General Medical Council (GMC) - Advantages and Requirement

The General Medical Council (GMC) was established under the Medical Act of 1858. It is a registered charity (No. 1089278) whose purpose is the protection, promotion and maintenance of the health and safety of the community. The GMC has strong and effective legal powers designed to maintain the standards the public have a right to expect of doctors.

To Practice Medicine in the UK

The purpose of the GMC is to protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the community by ensuring proper standards in the practice of medicine.

In order to practice medicine on full-time, part-time, locum, private, NHS, employed or self employed basis a Doctor requires a:

•     Valid GMC Registration, and
•     A License to Practice.

Please note that it is the ‘License to Practice’ rather than the GMC Registration that gives a Doctor the legal right to practice medicine in the UK. If you hold a GMC Registration but not a License to Practice you will not be allowed to work in the UK.

All doctors intending to practice medicine in the UK are still required to be registered with the GMC, follow the GMC’s Good Medical Practice guidance and be subject to the GMC Fitness to Practice actions. Doctors who hold registration but not a license are more likely to be working as an academic or outside the UK, for example, but cannot undertake any of the activities for which the law requires them to hold a license to practice.

Type of Registration

You should ensure that your registration is appropriate for the type of post that you will be undertaking.

Provisional Registration – Provisional registration (alongside a license to practice) allows newly qualified doctors to undertake general clinical training required for full registration. This allows doctors to work only in Foundation Year 1 posts.

Full Registration – 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 a locum consultant post) in the NHS.

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 postgraduate clinical experience (internship).

A doctor will need to provide documentary evidence to support their application. Only original documents can be accepted. To complete the process all doctors must visit the GMC London office in person to undergo a pre-registration identity check

Specialist registration – All consultants (other than a locum consultant appointment) must be on the specialist register of the GMC and all consultants (including locums) must hold a license to practice before they can take up a post. 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 training such as GP registrars) are required to be on the GP Register. This requirement extends to locums.

GMC registration for International Medical Graduates

Overseas qualified doctors must provide objective evidence of their capability to practice in the UK. Most do so by passing a professional and linguistic assessment- The PLAB test. Doctors who obtain a place on a GMC approved training scheme, or can provide evidence of achievement in specialist training, are exempt from the test.

The PLAB Test

The Professional & Linguistics Assessment Board (PLAB) Test is a two part test aimed at ensuring that Non EEA medical graduates who intend to practice in the UK have reached the minimum standards required to practice safely. Once the test has been passed a Doctor may apply to the General Medical Council for a Registration & a ‘License to Practice’

English Language Testing (IELTS)

All doctors applying for Limited Registration must have obtained a satisfactory score in the academic modules of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). A minimum score of 7.0 is normally required in each individual section of the IELTS test.

Doctors who have passed the PLAB test (which provides objective assessment of communication in a clinical context) require an overall band score of 7.0 with a minimum of 7.0 in the speaking component and 6.0 in the others.