Planning your career

How is the UK training system currently set up?

Before Modernising Medical Careers, the training system began with a one year post at preregistration house officer level, where a doctor would spend six months in medicine and six months in surgery before working for a number of years as a senior house officer in various disciplines of the doctor's choice. Thereafter, competitive entry for a national training number in a given specialty (in which there were a limited number of places) was undertaken to gain a specialist registrar post. On completion of registrar training, which was usually around five years, the doctor could apply for a certificate of completion of specialist training and would then be entitled to work as a consultant in the UK.

The new system differs in that all trainees including UK and international graduates will follow a similar generic programme for the first two years after graduation or entry to the UK. This is called the foundation programme and will generally include experience in six different specialties. At the end of the foundation programme, doctors must select their chosen specialty and apply for a run-through training post in that discipline. Run-through trainees will be known as specialty registrars …