American MD -- how to jump the pond?

[IlianaSedai]

The husband-to-be and I may eventually look toward living closer to his parents, i.e. in the UK. I'm a US citizen (he is a UK citizen). By the time I finish, I will have an American MD and can get an American residency (he will have PhD which is transferrable to any country).

So if we decide to be permanently in the UK, I am very reluctantly open to a career switch, but it would be a bummer to not be able to practice medicine. And if we're there, then unless I decide to start a new career as a flower arranger, I will probably have no choice but to do my best to get qualified and look for a job, whatever it takes.

So I have looked up the GMC website and read all the confusing information for non-EEA trained physicians, which says to take the PLAB exam , to do one US clinical year (i.e. internship) first in order to qualify as a SHO after passing the PLAB, and something about limited registration (does that last forever?).

Can someone explain that process to me in plain language? And where would be good places to look for opportunities? Since I have some time before choosing specialties, which ones would be safer and/or more "transferrable" across the pond than others?

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[Stephen Ewen]

First off, I am almost enraptured by your "jump the pond" analogy in trying to get your points across. How discriptively rich, and just plain...

Second off, are you saying you would approach the UK system as one who has never done PG training in the US, or as one who has US PG training "under your belt" already?

Simply put, and generealy speaking (and that tends to be all one can give in public forums)--and I hope it is not too banal to say--it is much about how you can help them, and how they can help you; and the nation you herald from is part of the determining key in this. If, for example, you are from the US (you say you are), and if you have already done US PG training in a sub-specialtly, you have lots in your favor. If not--well the road is still hoe-able, I think, for you, though harder and much less "certain." The PLABS are almost categoricially unavoidable either way,

 

[IlianaSedai]

Originally posted by Stephen Ewen
Second off, are you saying you would approach the UK system as one who has never done PG training in the US, or as one who has US PG training "under your belt" already?

There is still time, so no need to decide right away, but I assume that having done it would be a good thing-- so I am assuming that I'll do some in the US.

In any case, what I was more puzzled about was the timing-- assuming that having PG training maximizes opportunities, how much PG would it be most efficient to do without taking unnecessary extra years to finish up after switching systems? It would actually be my preference to finish residency training in the US first, but my question is whether this would be a good thing or a bad thing if we move.

Much thanks for your input!

 

[FionaS]

Well, I'm coming at this subject without understanding how the US PG system works, but in the UK you can become an SHO after successfully completeing 1 yr as a PRHO - this involves 6 months general surgery and 6 months general medicine. So the minimum you have to do after qualifying is complete 1 year of your training, so long as if involves the basics of gen med and surg.

However, most people who come over here to become SHOs have rather more training than the basic one year.

Alternatively, you could do all your PG training in the US (however long that takes?) to become whatever the US equivalent of a consultant is. Then you can come over and pretty much go straight into a job without much further training.

Pretty much any specialty is good - so long as it's not too specialised (trying to think of an example but can't - you know, the sort of specialist you only find in regional centres).

That's all very rough and ready advice - if you want some proper advice let me know and I'll do some proper research for you!

Stephen - do you not refere to the atlantic as the pond then? Mind you, we usually just cross it rather than jump

 

[IlianaSedai]

Thank you for your response, Fiona!

Alternatively, you could do all your PG training in the US (however long that takes?) to become whatever the US equivalent of a consultant is. Then you can come over and pretty much go straight into a job without much further training.

Yes, this would be the ideal way I'd want to do it. However, I was unaware that I could complete all training and start as a consultant right away-- from reading the "foreign medical graduates" pages of the General Medical Council web site, it seemed to imply that I had to pass the PLAB exam and then apply for limited registration.

Would you be able to find a reference that would say definitively whether it is possible to complete all US training and then qualify in the UK without applying for limited registration and beginning as a SHO? I could not find it on gmc-uk.org .

Stephen - do you not refere to the atlantic as the pond then?

I could've sworn he was secretly poking fun at me.

 

[Stephen Ewen]

Duh...jump the pond...the atlantic ocean. Now it hits me. Sorry for being slow in those early AM posts sometimes. ZZZZZZzzzz....

 

[lola]

i was wondering what you were talking about in your earlier post. enraptured?

 

[geezer]

Unless you are a leding player in your specialty, it would be very dificult, almost near impossible, to obtain a consultant post in the UK without having gone through some PG training here first.