Registration for doctors

After completing your undergraduate medical degree you need to register provisionally with the General Medical Council (GMC). Full registration needs to be made after you have completed Year 1 of the Foundation Programme. 

The GMC licenses doctors to practise in the UK. The main purpose of registration is to ensure doctors’ conduct, professional performance and health meets certain requirements, and to protect the public. The GMC maintains a register of doctors. This is available to the public to enable them to identify qualified medical practitioners.

There are three types of registration:

• provisional - allows a newly qualified doctor to complete the general clinical training needed for full registration
• full - allows doctors to work unsupervised in the NHS or private practice
• specialist – this is required to work as a consultant

Rules governing registration are complex and you should consult the GMC website [1] for full details, as well as how to apply.