United Kingdom - it is literally a kingdom. High quality of life, amenities, accessible culture, literature, and music are many other notable things about the UK. One of the most prominent among them is its health sector.

Considering the NHS (National Health Service) System - it's the backbone of the UK Health System. All public and private non-profit hospitals are connected to the NHS. Residents in the United Kingdom are provided certain medical services covered by health insurance. Founded in 1948, it has grown to become the one of largest publicly funded health services in the world.

Health is most important to all of us, no matter where we exist. Especially in a developed country like the UK, the social respect and various opportunities and benefits that come from being a doctor or an acting doctor are endless. Undoubtedly being a doctor is a very blessed occupation anywhere in the world.

How to become a doctor in the UK?

To become a doctor in the UK, you must have a medical degree from an accredited medical school. The time it takes to get a medical degree in the UK is usually between 4 and 5 years. After graduation, you must experience two more years of training. At the end of the first year, you will receive a training license and full GMC registration will be completed.

After graduation, there are a few stages to go.

Junior doctors are doctors who have experience in clinical training. Also, they completed the foundation program.

FY1 - Foundation Year 01 Junior Doctors

FY2 - Foundation Year 02 Junior Doctors

ST - Doctors who have received special training in a particular field. Here the number of years of their training is indicated by the last digit Ex: ST5 in Anesthetics.

SpR - Specialty registrar in a hospital speciality

GPST - Specialty registrar in general practice

SHO - Senior house officer

Consultant Doctors also are senior doctors. They have specialised training in a particular field. And they are also responsible for managing senior doctors and junior doctors. It takes at least 8 years to become a consultant.

SAS Doctors are well-trained permanent doctors who have a specific range of special knowledge. They often work part-time as General Practitioners.

General Practitioners (GPs) are knowledgeable about almost all diseases. They are often the first people we meet when we are sick and in case of an exacerbation, they decide whether we should see a related specialist or not.

Academic Doctors who conduct medical research and teach medical students.

We can identify several types of doctors in the medical field. e.g,

Anesthesiologists,

Intensive Care Medicine,

General Practitioners (GPs),

Emergency Medicine,

Obstetrics and Gynecology,

Occupational Medicine,

Physician,

Cardiologists,

 Geriatricians,

Endocrinologists,

Dermatologists,

Surgeon,

Radiologist,

Oncologists, etc.

We encounter some of them in local level health centres, some in hospitals, and others in places like the armed forces. Here, doctors are classified according to their activities and the specialities they have in their field.

Foundation doctors

In the UK, medical students spend approximately between 4 and 5 years at medical school, after which medical students are eligible to work as foundation doctors. Any doctor in the UK starts his journey as a foundation doctor where they decide their future career path be it as a general practitioner (GP), a psychiatrist, or a doctor specialising in Emergency Medicine.

Privileges you can get if you are a doctor in the UK

Being a doctor is a great honour. And being a doctor in a country like the UK is very fortunate. Not one but several reasons can be found in this discourse. On the other hand, the UK is one of the most popular destinations for doctors. Likewise, the United Kingdom has the highest medical system among the world's medical systems. In this way, becoming a doctor in the UK is very beneficial for a medical professional.

As foreign medical professionals, we can observe some notable advantages here.

Working in a top healthcare system like in the UK gives you a unique experience & Skills

Here you are working in one of the world's largest healthcare systems. Working with expertise and learning in all aspects is a great experience. Otherwise, you have an incredible chance to encounter pressure and learn more through it. It helps to you become a strong and experienced person.

You are able to get good living conditions and a good salary.

The UK is the most developed country in the world and suitable for living. A country that is highly developed in terms of technology and its morals and respects the diversity of others very highly.

Here you can live a good life as a doctor with a very good salary. Let’s look into their earnings approximately:

Foundation Training - approximately  £29,384 to £34,012

Specialist training - approximately £40,257 to £53,398

Speciality doctors - approximately £50,373 to £78,759.

Specialist grade doctors - approximately  £80,693 to £91,584.

Consultants - approximately £84,559 to £114,003

General practitioners  - approximately £62,268 to £93,965.

Above are only a few primary perks. Let’s discuss more benefits with some details:

Annual Leave

Here you get some significant holidays and they are paid holidays. If you work bank holidays you may get another paid holiday instead. The more you have worked with NHS, the more annual leave you will get.

Study Leave

If you are an FY2 or above level trainee you get 30 holidays per year. You can use it for your studies, seminars, etc.

Study Budget

Here, as a relief to you, if you perform in a training period, they arrange to give you some money. You can spend this on small expenses like your food, accommodation, travel expenses, and sometimes your educational activities, and it is a significant help even if it may not be enough, but it helps of course.

Study Sessions

You can attend these study sessions once a week or several times a month. Whether you are a trainee or not, this opportunity is often available to you. Mainly this is an external benefit from your study leave benefit.

NHS Pension Scheme

When you retire you are eligible to be entitled to an excellent pension scheme.

Maternity and Paternity Leave

Mothers are entitled to get 1 year of maternity leave and fathers are also enabled to get 2 weeks of paternity leave.

Parental Leave

The amazing thing is you get 18 weeks of parental leave for each child. You can stay and enjoy yourself with them, help them settle in school and stay in the hospital when needed.

NHS Discount

As a Doctor in the UK, there is a marvellous perk to claim. There are so many money-saving deals & discounts for selected shops and services on Finance, Shopping, Travelling and many more.

Personal Satisfaction

Being a doctor is a challenge. Sometimes busy schedules, fatal injuries, and serious patients. But after all, it's a huge satisfaction. You have the ability to save lives and also every day you may face challenges. Every day you feel satisfied with yourself.

As a doctor in the UK, you can claim all the perks mentioned above. There is another valuable advantage that you can get during this incredible series of opportunities. You can also work as a locum in the UK. There you will have many more opportunities.

How to become a locum doctor

Considering the requirements to become a locum doctor, all the qualifications required to become a GP should be met. You need to register as a GP and you need to have a full register on GMC (General Medical Council).

Here, the benefits you will get if you join as a locum doctor are,

Ability to earn more.

If you are a medical student or a foundation doctor, you can pay attention more to your education since you have more time.

You can work in different places and you can control your schedule.

Lower stress level

Lower working load

Job Opportunities in the UK

There are multiple permanent and locum vacancies for doctors across the UK. There were over 123,800 doctors reported in the UK. However, the number is not enough to fill the number of vacancies. There are nearly 62300 doctor vacancies currently advertised in the UK.

Best job locations in the UK

England has a special spot in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, London is a unique capital city. Anyway, some of the best NHS hospitals in the UK are located in London. Mainly Manchester, Leeds, and Lancaster are also the cities with the same growth and these cities are also very busy with job growth. According to Medfuture,  Liverpool, British Overseas Territories, Glasgow also has big opportunities for locum doctors.

Read below blog post to know more

Top 05 Locations to Locum in the UK

IMG pathway to relocate to the UK

Here, the IMG process is primarily tied around GMC registration. The reason is that this is the most basic thing that an international doctor must fulfil to become a UK doctor. You must register and need to get a CMG license to practice medicine in the UK.

First, you must submit an application to get Registered with the GMC: Register on GMC

Next, you must take a language test exam either IELTS or OET

Also, you need to do the PLAB test: Learn more about the PLAB Test

If you don’t have an Internship, you must connect with a foundation program in the UK then you need to get an internship in a public hospital.

Apply for a Foundation Program

Guide to Medical Registration

UK Foundation Program

In Foundation Programme you’ll meet two years of the training program.

Based on our discussion, you are now considering becoming a doctor in the UK. The UK is one of the best destinations to become a doctor. For any query or any support visit www.medfuture.co.uk