How to get to UK from US

[gfdaly]

Hi! I'm a UK citizen who has been living in the US for about 10 years, and I'm currently in medical school in the US. I want to practise in the UK, and I'm looking for any advice/information on when to move and what the requirements would be. For instance, is it feasible to move to the UK as soon as I've graduated from the US med school, even though I won't be licensed yet? I'd like to go back to the UK as soon as possible, but am wondering if I should do a transitional year in the US in order to finish the USMLE series. Will I have to take PLAB or is there an international board exam? What would I be applying for - Foundation year? And how/where do I do that?
Thanks for any information!!

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[Prolif]

Hey gfdaly,

PLAB is equivalent to SHO so if you have to take that route you'll probably need to do at least a transitional year to get USMLE part 3. You may even need to do more to work up to the level of SHO. If you've been out of the UK system for a while:

5 years medical school (equivalent to USMLE part 1 + 2)
2 years of foundation training (called FY1 + FY2 equivalent to USMLE part 3)
1-3 years of core training as an SHO.
5-7 years of specialist training (e.g. surgery, paediatrics etc.)

PLAB is basically analgous to the USMLE, the first stage is like USMLE 1+2 and just makes sure you have the basic med school knowledge and the second stage is like a OCSE exam where you interact with actor patients in simulated scenarios to make sure you have the key decision making and clinical skills needed.

You might be able to come here to do foundation, if you can thats what I would do. Working in a US hospital won't be very transferable to the UK. Also, as an FY1 the consultants will be understanding that you have limited UK background, but as an SHO they get shirty with you over small things that arent really your fault.

I suggest you ask this on http://www.ukmedicalschools.com - they tend to be quite good answering these sorts of questions.

Good lucK!

 

[cbcgingko]

I am a fourth year American medical student (in my last year) applying for residency training in NYC in 3 areas: Emergency Medicine (3 or 4 years, although I'm leaning towards a 4 year program), Internal Medicine (3 years) and Emergency Medicine/Internal Medicine (a 5 year combination program). I am having a tough time deciding between the three specialities (I have to put my in my rank list by Feb 25th!) because I would like to eventually practice in France or Geneva, Switzerland via the UK recognition of my American training. I married a French man and thus I have EU community rights.

I have the following questions:

1) I was wondering if I choose Emergency Medicine (3 or 4 years) or the combo EM/IM (5 years, dual boarded) would any of these be recognized by the GMC? I understand that the American Board of Internal Medicine is an acceptable Post Graduate Qualification. Is the American Board of Emergency Medicine an acceptable PGQ?

2) What type of registration should I choose (provisional, full, specialist, GP?) being that my intention is to practice in France or Swizterland and not in the UK?

3) Maybe related to question 2, Do you suggest I apply for registration right after my residency training in the U.S. (it could be 3, 4, or 5 years depending on which residency I choose), after internship year (although internal medicine internship does not have 3 months of surgury) or should I work in the U.S. as an Attending (I think thats American for Consultant?) for a period of time?

4) Would I need to work or do additional training in the UK before applying for equivalance in France or Swizerland?

Thank you!

 

[JD028]

Hello,
Can anybody tell me how and if I can practice as a GP in the UK after finishing up my Family Prac. residency training in the U.S??
I have a year to go of Fam Prac in the US. I am a UK citizen and would like to explore the idea of going back and practicing.

Is my training enough to get me on the GP register?
Does the PMETB recognize and routinely give equivalence to US trained Family Practice docs?
Any exams needed?

Thanks so much for your time.

 

[orionarmdoc]

I am also a UK citizen living in the U.S. I have received my M.D. degree in the U.S. and have two years of residency experience. My situation is that due to extenuating family circumstances, I am now looking at a return to medicine after a more than two year leave of absence. I have researched employment as a generalist in the U.S., but it appears that one must be "board eligible" to obtain employment in the U.S. as a physician, which generally entails completing a residency. I also may need to retake all three steps of the USMLE for licensure.

I have always dreamed of returning to the U.K. to live and practice. Deciphering the written materials available on applying for residency training and/or employment has proven confusing and technically mind-numbing.

While the U.S. actively recruits "IMG"'s to fill the many unfilled residency positions in the U.S. which in turns leads to an IMG being employable after residency and there are both public and private sector mentoring and information readily available--this does not appear to be the case in other countries.

If anyone can provide some insight on the topic of a UK non-resident citizen continuing training in the UK after education in the U.S., I would be extremely grateful.

 

[Perry Mason]

I am also a UK citizen living in the U.S. I have received my M.D. degree in the U.S. and have two years of residency experience. My situation is that due to extenuating family circumstances, I am now looking at a return to medicine after a more than two year leave of absence. I have researched employment as a generalist in the U.S., but it appears that one must be "board eligible" to obtain employment in the U.S. as a physician, which generally entails completing a residency. I also may need to retake all three steps of the USMLE for licensure.

I have always dreamed of returning to the U.K. to live and practice. Deciphering the written materials available on applying for residency training and/or employment has proven confusing and technically mind-numbing.

While the U.S. actively recruits "IMG"'s to fill the many unfilled residency positions in the U.S. which in turns leads to an IMG being employable after residency and there are both public and private sector mentoring and information readily available--this does not appear to be the case in other countries.

If anyone can provide some insight on the topic of a UK non-resident citizen continuing training in the UK after education in the U.S., I would be extremely grateful.

I guess the best thing in your situation would be to take PLAB and then apply for either FY2 posts or specialist training (ST1 - 2). Your two years of residency should qualify as FY1 equivalent, so you won't have to go through that, and may qualify as FY equivalent too.

Basically, to start you off, apply for and take PLAB and then apply for full registration. These two steps are dealt with by the GMC. The PLAB exam is pretty straightforward, the only pain about it is the fact that you can't take (or even apply for) PLAB2 until you've passed PLAB1. This implies certain time constraints but you should be able to get it over and done with in one year.

When applying for full registration you should provide some evidence of having achieved foundation year 1 competencies (the evidence can include letter from your previous PD in the States, formal assessments, resident activity logbooks - whatever). If you don't provide that, or the GMC find the evidence insufficient, they will only grant you provisional registration which is good for applying for FY1 only.

Once you have your full registration you can apply for either FY2 or ST posts. I am not exactly sure what institution governs the application process (a lot has changed in the last few years), but it will be either PMETB or individual deaneries.

Let me know if you need more info

 

[usmd]

I'm no expert, but I think I can answer a few questions posed above.

From what I understand of the registration process, you must have completed an "internship". In the UK, this appears to be FY1+FY2. If you are an IMG, you must have completed a recognized internship in your home country.

You also have to sit the PLAB unless you can prove that you have had a postgraduate qualification within the last 3 years. What they consider as the postgraduate qualification, I do not know, but I submitted both my USMLE III and Internal Medicine Board, both of which were over 3 years (and I had to provide further documentation that I have been in active employment since).

Furthermore, in order to be registered as an IMG (and you are an IMG if you received your education in a country other than UK/EU) you have to sit the English exam or have your previous employer attest to your English skills. Note: this requirement does not exist for graduates of schools in the EU, none of which (outside the UK) have English as their primary language.

cbcgingko: The GMC only deals with registration of physicians, it does not evaluate a physician's training to determine if they qualify for specialty registration. The PMETB deals with that. Emergency Medicine is a recognized specialty, so there is a separate Royal College for this specialty. The PMETB considers recommendations by the various Royal Colleges in order to determine what is appropriate post-graduate qualification. My guess is that if you complete training in Emergency Medicine and had Board Certification in it, it would probably be accepted. But the best way to find out is check with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, or whatever it is called.

From what I've read on the GMC website, I'm not sure that registration on the GMC qualifies you to practice elsewhere in the EU. You'd still have to register with the medical councils in the other member states. I know doctors in other EU countries still have to register with the GMC if they want to practice in the UK. Also, I was told that even if my qualifications are accepted by the GMC, it does not mean it will be accepted with all EU states.

JD028: From what I know through a colleague at work, FP training in the UK should be equivalent to GP training in the UK. Therefore, if you apply right after training, the process should be fairly straightforward.

orionarmdoc: Since you trained in the US, you would not be an IMG there. Did you finish training there, or did you leave before finishing? If you haven't finished, you could probably find a training program somewhere to complete it. I don't think two years is all that long. If you have family commitments, I think it would be harder to do the training in the UK.