GP Qualifications
Contents
GP Details
Surgeries must list the names
of GPs employed by the surgery, their unique GMC registration
number, and their professional qualifications. If not openly
displayed, these details can be found in the practice leaflet
available from the reception desk. Practices are also
encouraged to:
- Advertise the full names of
non-medical staff working at the surgery.
- Indicate the gender of each
health care professional so that patients may specify to see a
male or female practitioner.
- Indicate whether health care
professionals speak an additional language other than
English.
- Show details of when individual
health care professionals are available and their particular areas
of interest and/or expertise.
Top of Page 
GP Qualifications and Training
Basic
Medical Training
Doctors
receive their primary medical qualification – typically denoted in
the UK as MBBS, MBChB, BM, or MB BCh - on successful
completion of the medical school undergraduate course, which
normally lasts five years.
Doctors
Qualifications Explained (Your GP Guide site)
Doctors then enter a two-year
Foundation Programme which forms a bridge between medical school
and specialist or general practice training, and provides trainee
doctors with a grounding in practical medicine and core clinical
skills.
GP Training
In order to qualify
as a GP, doctors must then undertake specialist training
normally comprising of two years of hospital rotations and at
least twelve months in-job training as a GP Registrar in a
practice.
Hospital rotations for trainee
GPs will only include specialties linked with family medicine,
such as obstetrics and gynaecology, psychiatry, paediatrics and
internal medicine. The training does not result in a new set of
letters after the doctor's name, but the certificate
of completion issued is required in order to work as a GP
in the UK. A Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP)
Fact
Sheet explains the certification process in
more detail.
Further Qualifications
It is usual for GPs to study for
additional diplomas according to their particular interests. The
qualifications most often seen are: DRCOG – which indicates further
study in obstetrics and gynaecology – and DCH or DCCH – which
indicate further study in matters of child health. However there is
a wide range of diplomas indicating special interest in such
subjects as Family Planning, Geriatric Medicine, Occupational
Medicine, and Public Health.
Some GPs work towards higher
degrees (doctorates) by undertaking original research. The degrees
vary according to the university, but the abbreviations would be
DM, DPhil, MD or PhD.
Sometimes GPs with further
expertise/experience in certain specific clinical areas will be
employed as a GP with Special Interests (GPwSIs), and will
perform certain hospital procedures in primary care
settings.
All GPs are expected to involve
themselves in Continuing Professional Development (CPD). They are
appraised annually and keep a Personal Development Portfolio of
evidence showing how they are maintaining and
building their professional knowledge.
College Membership and Fellowship
Membership of the Royal College
of General Practitioners is seen as a “gold standard” in family
medicine.
The College also has a fellowship
system in place which recognises significant achievements by our
members. A Fellow of the College has reached the highest level of
membership and has been rewarded by his or her peers with the
honour and is held in esteem. A GP with the post-nominal ‘FRCGP’
will be a doctor who has made a contribution to patient care, to
the College or to the discipline of general practice, over and
above what might reasonably be expected from any member.
Top of Page
Checking
Qualifications
Doctors must be registered with
the General Medical Council (GMC) before they can work in the UK.
Registration is gained after successful completion
of the first year of the two-year Foundation Programme, which
follows on from the undergraduate medical degree. In order to
practise as a GP a doctor also requires a certificate to practise
from the RCGP Certification Unit (formerly the Joint Committee for
Postgraduate Training in General Practice before September
2005).
The GMC recently told doctors
that they must make visible to patients their unique GMC
registration number and their registered name - so that patients
can check their qualifications and fitness to practise history.
This duty can be satisfied in a number of ways but these details
will normally be included in the practice leaflet, on the practice
plaque, and/or on consulting room doors and name
badges.
The online GMC
List
of Registered Medical Practitioners enables
patients to check the registration status of a doctor. Patients can
view the details of doctors that are currently registered or have
been on the register at any time since October 2005. A search using
GMC reference number or registered name will reveal the
doctor's primary medical qualifications, gender, date of
registration, and any publicly available fitness to practise
history. It will also show whether the doctor is on the
GP
Register, and therefore entitled to work in general practice
in the health service in the UK. Patients may also approach the GMC
directly at:
General Medical Council
2nd Floor, Regent's Place
350 Euston Road
London NW1 3JN
Tel: 0845 357 8001