15/09/2026
I appreciate and recognise the success of UKGrads and their achievements in advocating for the Prioritisation Act.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2026/7
However, as a BMA Representative and Peninsula RRDC Chair, I also have a responsibility to listen to every part of our resident doctor workforce.
And today, I heard the voice of an IMG from the other side of the coast.
“My country is where I reside, work, pay taxes, and been both rewarded and fined. It is where my children will grow up, put down their roots, and build their future.
For an overseas-trained doctor, PLAB and UK postgraduate qualifications such as MRCS are GMC-recognised routes and qualifications that provide a route for us to demonstrate the knowledge, clinical competence and professional standards required to practise in the UK.
In the other world, this process is commonly referred to as the “British Equivalency” because, in practical terms, it is the process through which an international medical qualification is assessed and the doctor demonstrates that they meet the standards required to practise within the UK system. Even if you rename it “UKMLA”, it is still obvious that it is the UK Medical Licensing Assessment.
As IMGs, we suggest that the principle should be simple:
Once an IMG has successfully obtained GMC registration, passed UK postgraduate examinations, accumulated substantial NHS experience for one to two years and demonstrated competence within the NHS, the question should be left to the national training panel whether that doctor is competent and appointable, not simply where their primary medical degree was obtained.
We always overlook age, which is really an important factor. For a non-UK graduate to arrive in the UK with a licence to practise, it means a lot; they spent 8 years: 6 years of medical school and two years of internship/foundation training.
Then they have to serve in their country’s health trusts as a mandatory part of their residency, then start their residency, or even finish their five-year residency, +/- 1–3 years of compulsory army service. Then they have to work privately in addition to earn the money to pay for the exams and the English language test.
The average age of an overseas-trained, non-UK graduate is 30, as evidenced by our survey. This means that many of us come to the UK with advanced clinical experience and practice, and waiting for another 3–5 years is neither ethical nor reasonable.
I am ready to discuss the details and the ethos behind this position.
UK graduates and international graduates may have started their medical journeys in different places, but an IMG who has successfully met the GMC requirements, passed UK examinations, and completed two years of NHS experience (a duration during which their performance and competency have been assessed and approved, so that their NHS trusts have renewed their contracts).
I therefore believe that an overseas-trained doctor who has obtained GMC registration, passed the relevant UK medical licensing examinations and accumulated substantial NHS experience of two years should have a fair opportunity to compete for specialty training on merit alongside UK graduates.
Where you graduated should not permanently determine where you belong professionally now.
If I have demonstrated competence, contributed to the NHS and built my life here, I should be judged on what I have achieved and what I can contribute, not simply where my medical degree was issued”.
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