Information for UK medical students
Contents
The functions of the GMC
The law gives the GMC four functions:
- keeping up-to-date registers of qualified doctors: all UK graduates must acquire provisional registration with the GMC before they can practise in the UK and train in the Foundation Programme.
- fostering good medical practice: we publish Good Medical Practice for doctors and students must also follow this guidance
- promoting high standards of medical education: more on this function below…
- dealing firmly and fairly with doctors whose fitness to practise is in doubt: we can take action against registered doctors; but medical students are not registered with us, so medical schools must make sure their graduates are fit to practise.
For more information about what we do, please see the Role of the GMC.
Undergraduate medical education – standards and guidance
The GMC sets the standards that medical schools must achieve and what is required of students in order to graduate. These standards are set out in our 2003 document Tomorrow’s Doctors.
We are currently revising these standards so if you have any views or would like us to keep you informed, let us know: tomorrowsdoctors@gmc-uk.org
We have also published guidance on Medical students: professional behaviour and fitness to practise. This is joint guidance published with the Medical Schools Council, which represents the medical schools. The guidance sets out the professional behaviour expected of medical students.
With partners, we have also published advisory guidance for medical schools on encouraging disabled students through their studies.
Undergraduate medical education – quality assurance
We need to make sure that medical schools meet the standards set out in Tomorrow’s Doctors. We do this by getting information from medical schools, arranging visits to the schools by teams of experts and publishing reports on our findings. This process is called QABME – the Quality Assurance of Basic Medical Education.
We do not rank medical schools – our role is to make sure they all achieve the standards that we set.
We do not deal with individual complaints from students – that role is carried out by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator 
(external link - opens in a new window).
You can also view our QABME reports on individual medical schools.
You will find lists of all UK medical schools, and of the schools providing graduate entry programmes and foundation courses, on the website of the Medical Schools Council: http://www.chms.ac.uk/useful_resources.htm
Registering with the GMC
In order to practise in the UK, UK graduates must obtain provisional registration. They need to complete a declaration about their fitness to practise. You will find more information about the declaration and about provisional registration here.
The Foundation Programme and postgraduate training
Nearly all UK graduates enter the two-year Foundation Programme which is organised by the postgraduate deaneries.
The Foundation Programme is subject to standards and quality assurance that are jointly provided by the GMC and the separate Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB). The standards are called The New Doctor.
The GMC and PMETB make sure that the postgraduate deaneries meet the standards in The New Doctor through QAFP – the Quality Assurance of the Foundation Programme. We publish reports of our QAFP findings here.
You will find more information about the Foundation Programme and postgraduate training here.
What we expect of doctors
The GMC issues clear guidance on what is expected of doctors in Good Medical Practice. We also issue guidance on specific issues that come up regularly and this is available here. And we have issued some guidance on Continuing Professional Development.
Good Medical Practice cannot deal in detail with all the dilemmas doctors face. They must use their judgement in applying the principles. But to get a good sense of the practical problems that can arise, take a look at the interactive pages Good Medical Practice in Action.
We keep doctors up to date with regulatory changes and the decisions made by the GMC through our journal GMCToday.
The GMC learning from medical students
Medical students are the experts in what it’s like to be a medical student. So:
- All the QABME visiting teams include medical students
- All the QABME reviews of medical schools incorporate meetings with students to find out what they think
- Medical students are represented on the GMC’s Education Committee
- Medical students are involved and consulted as we develop our guidance and policies, including Tomorrow’s Doctors and Medical students: professional behaviour and fitness to practise
- We issue a regular e-bulletin to interested students: subscribe here.
- In April 2008 we held a Students Forum to find out how we can build stronger links with medical students.
Links
For more information about medical schools, look at the website of the Medical Schools Council. (external link - opens in a new window)
The British Medical Association have a Medical Students Committee to promote the interests of medical students.
The Office of the Independent Adjudicator can consider complaints from students. (external link - opens in a new window)
Detailed information about the Foundation Programme is available from the Foundation Programme office. (external link - opens in a new window)
For information about postgraduate training in general, look at the website for Modernising Medical Careers (external link - opens in a new window). The curricula for specialist training are drawn up by the medical Royal Colleges which work together in of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (external link - opens in a new window).
Postgraduate training is regulated by the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board – PMETB (external link - opens in a new window).
Please contact us if you would like any more information about the GMC’s role and if you have any suggestions about how we should develop our guidance and standards, our quality assurance processes and our interaction with medical students. You can email education@gmc-uk.org.