This is a special post for Paediatricians and those interested in Paediatrics as professionals and wishing to know more about working in this country. Before I begin, let me declare that I am not an expert on advice regarding this, and I am basing whatever I am writing here on my own experience, so please cross-check whatever I advice you on.
First of all, this is not the best place to work if you are looking to make money. This is a fact, and I want to tell you that if the government of the UK, their Department of Health, and the NHS have their own way, salaries might go further south in a year's time, as they are planning to impose a new, less generous salary structure for junior doctors (this includes house officers and registrars in training posts). I have left a far more lucrative job in Saudi Arabia to work in the UK because money was secondary to my first desire, and that was to work in a world-class healthcare service and professionally advance.
Doctors who wish to work in the UK may either choose to come here first on the strength of their performances in the PLAB exams, or qualify with a Membership of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (the M.R.C.P.C.H.) and apply for registration with the General Medical Council (the G.M.C.). No one can work as a doctor unless they are so registered. The final step in G.M.C. registration requires the aspiring doctor to visit their offices in Manchester for an identity check, but you can delay this by upto a few months and do this once you have the job and travel visa to come here to work. The category of application is VERY important. You should choose to go for the "Full Registration with a Licence to Practice" and use the M.R.C.P.C.H. certificate as an "Acceptable Post-graduate Qualification". Many paediatricians from India (including yours truly) get stuck because they think the route applicable to them is applying as a "Specialist Paediatrician" using the CSER route, which requires things that doctors from India have never been exposed to such as audits, research, and what not. Re-read this paragraph again if you wish, but please select the right alternative on the GMC site for your registration. You can accept a job offer before you complete your identity check, but you cannot begin to work until the ID check is complete and you get the information that your licence is approved. The actual certificate may take a fortnight or more before it reaches you, but your name appears on the GMC register, and you can take out a print of this to show to your new employers.
So, the big question is: how to get a job? There are several routes to working in the UK. The easiest one is the one I took. I set up my profile on some job sites, this site being the most important one. There are hundreds of advertised jobs for doctors on this site, and you need to complete a few things such as posting your CV, posting your picture, posting your "Application Letter" and so on, but once you have done all this, the applications are automatically made by the site's servers with just one click on the "Apply for this job" that appears at the bottom of each offer.
Jobs are also advertised on the NHS jobs site, and you may want to try that as well.
The second route is to opt for a Fellowship of 2 years (the so-called Medical Training Initiative route). This is done via a separate pathway that you can study more about on the UK Visa site and THIS site...
The final route is where you come to the UK pretty early in your life on a student visa and complete your medical studies here. In which case, you need not read all the things I have written above, since, in a space of the next six years, you would probably have become a British citizen, and won't need a visa to work here.
Last, but not the least, those who wish to work here must remember that a big chunk of their salary will go to taxes, and more will be collected as pension. The pension amount will come back to you in your old age, but this is compulsary, unlike in India, where one can re-invest pensionable money into tax-saving instruments.
I hope this entry is of some help to people like you - young doctors or paediatricians who dream of working with the NHS in the UK. One thing, though, is clear. They need doctors here, and very badly as well.
First of all, this is not the best place to work if you are looking to make money. This is a fact, and I want to tell you that if the government of the UK, their Department of Health, and the NHS have their own way, salaries might go further south in a year's time, as they are planning to impose a new, less generous salary structure for junior doctors (this includes house officers and registrars in training posts). I have left a far more lucrative job in Saudi Arabia to work in the UK because money was secondary to my first desire, and that was to work in a world-class healthcare service and professionally advance.
Doctors who wish to work in the UK may either choose to come here first on the strength of their performances in the PLAB exams, or qualify with a Membership of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (the M.R.C.P.C.H.) and apply for registration with the General Medical Council (the G.M.C.). No one can work as a doctor unless they are so registered. The final step in G.M.C. registration requires the aspiring doctor to visit their offices in Manchester for an identity check, but you can delay this by upto a few months and do this once you have the job and travel visa to come here to work. The category of application is VERY important. You should choose to go for the "Full Registration with a Licence to Practice" and use the M.R.C.P.C.H. certificate as an "Acceptable Post-graduate Qualification". Many paediatricians from India (including yours truly) get stuck because they think the route applicable to them is applying as a "Specialist Paediatrician" using the CSER route, which requires things that doctors from India have never been exposed to such as audits, research, and what not. Re-read this paragraph again if you wish, but please select the right alternative on the GMC site for your registration. You can accept a job offer before you complete your identity check, but you cannot begin to work until the ID check is complete and you get the information that your licence is approved. The actual certificate may take a fortnight or more before it reaches you, but your name appears on the GMC register, and you can take out a print of this to show to your new employers.
So, the big question is: how to get a job? There are several routes to working in the UK. The easiest one is the one I took. I set up my profile on some job sites, this site being the most important one. There are hundreds of advertised jobs for doctors on this site, and you need to complete a few things such as posting your CV, posting your picture, posting your "Application Letter" and so on, but once you have done all this, the applications are automatically made by the site's servers with just one click on the "Apply for this job" that appears at the bottom of each offer.
Jobs are also advertised on the NHS jobs site, and you may want to try that as well.
The second route is to opt for a Fellowship of 2 years (the so-called Medical Training Initiative route). This is done via a separate pathway that you can study more about on the UK Visa site and THIS site...
The final route is where you come to the UK pretty early in your life on a student visa and complete your medical studies here. In which case, you need not read all the things I have written above, since, in a space of the next six years, you would probably have become a British citizen, and won't need a visa to work here.
Last, but not the least, those who wish to work here must remember that a big chunk of their salary will go to taxes, and more will be collected as pension. The pension amount will come back to you in your old age, but this is compulsary, unlike in India, where one can re-invest pensionable money into tax-saving instruments.
I hope this entry is of some help to people like you - young doctors or paediatricians who dream of working with the NHS in the UK. One thing, though, is clear. They need doctors here, and very badly as well.
Dear Taher, thanks for your effort. Can you explain more about second option???
ReplyDeleteAlso what is the site you apply through it????
As I did not take the second route, I am not able to give you clear directions. You can check the UK visa site. I think there is a category where you are allowed to do a fellowship with leave to stay for only 2 years. During your 2 years, you should look for someone to sponsor you for a job, so that you can return to India and come back with a sponsored work permit.
DeleteThis link gives you more details: http://www.rcpch.ac.uk/training-examinations-professional-development/paediatric-careers-and-recruitment/paediatric-recru-1
DeletePlease could you write your name and some more details about your ownself, unless you wish to remain anonymous.
If they need doctors so badly, do you think that I could start a new career as a med student there? I'm not THAT old... how expensive is the tuition?
ReplyDeleteYou aren't old at all, Holly, but I still think you are best at what you are already doing. I would say stick with that. Thanks for visiting.
DeleteTaher