1 PLAB

REGISTRATION OF OVERSEAS QUALIFIED DOCTORS

Background

The Medical Act of 1978 empowered the GMC to require all overseas doctors applying for full or limited registration to show their proficiency in the English language. It also, from February 1979, replaced the system of temporary registration by a better and more flexible system of limited registration. Now, what were the TRA Baord and TRAB exam have become the professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) and PLAB exam.

Limited Registration

Application forms and leaflets explaining the requirements for limited registration and for full registration are available from the GMC for this information you should write to

General Medical Council

Overseas Registration Division

25 Grosfield Street

London WIP 8BP

 

These regulations are fairly complicated and you must read them for youself although the summarised main points regarding limited registration are given below :

1. Limited registration can be granted for a maximum of 5 years.

2. It is only granted for employment under the supoervision of another doctor who is fully registered.

3. It may be granted for only one parpticular employment or for a specified range of employments.

4. It is only granted if, since qualifying, you have completed, outside Britian,, an internship of ast least 12 months' rudation that is recognised as satisfactory by the GMC

5. It is only granted if the GMC is satisfied that you.

(a)            have been selected for employment in an approved hospital or other institution.

(b)            have a medical qualification which the GMC accepts as satisfactory for limited registration.

(c)            are of good character.

(d)            have the necessary knowledge of English and the professional knowledge, skill and experience which are necessary for practice here.

No doctor will be accepted as fulfilling requirement 5(d) unless he has passed or been exempted from the PLAB exam which is designed to test both English proficiency and professional knolwedge and competence. Exemption from the exam may be granted in individual cases:

A.            On the grounds of holding.

(i) suitable primary qualifications (e.g. granted in UK or USA)

(ii)            additional registrable qualifications (e.g. MRCP, FRCS)

B. On ground sof sponsorship or training by

(i) British Council

(ii)            Association of commonwhealth Universities

(iii)            World Health Organisation

(iv)            Council of Europe

(v)            Technical Co-operation Training Agency

(vi)            International Atomic Energy Agency

C.            On grounds of prearranged employment in th egrade of registrar or above in a British medical school or approved hospital.

D.                  By committee decision in certain individual cases, e.g. doctors who have completed

full time courses in Britain as postgraduate students.

However for exemption othe doctor must still fulfill all the other criteria for limited registration and the GMC must have received a certificate from th sponsoring body or the consultant who will supervise the practice in prearranged employment assuring them that the doctor has the necessary knwoledge of English.

It is important to note that any exemption given is only in relatin to the appointment or appointments that have been arranged for the doctor or recognised by the sponsoring body or in relation to the clinical post to which he was appointed before his arrival in Great Britain. If the doctor wishes to undertake any other employment which is neither sponsored nor prearranged then he will normally then be required to pass the PLAB exam.

Everyone else must sit the exam and pass it before they can be given limited registration and be allowed to work in Britain.

Eligibility to sit the exam.

To be eligible to sit the exam you have to be a qualified doctor and have completed a 12 months' overseas internship which is accepted by the GMC as satisfactory for the purppose. Two years' experience in any hospital in any branch of medicine or surgery except pathology, anaesthetics or psychiatry, will normally be accepted as the qequivalent of the approved internchip.

The GMC is the definitive authority on eligibility and you must consult with them.

Application forms

Write to the GMC about registration. They will send you information which includes Note LRI Test for limited registration.

Your application should be sent to the Registrar of the GMC and must unclude:

1. A completed application form (LRI Test)

2. The original diploma issued by the  univeristy or other body which granted your registrable medical qualifications or an attested, signed, stamped authenticated, original certifiacte from your university stating you registrable qualifications (or eligibility to receive them)

3. If you qualified in India or Pakistan - an original certificate showing the name of the medical college at which you studied and the dates you started and finished.

4. A remittance of the test fee (at present pounds100)

All documents must be in English or with attached certified official English translation. They must be sent welll in advance of the date of the exam you wish to take (the closing date of admission to each exam is ten days before it), as the waiting may be long and up to 6 months delay can occur.

Dates Venues

There are generally 11 exams per yera at approximately monthly intervals. The exams take place in London, Edinbrugh and Glasgow.