There are various routes for International Medical Graduates to obtain registration. The route that will be applicable to you it will depend on your training/experience and what you intend to relocate to the UK to do.

Please follow the link to the GMC website then answer the filtering questions to select the route that is appropriate for you.

Important information

From 11 June 2018, doctors applying for full registration with a licence to practise with the GMC will need to have their primary medical qualification independently verified before the GMC grant their registration.

This will apply to those that:

• qualified at a medical school outside of the UK, EEA or Switzerland
• are a national of a country outside the UK, European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland who graduated from medical schools outside the UK
• do not already hold provisional registration

Doctors applying for registration that hold an acceptable postgraduate qualification (PGQ), will also need to have their PGQ verified.

Verification will be carried out by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) through their online system – known as the Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials (EPIC) service.

ECFMG will verify the qualification is genuine by checking this directly with the doctor’s awarding institution.

Please read the full guidance carefully if you are considering applying for GMC registration via all routes: Changes to the application process for international medical graduates

Acceptable Postgraduate Qualification route to GMC registration

For International Medical Graduates looking to follow the Acceptable Postgraduate Qualification route to GMC registration (via Emergency Medicine), please follow the link below to the guidance on the revised exam structure coming into effect from 1 August 2016.

• MRCEM Information Pack

Full information on this route and the full list of qualifications that the GMC accept as evidence that a doctor applying for full registration with a licence to practise has the necessary knowledge, skills and experience, can be found here

Medical Training Initiative

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine is one of the Royal Colleges participating in the Medical Training Initiative.

The Medical Training Initiative (MTI) is designed to enable a small number of International Medical Graduates to enter the UK to experience training and development in the NHS for up to two years.

Under the scheme, training capacity not required for planned UK/EEA training numbers is made available for overseas doctors who meet the required eligibility criteria, including registration with the General Medical Council (GMC) in the MTI Scheme. This is nearly always obtained via a professional sponsorship scheme with the relevant medical Royal College.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s International Sponsorship Scheme offers Emergency Medicine training opportunities within the MTI. Successful applicants can obtain sponsorship for full GMC registration without taking the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) test. Full information can be found here. The placements filled by doctors in the MTI scheme are approved by the appropriate College Training Programme Director/and or Head of School and the local Deanery/Local Education & Training Board (LETB).

The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) acts as the UK Visa Sponsor to enable participants to apply for a Tier 5 Government Authorised Exchange Scheme visa from the Home Office.

The primary purpose of the MTI scheme is to contribute to the improvement of the quality of healthcare and the building of healthcare capacity in developing countries, therefore, it has been reaffirmed by the Department of Health, Health Education England and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges that the priority focus of the MTI scheme is to provide training opportunities for doctors from DfID priority or Low Income & Lower Middle Income countries and have therefore now stated that applicants from countries not considered DfID priority or LI&LMI countries can have no guarantee or expectation of receiving sponsorship under the scheme. The full statement from the Academy can be found here.

Resources

• The General Medical Council  – Welcome to UK Practice
• The British Medical Association  – Life and work in the UK – guidance for overseas doctors new to NHS and the UK.
• Medical Careers – NHS . This website contains excellent information including specialty pages for Emergency Medicine and person specifications for Emergency Medicine posts and the postgraduate training pathway in the UK.
• Health Careers – Guidance for overseas health professionals
• NHS Employers is responsible for promotion, advice and guidance on international recruitment. Advice about coming to work in the UK and International Graduate Signposting Resources available  as well as “Working and training in the National Health Service – a guide for international medical graduates thinking about working or training in the UK” (August 2010)
• The Gold Guide 8th Edition sets out the arrangements for specialty training in the UK.
• The Medical Training Initiative enables suitably qualified overseas postgraduate medical specialists to undertake a fixed period of training in the UK before returning to their own healthcare systems.
• Refugee healthcare professionals – NHS Employers is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and non-government organisations (NGOs) to help place skilled refugee nurses from both outside of the UK and within, back into employment
• Training In Other UK Countries
  • WALES
  • SCOTLAND
  • NORTHERN IRELAND
• The UK Foundation Programme Website
• The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges
• The Department of Health and Social Care
• NHS Jobs
• BMJ Careers