FAQs - Different types of medical practice
Last updated: 1 March 2010
Questions on this page
- 1. I work in a field that is not connected with a medical Royal College or Faculty. How do I revalidate?
- 2. I work in an area of medical research in which I do not prescribe or see patients. Will I be able to revalidate given that I do not undertake any clinical work and cannot collect feedback from patients?
- 3. I work in non-clinical role and do not currently see patients. Will revalidation prevent me from returning to clinical medicine later in my career?
- 4. I am a retired GP who does sessions in dermatology clinics. How do I revalidate?
- 5. I am a locum consultant, and not on the specialist register. How do I revalidate?
- 6. I am a specialty doctor (SAS grade) who has practised in my specialty for the last 10 years in the UK. I do not have the Fellowship and am not on the specialist register. How will this affect my revalidation?
- 7. I work as an academic and a clinician. Will my revalidation have to be based on the same supporting information (content and breadth) as a full-time clinician? What about the evidence from my university appraisal process?
- 8. I am an associate medical director/senior manager in my Trust but I still undertake a limited amount of clinical work. I hope to maintain my clinical role. How should I prepare for revalidation?
- 9. I am a European national and work in the UK occasionally for a few weeks a year. Will I need to be licensed and participate in revalidation?
More information can be found on our revalidation page.
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1. I work in a field that is not connected with a medical Royal College or Faculty. How do I revalidate?
The revalidation model will be the same for doctors working outside the mainstream specialties as for all other doctors. You will need to participate in a system of annual appraisal in your workplace. As part of the appraisal process, you will need to show that you are complying with the standards set out in the Good Medical Practice Framework for appraisal and assessment.
You will need to link to a Responsible Officer within the main organisation where you are working. The Responsible Officer will make a recommendation to the GMC regarding your revalidation. If you are not in an organisation with access to a Responsible Officer, you are strongly advised to make other arrangements to access a Responsible Officer. There are likely to be several organisations which will provide Responsible Officer facilities, including the Independent Doctors Federation (opens in new window).
2. I work in an area of medical research in which I do not prescribe or see patients. Will I be able to revalidate given that I do not undertake any clinical work and cannot collect feedback from patients?
Yes. Even though you are not involved in clinical work you will still be able to revalidate.
If you hold a licence to practise your revalidation will be based on the work that you do. Even if you do not see patients, you should still be able to obtain feedback on your work from colleagues and participate in an annual appraisal based on the Good Medical Practice Framework for appraisal and assessment.
We are working with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and others to develop a series of frameworks that describe the standards which are applicable for doctors in a range of non-clinical roles, and the types of information that they might bring to appraisal to show how they are meeting those standards. We will consult on these later in 2010.
3. I work in non-clinical role and do not currently see patients. Will revalidation prevent me from returning to clinical medicine later in my career?
No. Your licence is generic. It will not restrict you to working in a particular specialty or field of practice. You will, however, be bound by the professional obligation in Good Medical Practice to recognise and work within the limits of your competence. If you have been out of a specific field of practice for a significant period it is your responsibility to consider what additional support you may need to help you to re-enter that field of practice safely.
4. I am a retired GP who does sessions in dermatology clinics. How do I revalidate?
Revalidation is based on what doctors do in practice. You will need to show that you are practising in accordance with the relevant specialty standards (in this case, the physician medicine specialty standards) and you will do this through your participation in workplace appraisal.
5. I am a locum consultant, and not on the specialist register. How do I revalidate?
The requirements for your revalidation will be exactly the same as for your colleagues on the specialist register. However, we recognise that there may be greater challenges for locum doctors, and the range of information you bring to appraisal may be different from other doctors.
As a locum consultant, you will still be required to demonstrate that you are practising to the appropriate standards for the specialty in which you are working. Whether you are on the specialist register or not, the specialty standards that you need to meet will be the same.
This is possible because revalidation for all doctors will be largely rooted in the evidence of their actual practice, and the information you provide will reflect what you do as a doctor. The relevant Royal College/Faculty will be able to provide you with guidance on the specialty standards and information requirements in your specialty.
You will also need to link to a Responsible Officer. Proposals for how locum doctors will do this are still being finalised by the four health departments of the UK. In England and Wales the current proposals are that locum agencies should be designated to appoint Responsible Officers for locums in secondary care. In Scotland the link will be with the Responsible Officer for the appropriate Health Board. In Northern Ireland, the link could be with the locum agency or the organisation where the locum doctor delivers most of his or her work.
Locums working in primary care will be on a Performers List and will link to the Responsible Officer in the primary care organisation whose list they are on.
6. I am a specialty doctor (SAS grade) who has practised in my specialty for the last 10 years in the UK. I do not have the Fellowship and am not on the specialist register. How will this affect my revalidation?
The revalidation process will also be the same for you as for doctors on the specialist register. You will need to participate in a process of annual appraisal where you will be required to demonstrate that you are practising to the appropriate standards in your specialty. Whether you are on the specialist register or not, the specialty standards that you have to meet will be the same. What may differ is the nature of the information about your practice that you will provide to show you are meeting those standards. Because revalidation for all doctors will be largely rooted in the evidence of their actual practice, the information you provide will reflect what you do as a doctor.
The outputs from the appraisal process will be considered by your Responsible Officer and will contribute to the recommendation to the GMC about whether you should be revalidated.
7. I work as an academic and a clinician. Will my revalidation have to be based on the same supporting information (content and breadth) as a full-time clinician? What about the evidence from my university appraisal process?
Yes. Revalidation needs to affirm that you are practising in accordance with the standards appropriate for your specialty. You will need to be able to show that you are meeting those standards through the work you do within your specialty.
Appraisal will need to encompass all of the work that you do, including your academic work. But this will not require you to undergo separate revalidation processes for the different elements of your clinical and academic work. You should be able to demonstrate your continuing fitness to practise for the purposes of revalidation through an appraisal process if that process is compliant with the Follett principles.
8. I am an associate medical director/senior manager in my Trust but I still undertake a limited amount of clinical work. I hope to maintain my clinical role. How should I prepare for revalidation?
Your revalidation will be based on the whole of your medical practice, both clinical and non-clinical.
Although you are only undertaking a limited amount of clinical work, you will need to be able to show that you are meeting the standards appropriate for your specialty across the breadth of the clinical work that you do. The relevant College/Faculty will be able to provide you with guidance on the information you will need to collect to show that you are meeting those specialty standards.
Your annual appraisal will need to cover the non-clinical, as well as the clinical, aspects of your work. Guidance on the strengthened appraisal process that is being developed by the NHS Revalidation Support Team will provide for this.
9. I am a European national and work in the UK occasionally for a few weeks a year. Will I need to be licensed and participate in revalidation?
Yes, you need to hold a licence to practise. Your licence will be granted when you register with the GMC. If you hold a licence and full registration you will need to revalidate. This applies whether you are established in practice in the UK or, for example, here to provide regular locum services.
There will be a small number of European Economic Area (EEA) doctors who are only granted temporary registration and a licence because they are providing only temporary and occasional services in the UK (usually just a few days or weeks a year). An example might be a visiting academic who is here to demonstrate a particular procedure. Under European Commission law we cannot require this group of doctors to participate in revalidation. However, if the services they are providing cease being temporary and occasional and they become established here in the UK, they will be required to revalidate.
If you are an EEA doctor and are uncertain about your registration and licence status, you should contact the GMC for further advice.