FAQs - Work undertaken overseas
Last updated: 16 November 2009
Questions on this page
- 1. I am on the specialist register and have worked for many years in the UK. I have moved to another country to work, but would like to return to the UK in a few years time. What can I do to maintain my licence to practise?
- 2. Can I be appraised for revalidation while I am overseas?
- 3. I am intending to work abroad for a couple of years. If I give up my licence to practise will I need to revalidate or pass a test of some kind in order to regain my licence?
- 4. If I am working outside the UK will I need a UK-based Responsible Officer?
- 5. I work for a UK aid agency. The job entails overseas postings of up to a year at a time, often in places where modern medical facilities do not exist and gathering material such as multi-source feedback is not practicable. The agency expects me to keep my licence during this time. How can I demonstrate that I am meeting the UK standards necessary for revalidation?
- 6. How will I be contacted about my revalidation while I am overseas?
- 7. When I return to the UK, will I need to go through a re-entry programme?
More information can be found on our revalidation page.
<< Return to main page More Revalidation FAQs >>
1. I am on the specialist register and have worked for many years in the UK. I have moved to another country to work, but would like to return to the UK in a few years time. What can I do to maintain my licence to practise?
Unless your overseas employer requires it, there is no need for you to maintain your licence to practise if you are not practising in the UK. You can voluntarily relinquish your licence and apply for it to be restored when you return to the UK, at no cost. Restoring your licence and your entry in the specialist register will usually be straightforward. It will generally be easier for you to do this than to maintain your licence while working overseas.
If you decide to maintain your licence to practise while you are working abroad, you will need to participate in revalidation. Revalidation is being designed to ensure that doctors practising in the UK are doing so to the appropriate professional standards, and systems (such as strengthened appraisal and colleague and patient questionnaires) are being put in place to support this. Because those systems, or equivalent systems, may not exist in other countries, revalidation will be less straightforward for you. You will still be required to show that you are meeting the same professional standards as doctors practising in the UK, but the information and systems that you use to demonstrate this will obviously be different.
What information you can provide will, to some extent, be determined by the systems and processes in place where you are working. But you will need to look at the standards that the College/Faculty is developing for your specialty, and at the examples of supporting information which it recommends as necessary for showing that you are meeting those standards. Those standards are based on the generic Good Medical Practice standards set by the GMC that all doctors will need to meet.
For doctors in the UK, systems of annual appraisal will provide confirmation that they are meeting the required standards. Depending on your circumstances overseas, it seems likely that participation in an appraisal system abroad will not always, in and of itself, be sufficient to assure the GMC that you can be revalidated.
You should therefore remain aware of the evidence requirements for NHS appraisal and keep collecting such information in relation to your clinical practice (wherever this may be).
The GMC will also require confirmation of your continued good standing with the medical regulator in the jurisdiction where you are working.
You should also link with a Responsible Officer in the UK. A Responsible Officer will normally be a senior doctor in a UK healthcare organisation, such as the medical director. They will have specific duties relating to the evaluation of doctors' fitness to practise for the purpose of revalidation. They will help to ensure that individual doctors are meeting the requirements for revalidation and will make recommendations to the GMC about whether they should be revalidated.
If your work overseas enables you to maintain a connection with a UK healthcare organisation which will be appointing a Responsible Officer, this is likely to make the revalidation process more straightforward for you. If you are unable to link to a Responsible Officer in the UK the only option is likely to be for the GMC to evaluate the information you provide in support of your revalidation.
2. Can I be appraised for revalidation while I am overseas?
We would not want to discourage doctors from having appraisals while overseas, including virtual appraisals, as these are likely to be valuable in their own right and aid professional development.
However, unless the appraisal corresponds with those being used in a UK context (incorporating the essential elements of the Good Medical Practice Framework for appraisal and assessment, and an evaluation against the relevant specialty standards) and is subject to the same quality assurance processes, it is unlikely to meet the requirements for revalidation.
3. I am intending to work abroad for a couple of years. If I give up my licence to practise will I need to revalidate or pass a test of some kind in order to re-gain my licence?
This is highly unlikely. Our aim is to make it easy for doctors who are taking career breaks or moving overseas for a short period to re-enter the workforce once they are ready to resume medical practice in the UK.
However, we will reserve the option to require someone to revalidate at the point of restoring their licence if it has become clear that they are repeatedly relinquishing and then restoring their licence in order to avoid undergoing revalidation.
4. If I am working outside the UK will I need a UK-based Responsible Officer?
This will only be relevant if you continue to hold a licence to practise while working outside the UK.
A Responsible Officer will help to ensure that you are meeting the requirements for revalidation and will make a recommendation to the GMC about whether you should be revalidated. If your work overseas enables you to maintain a connection with a UK healthcare organisation which will be appointing a Responsible Officer, this is likely to make the revalidation process more straightforward for you.
But if you have no connection with the UK while away, linking with a Responsible Officer may not be practicable. This will not necessarily prevent you from being revalidated because it will still be open to you to provide information to demonstrate that you are continuing to comply with UK standards. But if you are unable to link to a Responsible Officer in the UK, the only option is likely to be for the GMC to evaluate the information you provide in support of your revalidation. There will be a cost for this.
5. I work for a UK aid agency. The job entails overseas postings of up to a year at a time, often in places where modern medical facilities do not exist and gathering material such as multi-source feedback is not practicable. The agency expects me to keep my licence during this time. How can I demonstrate that I am meeting the UK standards necessary for revalidation?
Even though you are working abroad for part of the time, you should still be able to draw on information from your practice during the time you are in the UK to support your revalidation. If this does not cover the full five years of your revalidation cycle, we will have the option of deferring your revalidation for a short period (during which you would keep your licence). Alternatively, we will be able to revalidate you on the basis of less than five years' supporting information as long as you demonstrate your performance across the four domains of the Good Medical Practice Framework for appraisal and assessment and the specialty standards set by the relevant medical Royal College or Faculty for your specialty.
6. How will I be contacted about my revalidation while I am overseas?
If you wish to keep your registration and licence to practise while you are overseas you will be expected to maintain an effective postal address at which the GMC can contact you about revalidation or any other matters. If you fail to maintain an effective postal address, you your registration and licence may be withdrawn.
7. When I return to the UK, will I need to go through a re-entry programme?
This will not be necessary as a condition of maintaining or restoring your licence, but your employer may require it.