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Guidance
These documents outline how our standards and outcomes can be met and maintained, looking at certain areas in more detail.
Our ethical guidance
The guidance listed on this page is our guidance for medical students and doctors in training. You can find our ethical guidance for practising doctors in the ethical guidance section.
Our medical education guidance
Achieving good medical practice
This guidance outlines the standards expected of medical students – both inside and outside medical school. It references our ethical guidance Good medical practice.
Continuing professional development (CPD)
Doctors must keep their knowledge and skills up to date throughout their working life and maintain and improve their performance. Continuing professional development is a key way to meet these professional standards.
Designing and maintaining postgraduate assessment programmes
This guidance is supplementary to our curriculum standards, Excellence by design, and gives advice for those making decisions about how programmes of assessment are designed and maintained.
Equality and diversity guidance for curricula and assessment systems
This guide is for medical royal colleges and faculties. It explains the principles for the equality and diversity evidence we need to approve changes to curricula, examinations and assessment systems.
Gateways to the professions
Gateways to the professions provides suggestions to medical schools on ways to make courses more accessible to students with disabilities. The guidance does not lay down new requirements, quality assurance standards or ‘policies’ from us or any of the other organisations involved.
Generic professional capabilities guidance on implementation
This guidance is intended to help colleges and faculties to integrate the Generic professional capabilities framework into their specialty curricula and assessment processes. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges worked with us to produce this guidance.
National professional examinations
To grant a certificate of completion of training, we need to be confident that the doctor has demonstrated the competencies set out in the specialty curriculum through assessments including national professional examinations.
Out of programme doctors in training
A doctor in training that takes time out of their approved programme is said to be out of programme. Find guidance here for doctors in training, postgraduate deans and others dealing with out of programme matters.
Professional behaviour & fitness to practise
This guidance is aimed at medical school and university staff, and placement provider organisations who identify, manage and support students whose professionalism or fitness to practise is a cause for concern.
Programme and site approvals
This area provides information on securing approval for new programmes and sites, along with necessary application forms and lists of currently approved locations.
Promoting excellence equality and diversity considerations
This guide explains our expectations of equality and diversity considerations, so organisations can design and provide education and training that meets the standards set out in Promoting excellence.
Supporting medical students with mental health conditions
This guidance is designed to help medical schools support students who have mental health conditions. It gives examples of good practice and advice for medical schools on how to provide the best possible help to students.
Welcome to medicine
Welcome to medicine gives first year students guidance on what is expected of them as doctors of the future, and offers practical advice to help them get the most out of their time at medical school.
Position statements
Our collection of position statements look at specific areas where we have been asked to provide further clarity or information.
Our projects
Medicine never stops improving, meaning education and training must keep pace. Our projects cover anything which may impact on now or in the future.
