TERMS NOT ALREADY COVERED

GME in Pakistan     GME in THE UK    GME in THE USA

Basic Specialist Training OR General Professional Training

This refers to the training received at the SHO grade.

Career Grades

The non-training grades - namely the Consultants, Staff grades, Associate Specialist Grades, and the trust grade posts.

Non-Consultant Career Grades

Synonymous with the Staff and Associate Specialist grades. Doctors in the SAS/NCC grades cannot progress further up the NHS hierarchy because they are non-training posts. The emphasis on this grade being a “non-consultant” one is made because while a consultant grade is a career grade, it is at the top of the NHS hierarchy and as such, highly regarded. All other career grades (i.e., the “non-consultant ones) are seen to be (often frustratingly) dead ends to further NHS progression.

MRCP; MRCS

An MRCP(UK) doctor is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom. The MRCP(UK) refers not only to the member, but is also used to refer to the exams needed to pass to become a member, e.g., MRCP Part I exam and so on. The MRCP exam deals with the specialty of medicine. A doctor must be an MRCP(UK), in other words, he must have gotten ‘his membership’ before being able to proceed to Higher Specialist Training in a medical subspecialty.

There are other “memberships” like the MRCS, which stands for the Member of the Royal College or Surgeons.  Each specialty in the UK has its own membership exam and passing them will give you the “membership” into that Royal College.

FRCP

When a member of a Royal College of Physicians stands out in his career as having high academic output, as being ethical (and a number of other criteria), he can be considered for elevation to a Fellow. No exam is taken to become a Fellow – a doctor is considered for a fellowship by the Royal College of Physicians only after receiving written recommendations by two other doctors (who must be Fellows themselves). The Royal College will consider the applications of the two Fellows who recommended the doctor and if the Royal College approves their recommendation, they will grant the MRCP doctor a fellowship after which he will be entitled to refer to himself as an FRCP. It is simply an honorary title, and does not change anything besides cementing the doctor’s reputation. This “Fellowship” should not be confused with the Fellowship of the US system, which is earned after passing through a certain, specific programme.

FRCS

The process of becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons is exam based, unlike the FRCP. It is taken near the end of a surgeon’s Higher Specialist Training, with the exam being different for the different sub-specialties – for example an FRCS(UR) is a surgeon in Urology and an FRCS(NS) is a neurosurgeon, etc…

Honorary or supernumerary post

An honorary post is an unsalaried post. The doctor may receive funding from a grant, fellowship or bursary. A supernumerary post is a post that has been created by placements additional to the agreed number of trainees in approved training posts. A post may be both supernumerary and honorary.

Rotation

This refers to the move from one post or specialty to another. In a period of employment a doctor may have one or more rotation.

Substantive Post

A substantive post is an established permanent post.

Locum Appointments for Training

A Locum Appointment for Training (LAT) is created when there is a vacancy in a recognized training post. The entry criteria for a LAT are the same as for an SpR appointment; the trainee would be appointed at interview in open competition. Each LAT will be three months or more, up to one year, of training in an appropriately approved post. LATs may be accredited towards a CCST programme by the Regional Adviser when the trainee has obtained an VTN/NTN.

Locum Appointments for Service

A Locum Appointment for Service (LAS) does not receive any credit for training and should normally be limited to three months.

Programme

A formal alignment or rotation of posts together comprising a programme of training in a given specialty(ies) which counts towards the award of a CCST.

Specialist Register

A formal listing of all doctors who are in Type I SpR training. From 1 January 1997 inclusion in the Specialist Register became a legal requirement for taking up a substantive Consultant post in the NHS. (Do not confuse with Specialist Registrar.)