Spain – Evidence of qualifications

This page is to explain what evidence of qualifications doctors who qualified in Spain need to supply to support their registration application.

Below is information about

Medical regulatory authority

Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo
C/ Paseo del Prado 18-20
E-28071 Madrid
Spain
Tel: +91 596 1089/90/91
Fax: +91 596 4315

Full registration

You will need to hold a Título de Licenciado en Medicina y Cirugia or a Titulo de Licenciado en Medicina (university degree in medicine and surgery) awarded by the rector of a Spanish university or the Ministerio de Educacion y Cultura (Ministry of Education and Culture). If you have not yet been awarded your Título de Licenciado en Medicina y Cirugia, you will need to hold a temporary degree certificate awarded by the Ministry of Education and Culture or the rector of your university.

Specialist register

To hold specialist registration you must also hold full registration.

Your specialty must be listed in Annex V of the Directive 2005/36/EC by the country that awarded it and have a corresponding entry for the United Kingdom.

If you want to apply for specialist registration and you do not already hold full registration, you should apply for full and specialist registration at the same time.

You will need to hold a Título de Especialista (professional qualification of a specialist) awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs or the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture.

If your Título de Especialista was awarded before 1 January 1986, or if you began your training leading to the award of that certificate before that date, you will need to hold either:

A letter from the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs or the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture confirming that the training leading to the award of your specialist qualification meets the standards laid down in Articles 25, 26 and 27 as appropriate of Directive 2005/36/EC.

OR

If your specialist training does not meet those standards you will need to hold a letter from the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs, the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture or the medical regulatory authority in the country where you are now working, confirming that you have been practising in the specialty in which your certificate of medical specialisation was awarded for the period required by Article 23.1 of Directive 2005/36/EC.

If the title of your Spanish specialist certificate is not as described above or the specialty in which it is awarded is not the same as that specialty listed in Annex V of Directive 2005/36/EC you will also need to hold a letter from the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs or the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture confirming that your training leading to the award of the specialist certificate meets the standards laid down in Articles 25, 26 and 27 as appropriate of the Directive and that the specialty is treated in law by Spain as a certificate of medical specialisation in the relevant speciality as set out in Annex V of Directive 2005/36/EC.

If you are a Spanish MESTOS doctor who completed your specialist training in Spain before 1 January 1995 but your training did not meet the standards laid down in Articles 25, 26 and 27 as appropriate of Directive2005/36/EC you will need to hold:

A specialist qualification

AND

A certificate from the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs or the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture which confirms that you have passed the test of professional competence organised in the context of the special regularisation measures contained in Royal Decree 1497/99 with the aim of verifying that you have a level of knowledge and competence comparable to that of doctors holding a Título de Especialista in the relevant specialty listed in Annex V of Directive 2005/36/EC.

If you are not eligible to enter the specialist register via the criteria outlined (above) you can apply to the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) to be assessed via the Article 14 equivalence route. Doctors applying via the Article 14 route will be required to demonstrate that their specialist qualifications, knowledge and experience gained are equivalent to that of a doctor completing a UK specialist training programme in your specialty. For further guidance, including application forms and a list of frequently answered questions, please visit the PMETB website. Please note that PMETB cannot accept CVs/resumes in isolation.

GP register

To hold GP registration you must also hold full registration.

If you want to apply for GP registration and you do not already hold full registration, you should apply for full and GP registration at the same time.

You will need to hold either:

A Título de especialista en medicina familiar y comunitaria (specialist certificate in family and community medicine) awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs or the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture. If your Diploma does not clearly state that your training for general medical practice meets the standards laid down in Article 28 of Directive 2005/36/EC you will need a letter from the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs or the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture which confirms that your training meets those standards.

OR

A certificate of acquired rights for general medical practice awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs or the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture. The certificate must state that it was issued to you in accordance with Article 30(1) of the Directive 2005/36/EC.

If you are not eligible to enter the GP register via the criteria outlined (above) you can apply to PMETB via the Article 11 equivalence route. Doctors who apply using this method will have their training, qualifications and experience compared against the standard required for doctors completing a UK General Practice training programme. Successful applicants will be given a statement confirming their eligibility for entry to the GP Register and hence eligible to work as a GP in the UK. For further information and to request an Article 11 application pack, please visit the PMETB website. Please note that PMETB is unable to accept CVs/resumes in isolation and cannot process applications that are not made through the correct channels.