Acceptable primary medical qualification

This guidance provides information for students, doctors and employers about acceptable primary medical qualifications for the purpose of registration.

1. International medical graduates

International medical graduates are defined as those doctors seeking registration with the GMC who have qualified outside the UK and the EEA. Please note that the only UK-based qualifications acceptable for registration are those acquired from one of the 27 UK medical schools recognised by the GMC. The only EEA based qualifications acceptable for registration are those listed in European Directives.

2. Acceptable primary medical qualifications

All international medical graduates must possess an acceptable primary medical qualification in order to apply for registration. In addition, international medical graduates will be required to demonstrate their medical knowledge and skills, knowledge of English, and fitness to practise before they are registered.

The GMC defines an acceptable primary medical qualification as meeting the following five criteria. The primary medical qualification must have:

• Been awarded by an institution listed on the WHO Directory or otherwise accepted by the GMC and be currently acceptable to the GMC. (Please note: the GMC does not accept all primary medical qualifications that are listed on the WHO Directory. See below for more information).
• For those on the WHO Directory, been awarded by an institution that has a physical address included in the WHO Directory.
• Been awarded after a course of study comprising at least 5,500 hours (or four years full time equivalent study).
• Not involved a course of study undertaken wholly or substantially outside the country that awarded the primary medical qualification.
• Have not involved a course of study undertaken wholly or substantially by correspondence.

The GMC currently regards most, but not all, of the primary medical qualifications listed in the World Health Organisation (WHO) directory of medical schools as acceptable for the purposes of registration with the GMC.

Please check in this guidance for the WHO Directory primary medical qualifications that are not accepted by the GMC. The GMC may exclude the primary medical qualifications from any school listed in the WHO directory at any time.

Primary medical qualifications not accepted by the GMC

The following medical schools are currently listed in the WHO directory of medical schools. The GMC is not satisfied about the status of the schools' programmes in the UK with respect to the schools' recognition by the government nor is it assured that the schools' are subject to adequate quality assurance arrangements. At the present time, the GMC is not registering graduates who hold primary medical qualifications obtained from the medical schools listed below. Graduates from these schools are not permitted to make a booking or to take the Professional Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) test.

St Mary’s Medical School
Cook Islands and St Lucia

University of Seychelles American Institute of Medicine
Victoria
Mahe
Seychelles

St Christopher's College of Medicine
Dakar, Senegal

Saint Luke School of Medicine
206 Broad Street, Luke Building, 3471 Monrovia, Liberia

Grace University School of Medicine
Belize

St Matthew’s University School of Medicine
Belize

Primary medical qualifications obtained from the following medical schools may be acceptable for the purposes of GMC registration. Doctors graduating from the following schools seeking registration are advised to contact the GMC as applications will be dealt with on a case by case basis.

Hubert Kairuki Memorial University, PO Box 65300, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

University of the East, Quezon City, Philippines

St Petersburg State Medical Academy, Piskarevsky Prospekt 47, St Petersburg 195067

St Petersburg State I.P Pavlov Medical University, Ulica Tolstogo 6/8
St Petersburg 197089

St Petersburg State Pediatric Medical Academy, Ulica Lilovskaja 2
St Petersburg 194100

College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Rodney Bay, Box 2478
Saint Lucia

International University of Health Sciences, P.O Box 1267, Brannigan House, St Kitts and Nevis

American International School of Medicine, P.O. Box 101728, Guyana

Kigezi International School of Medicine, P.O.Box 7, Kabale, Uganda

University of Sint Eustatius School of Medicine, P.O. Box 73, Orangestad, St Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles

St Theresa's Medical University, PO Box 757, Taylor's Range, Victoria Road, Basseterre, St Kitts

Oceania University of Medicine, Oceania University Building, National Health Complex
Motootua, P.O. Box 232, Apia, Samoa

Acceptable primary medical qualifications which are not on the WHO directory of medical schools

There are a number of additional primary medical qualifications which are not currently listed on the WHO Directory of medical schools but are regarded as acceptable for the purposes of registration with the GMC.

3. Private, UK-based, medical colleges

There are a number of private, UK-based medical colleges that claim that the course of study undertaken substantially or wholly in the UK leads to a primary medical qualification awarded by an overseas University.

Whilst the overseas university may be listed in the WHO directory of medical schools based on its recognition by the country's government, the GMC is not satisfied about the status of the schools' programmes in the UK, specifically the schools' recognition by the government nor is it assured that the schools' are subject to adequate quality assurance arrangements. The overseas universities and their UK base are NOT subject to any quality assurance arrangements by the GMC. In addition, students are not entitled to apply to the student loans company for government funding towards the cost of the tuition fees.

The GMC does not register graduates who have been awarded primary medical qualifications in such circumstances nor does it give any entitlement to book or sit the PLAB test.