Step 7

This post is continued from my previous post on July 13th titled, "Steps 4-6." If you haven't already read that post, perhaps, you may want to before reading this one. 

I have to admit the verification of my final medical diploma by the University of Pécs Medical School was much quicker than I expected. The day after my last post I received an email confirmation that my final medical diploma had been verified and the EPIC report had been sent to the General Medical Council (GMC).

I immediately logged into my GMC account and began my application. Below I will guide you through the different sections of the application.

1. EPIC Details: I started by putting in my unique EPIC ID. The reference number was accepted and I was able to proceed to the next page of the application. 

2. Name Details: I had to confirm that the name on my medical degree certificate is the same as the one I entered when creating the account. My diploma includes my full name, but I hadn't included my middle name when creating the GMC account, so here I said that my name was not the same and explained that my full name is on the diploma.

3. Internship Details: I had to provide details of my sixth-year internships. One by one I added each rotation with the start and end dates, the speciality, the hospital, and the country. 

4. English Language Declaration: I had to confirm my English Language proficiency. There were several sentences to choose from and the one which applied to me was, "I have passed the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), please enter your test report form number." I entered my test report form number and candidate number.

5. Registration & Licensing: I had to provide details of all the medical regulatory authorities where I have held registration/a license to practise in the last five years. A Certificate of Good Standing needs to be submitted from each of the medical regulatory authorities you have entered. For me, this is only Hungary, but here is where I had to pause completing my application for a few days until I received my certificates from the National Directorate General for Hospitals. 

Just as an FYI - Certificates of Good Standing are only valid for three months from the date they are issued and if your certificate is not in English, then you will also need to provide a translation. In Hungary, you can request English certificates from the National Directorate General for Hospitals by making a note of it on your application form, which can be found online here.

On July 15th, I received an email from the National Directorate General for Hospitals that my certificates were ready and could be collected from their office during consultation hours on Tuesdays between 08:30-12:00 and 13:00-15:00. The following Tuesday, July 19th, I took a train to Budapest, visited their office, and collected my paperwork. Finally, I could continue my application, however, I didn't right away. As soon as I got back to Pécs, I had to finish moving out of my apartment and later that night catch my flights home. Four flights, many delays, and lost baggage later, I arrived home. 

I took the last week to recoup and today, I finally decided to complete the application for my GMC registration.

I proceeded to the next step of my application.

6. Recent Professional Experience: I had to provide information about the last five years of employment or unemployment. You are not allowed to leave any gaps of 28 days or more, otherwise, you are unable to advance to the next page of the application. 

Five years ago would be about the second year of medical school - 2017. One by one I added the second year of medical school, the third year of medical school, the fourth year of medical school, the fifth year of medical school, the summer practices in between each year, and lastly, each rotation in the sixth year of medical school. 

7. Fitness to practise - your health: I had to confirm that I am fit to practise. There are three questions about your health that you need to answer before your application can be submitted. The questions are as follows:

- Has a medical school, university or employer raised concerns about how you managed a health condition, that led to a formal process?

- Has a medical school, university or employer raised concerns about how a health condition affected your ability to study or work as a doctor, that led to a formal process?

- Do you have a serious communicable disease?

Each question can be answered with a yes or no.

8. Declaration of fitness to practise: I had to declare that I am fit to practise. There are seven questions that you need to answer before your application can be submitted. The questions are as follows:

- Have you been formally cautioned or convicted by the police or a court?

- Has any other action been taken against you by the police or a similar organisation?

- Has a medical school or university raised concerns about your professionalism or behaviour, that led to a formal process?

- Has an employer raised concerns about your professionalism or behaviour that led to a formal process?

- Has an organisation investigated concerns about your fitness to practise or refused to register you or give you a license to practise?

- Have you had a medical malpractice or negligence claim made against you that was settled out of court or upheld?

- Is there anything else about your professional performance, professionalism or behaviour that might raise a concern about your fitness to practise as a doctor in the UK?

Once again, each question can be answered with a yes or no option.

At the bottom of the page, there was a message which read, "What happens next? We will review the information you give on your application. If we need more information from you we will get in touch. What if something changes? After you've answered these questions, if something happens that could affect the answers you have given, please tell us as soon as you can."

9. Final declaration: I had to confirm that all the information I provided in my application was correct and true.

10. Payment: I had to pay a fee of £161 to submit my application.  

My GMC registration application is officially submitted!

After submission, a message popped up informing me that I now had to wait for them to assess my application, which usually takes up to five working days and during this time I should receive a list of all the documents I would be required to provide for the application to be complete. 

But immediately, I received a lengthy email from the GMC. The subject was 'Documents we need to process your application for registration with a license to practice.' I needed to send seven documents. 

• Passport
• Relevant European Qualification (REQ) certificate
• Accompanying certificate
• Certificate of Good Standing 
• Evidence of your knowledge of English
• Employer references
• Translations

The email clearly stated that all the documents should be sent as one PDF file. I merged all the files into one PDF and sent the documents to the email address req@gmc-uk.org as instructed.

With all these documents, a decision can now be made about my application. If they require more information, they will let me know. If my application is approved, I will be required to go to their office in the UK for an identity and document check. But until then, it's back to waiting and in the meantime, I'll be enjoying home. 

BRB.....relaxing the sun, sticking my toes in the sand, and swimming in the crystal clear water.