DOCTOR JOBS IN UNITED KINGDOM (UK)| INTERNATIONAL HEALTH CARE CAREER

GUIDE TO WORKING IN THE UK FOR INTERNATIONAL DOCTORS:

The NHS is regarded as one of the best healthcare systems in the world, and there is a significant international demand for the knowledge and skills obtained by NHS employees.

The NHS now has over 9000 open positions and is trying to hire excellent doctors from abroad. Making it easier for international doctors to work in the NHS and have access to high-quality education and training, different experiences, and a reasonable remuneration. There are numerous options for non-UK graduates in General Medicine, Psychiatry, Gynaecology, Obstetrics, and Paediatrics.

For a 40-hour week, UK trainees earn between £27,000 and £31,000 per year. Trainee specialists earn between £37,000 and £47,000. Specialists earn between £57,000 and £110,000 (or more, as there is no upper limit).

 General practitioners earn between £78,000 and £100,000 per year. Overtime, night shifts, weekend work, and on-call allowances are available (depending on their contract).

The NHS is regarded as one of the best healthcare systems in the world, and there is a significant international demand for the knowledge and skills obtained by NHS employees.

The NHS now has over 9000 open positions and is trying to hire excellent doctors from abroad. Making it easier for international doctors to work in the NHS and have access to high-quality education and training, different experiences, and a reasonable remuneration. There are numerous options for non-UK graduates in General Medicine, Psychiatry, Gynaecology, Obstetrics, and Paediatrics.

For a 40-hour week, UK trainees earn between £27,000 and £31,000 per year. Trainee specialists earn between £37,000 and £47,000. Specialists earn between £57,000 and £110,000 (or more, as there is no upper limit).

General practitioners earn between £78,000 and £100,000 per year. Overtime, night shifts, weekend work, and on-call allowances are available (depending on their contract).

Schemes Offering Training Posts

There are numerous programmes that provide abroad doctors with training positions. The most well-known is the Medical Training Initiative, which is sponsored by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. Recruitment focuses on appropriately trained, abroad, postgraduate medical professionals (who have passed part 1 membership exams for the Royal College of Physicians). Successful applicants are hired for a set period of training in the UK before returning to their native healthcare system. In collaboration with Health Education England, the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) provides postgraduate training programmes. The training scheme is available to applicants who do not have relevant postgraduate studies in India. BAPIO provides a pathway to membership and fellowship in numerous specialisations, as well as leadership training through a combination of postings in both.

What Does the PLAB Test Involve?

The PLAB exam tests the applicant’s knowledge and skills to ensure that they are as UK 2^nd year foundation doctors.

• PLAB  part 1- written exam of 180 multiple choice questions ( 3 hours to complete). Short scenarios followed by a questions. This exam can be sat in the applicants home country.
• PLAB 2- an objective structured clinical exam (OSCE) involving interaction with actors, Simulated mannequins, and medical equipment 18  scenarious for 8 minutes each. This examaims to reflect real life scenarios. This test has to be completed at the GMC’s clinical assessment center in Manchester, United Kingdom.

How to get a job in the UK?

• Pin point where your training and skills fit in UK health care system.
• Decide career goals in the UK and duration this will determine the outcome taken.g., training schemes provide GMC registration, visa applications but are time limited and require doctors to return to their home country post training.
• Register with the General Medical Council (GMC). 3 types of registration available :provisional registration is only available to doctors completing their first year of foundation training (as a junior doctor). To apply for full registration, overse as doctors need t o provide evidence of MBBS degree+atleast1 year internship experience (continuously for 12 months with 3 months in medicine and 3 months insurgery). Valid IELTS certificate (7 in all subject are as and over all score of 7.5 ) or OET certificate (minimum grade B in all areas). Overse as doctors mustal so pass the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) test.
• Applicants must apply for GMC registration within 2 years of passing PLAB. Specialist registration–for overse as doctors who have not completed the UK specialty training posts. Known as the Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR) route. Applicants must provide evidence of experience, skills, and knowledge which is assessed by the relevant Royal College to determine if experience is equivalentt ocurrent post graduate qualification. However,evidence can total 1000 pages and take 6-9 months to assess.
• Specialist qualifications gained in the United Kingdom are highly recognized in a wide range of countries by health care and public systems.This provides UK doctors with count less opportunities across the world for great career growth.
• Apply for visa tier 2 visa sponsored by employer (training scheme sponsored visas are tier 5). Employers must provide a certificate of sponsorship.Tier 2 visa lasts 5 years.
• Candidates need to apply for new sponsorship if they change employer/location (doctors on training schemes do not).

Information for Overseas Doctors

All doctors must have registration with a license to legally practice medicine in the UK and not undertake activities restricted by law to practice, e.g. writing prescriptions and signing death certificates.

The licence to practice is issued by the General Medical Council (GMC) and applies to all doctors in the UK regard less of whether they are working in the NHS or independent sector, either on a full or part time, permanent or locumbasis.

It also applies to all levels of registration, whether provisional, full or on the specialist or general practitioner(GP)register.

Registration

All doctors who want to practise medicine in the UK must be registered with the GMC, follow GMC guidelines on good medical practise, and be subject to GMC Fitness to Practise actions. Doctors with registration but no licence may work as academics or outside the UK. They are not permitted to engage in any of the activities, such as clinical work, for which they are required by UK legislation to be licensed.

Doctors who have never been registered with the GMC must apply for registration with a practise licence. They will be unable to apply for registration unless they have a licence.

The requirements for registration in the United Kingdom will be determined by 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

To apply for registration, you must first ensure that you have an approved primary medical qualification. If you are unsure, check your qualifications status with the GMC.

Furthermore, international medical graduates (IMGs) will be required to demonstrate their medical knowledge and skills, and all applicants may be asked to demonstrate proficiency in the English language before being enrolled. NHS Employers offers a useful guide for IMGs on their website.

Being registered with the GMC does not ensure that you will find work in the UK.

Non-European Economic Area nationals

If you are not a UK/EEA national, you will also need to meet the requirements of UK Visas and Immigration regulations to gain the right to enter and work in UK.

Foundation Programme

All UK medical graduates are required to under take 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 placements in a variety of specialties and health care settings.

Once doctors have completed the Foundation Programme, they may apply for a specialty orgeneral practice training programme. If you have completed an internship year as part of your degree and are awarded full GMC registration, then you will need to think about entering the foundation programme via Alocumpost.

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

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 been 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 their 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.

Full Registration

Full registration enables doctors to work in any form of professional medical practice in the UK, provided they hold a licence to practise. Doctors must, however, also hold specialist registration to take up a consultant post (other than a 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 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 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 IMGs who are new to full registration and taking up a new job, or restoring their names to the register after a prolonged absence from practice, are required to work within an approved 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 take up employment in the UK under full registration.

Most NHS employers will have approved practice setting status. The purpose of the 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.

Provisional Registration

Provisional registration (alongside a license to practice) only allows newly qualified doctors to undertake an approved Foundation Year 1 post. The law does not allow provisionally registered doctors to work in any other 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 have completed their mrdical 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

English Language Proficiency

Overseas doctors seeking registration must demonstrate to the GMC that they are fluent in English. This can be proved by taking the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or the Occupational English Test (OET).

IELTS

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

• Speaking
• Listening
• Writing
• Reading

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

OET

The OET provides an alternative to the IELTS and was introduced on 8 Feb 2018.

The OET is an international English language test designed specifically for the health care sector. It assesses the language communication skills of health care professionals who wish to register and practice in an English speaking environment. It is specifically designed for health care professions, and in the UK is an option for doctors, nurses and mid wives.
A full list of profession al regulatory bodies who accept the OET:

OET is accepted for all Tier 2 UKVI visas for doctors, nurses, mid wives and dentists, including the new Health and Care Visa which s its within the Tier 2 ( General ):

Healthcare Boards & Councils

• Academy of Medical Royal Colleges ENTUK
• General Medical Council General Pharmaceutical Council
• Nursing and Midwifery Council Royal College of Anaesthetists
• Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
• Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Royal College of Physicians of London
• Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
• The Royal College of Emergency Medicine The Royal College of Ophthalmologists The Royal College of Pathologists
• The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh

Universities & Education

• Brunel University London Imperial College London King’s College London
• Nottingham Trent UniversityTees side University
• UK Foundation Programme University of Chester
• University of Highlands and Islands University of Leicester
• University of the West of Scotland

NHS Hospitals & Trusts

• Berkshire Health care NHS Foundation
• Trust Health Education England
• YeovilDistrict Hospital NHS Foundation Trust