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The most frequent areas of concern relating to student fitness to practise
Below are listed the most frequent areas of concern relating to student to practise, and some examples which would cause the GMC concern.
Criminal conviction or caution
Examples:
- Theft
- Financial fraud
- Possession of illegal substances
- Child abuse or any other abuse
- Physical violence
- Child pornography
Drug or alcohol misuse
Examples:
- Drunk driving
- Alcohol consumption that affects clinical work or the work environment
- Dealing, possessing or misusing drugs even if there are no legal proceedings
Aggressive, violent or threatening behaviour
Examples:
- Assault
- Physical violence
- Bullying
- Abuse
Persistent inappropriate attitude or behaviour
Examples:
- Uncommitted to work
- Neglect of administrative tasks
- Poor time management
- Non-attendance
- Poor communication skills
- Failure to accept and follow educational advice
Cheating or plagiarising
Examples:
- Cheating in examinations, logbooks or portfolios
- Passing off others' work as one's own
- Forging a supervisor's name on assessments
Dishonesty or fraud, including dishonesty outside the professional role
Examples:
- Falsifying research
- Financial fraud
- Fraudulent CVs or other documents
- Misrepresentation of qualifications
Unprofessional behaviour of confidentiality or attitudes
Examples:
- Breach of confidentiality
- Misleading patients about their care or treatment
- Culpable involvement in a failure to obtain proper consent from a patient
- Sexual, racial or other forms of harassment
- Inappropriate examinations or failure to keep appropriate boundaries in behaviour
- Persistent rudeness to patients, colleagues or others
- Unlawful discrimination
Health concerns and insight or management of these concerns
Examples:
- Failure to seek medical treatment or other support
- Refusal to follow medical advice or care plans, including monitoring and reviews, in relation to maintaining fitness to practise
- Failure to recognise limits and abilities or lack of insight into health concerns
- Treatment-resistant condition