Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMed) runs a programme that enables its graduates to gain full registration with the UK General Medical Council (GMC) after completing a year of House Officer training at one of the 8 approved hospitals in Malaysia. This programme recognises the House Officer training as being equivalent to Foundation Year 1 (F1) in UK.
Currently, I am working as a House Officer at Hospital Enche' Besar Hajjah Khalsom, Kluang and I am joining the programme. Here, I would like to share some guidance for the programme.
The requirements for gaining GMC full registration through the programme:
- You must be a graduate of the NUMed MBBS course.
- You must undergo House Officer training at one of the 8 hospitals approved by GMC:
(i) University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur
(ii) Hospital Enche' Besar Hajjah Khalsom (HEBHK), Kluang
(iii) Hospital Sultan Ismail (HSI), Johor Bahru
(iv) Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA), Johor Bahru
(v) Penang General Hospital
(vi) Hospital Sibu
(vii) Sarawak General Hospital, Kuching
(viii) Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kota Kinabalu
- You must have provisional registration with the GMC by the time you start working as a House Officer.
- You must complete 3 postings in your House Officer training successfully and keep the complete logbooks for the 3 postings.
- You must complete the Additional Procedures Form.
- You must complete the Your School Your Say (YSYS) survey and the Equality and Diversity (E&D) module.
- You must complete 3 pieces of reflective accounts. A sample of the reflective accounts is available here: https://daniellimjj.blogspot.com/2023/07/numed-arcp-reflections-sample.html
- You must keep in contact with NUMed and update NUMed regarding your progress in House Officer training when necessary.
The procedure for joining the programme:
1. After you get a place for House Officer training at one of the approved hospitals, apply for provisional registration with the GMC as soon as possible. You have to apply through GMC Online and pay GBP52 to GMC.
2. Email NUMed to inform that you would like to register for the programme. NUMed will send you the application form, Additional Procedures Form and Template for Reflections.
3. Complete the application form and pay RM2000 to NUMed. This should be done within 3 months of starting your House Officer training.
4. Within the first year of your House Officer training, complete the Additional Procedures Form and ensure that it is properly signed and stamped. You also have to write 3 pieces of reflective accounts based on the Template for Reflections.
5. At some point during your House Officer training, NUMed will send you the links for Your School Your Say (YSYS) survey and Equality and Diversity (E&D) module. Complete them accordingly.
6. If you have any extensions or unanticipated absence in your House Officer training, you need to inform NUMed about that promptly.
7. You have to complete 3 postings in House Officer training successfully. Ensure that you have complete logbooks that are properly signed and stamped for the 3 postings.
8. After you have completed all of the above, you will undergo the Annual Review of Competence Progression (ARCP). NUMed will inform you about the date of the ARCP.
9. Once you are successful in the ARCP, you will be given a Certificate of Experience which you can use to apply for full registration with the GMC.
The benefits of GMC full registration:
- Right after you gained GMC full registration, you are eligible to apply for the Foundation Year 2 (F2) Stand-alone programme and the Widening Access to Specialty Training (WAST) programme in UK.
- If you choose to complete the 2nd year of House Officer training in Malaysia after gaining GMC full registration, you may apply for specialty training in UK directly.
- There are also various locum posts in UK you can apply for with GMC full registration.
- Some other countries recognise GMC full registration, so you may be able to practise Medicine in those countries.
- Unlike GMC provisional registration, GMC full registration doesn't expire and is valid indefinitely.
Other information:
- In addition to this programme, NUMed graduates have the option of joining the 2-year UK Foundation Programme (UKFP).
- NUMed graduates are exempted from taking the PLAB, IELTS and OET when applying for provisional registration or full registration with the GMC.
- House Officer training in Malaysia is only open to Malaysian citizens. Therefore, non-Malaysian citizens are unable to join the programme.
- If you do not fulfill every single one of the requirements for the programme (e.g. you are not a NUMed graduate or you are doing House Officer training at a hospital not approved by GMC), you are not eligible to join it.
- If you are not eligible for the programme, it may still be possible for you to apply for GMC full registration provided that you have completed a year of House Officer training at any hospital. In that case, you need to apply to GMC directly and they can take into consideration your work experience as a House Officer. However, the process is quite complicated and there is no guarantee of success.
- Other hospitals may be added to the list of hospitals approved by GMC in the future, but no information on that is available currently.
For more information on this programme, go to these pages:
Hi. Can you please recommend me some books to revise for housemanship during the waiting period and also during the housemanship?
ReplyDeleteHi...I am a final year med student. Do you have any idea how long the waiting period to get housemanship will be? Previously I heard that it was about 1 year. But last year, my senior who graduated in June got her placement in September. Is the waiting period shorter now?
ReplyDeleteSince last year, the waiting period for housemanship in Malaysia has significantly reduced. It's now about 3 to 4 months.
Deletethank you
DeleteHi, is it true that NUMed graduates are able to get a place in FY1&2 foundation training (I wonder if there could be any hidden obstacles)? I’m worried due to the current situation for Malaysian Doctors and I wasn’t doing SPM (I did IGCSE) so I can’t apply for housemanship unless I go for the SPM examinations…
ReplyDeleteAs NUMed uses the same curriculum and assessments as Newcastle University UK, NUMed graduates have always been exempted from taking the PLAB, IELTS and OET exams when applying for FY1.
DeleteBefore 2018, FY1 places were reserved for UK and EU citizens only, making it impossible for NUMed graduates to get a place. In 2018 and 2019, non-UK non-EU citizens were allowed to apply for FY1, but places had to be offered to UK and EU citizens first, which meant that it was still difficult for NUMed graduates to get a place.
This changed in 2020 after UK faced a shortage of doctors due to Brexit. Since 2020, all FY1 applicants regardless of nationality are considered on equal grounds. Therefore, NUMed graduates now have a very good chance of getting a place for FY1.
However, nobody can say for sure that the regulations won't change again in the future. Since 2021, the number of FY1 applicants each year has been very high, due to great increase in applications from non-UK non-EU citizens. This has resulted in many applicants, including UK citizens, being placed on the reserve list.
So far, they have been able to offer all applicants on the reserve list a place for FY1, but this may not be the case in the coming years if the number of applicants continues to increase. There have been calls in the UK to reintroduce restrictions for non-EU non-UK citizens applying for FY1, but no decisions on that has been made for now.
Anyone who gets into FY1 is guaranteed a place for FY2 as long as they complete FY1 successfully.
Currently, Malaysian citizens without SPM can get into housemanship in Malaysia. However, they must have a minimum grade C for the Bahasa Melayu subject in SPM by the time they complete the 2 years of housemanship, otherwise they will not be allowed to proceed to working as a Medical Officer.
DeleteI see, thanks for the reply! I wonder if they look at how good are your performances when they accept FY1 applicants or it’s just sheer luck?
DeleteAll FY1 applicants have to take the Situational Judgement Test (SJT). The SJT is an aptitude test, it does not test your medical knowledge or skills. Since 2021, the SJT is held online. The higher your SJT score, the better is your chance of getting a place for FY1 and getting your preferred choice of hospital.
DeleteHi, thank you for sharing the details of this programme! I would like to ask if our final year exam scores is included as a requirement for the application of UKFP?
ReplyDeleteAnd for the application of houseman training in one of the 8 approved hospitals by GMC, so can we choose by ourselves which hospital we want? And if we unsuccessfully get one of the 8 approved hospitals, does this mean we will not be able to apply for provisional registration with GMC?
Thank you!
You don't need to have your final year exam results at the time of application for UKFP. Final year exam scores are also not included in the calculation of the decile ranking for UKFP. You just have to ensure that you successfully graduate before the start date of UKFP.
DeleteYou can choose by yourself any 1 of the 8 GMC-approved hospitals through the e-Housemen system. However, there is high competition for places at some hospitals and not every hospital may have vacancies in each e-Housemen intake. If you don't get your preferred hospital, you may choose to defer to the next e-Housemen intake. There are 6 intakes each year.
If you don't work in 1 of the 8 GMC-approved hospitals, you cannot join the programme by NUMed that leads to GMC full registration as described in this blog post. However, it's still possible to apply for GMC full registration in an alternate way. In this case, you have to apply to GMC directly and not through NUMed, and GMC can take into consideration your work experience of at least 1 year in any hospital. However, the process is quite complicated and there's no guarantee of success.
Hey, how can international students apply for registration with the GMC through NUMED?
ReplyDeleteInternational students are not eligible to join House Officer training in Malaysia. Therefore, they cannot get full registration with the GMC through the programme described above.
DeleteInternational students who graduate from NUMed can still apply for the UK Foundation Programme (UKFP). They will get full registration with the GMC upon successful completion of 1st year of the UKFP.
Hello! im a Medical Graduate from SEGi University. Do you know if its possible for me to also apply for the GMC full registration despite not being a NuMed graduate?
ReplyDeleteAs you are not a NUMed graduate, you cannot apply for GMC full registration through the ARCP House Officer programme as described above. However, it's still possible for you to apply for GMC full registration directly with GMC instead of through NUMed.
DeleteThere are 2 important requirements to apply for GMC full registration, your degree and your housemanship experience.
Since the SEGi University MBBS degree is not a UK or EU degree, you have to sit for the PLAB. There are 2 parts, PLAB 1 is a written exam while PLAB 2 is a clinical exam. PLAB is quite difficult and expensive, and you have to fly to UK to take PLAB 2.
GMC does not accept the SEGi University MBBS degree as evidence of English language proficiency, so you will have to take the IELTS or Occupational English Test (OET) within the 2 years before you apply for GMC full registration. You have to get a minimum of Band 7.5 for each component in the IELTS or a minimum score of 400 for each component in the OET.
You must have completed at least 1 year of housemanship at any hospital. You have to demonstrate that your housemanship is equivalent to Foundation Year 1 (F1) in UK in terms of skills and competencies gained. There are all sorts of evidence you need to provide to GMC, some of which may be difficult to get. The process is quite complicated and there is no guarantee of success.
I believe the process may be a bit easier if you do your housemanship at 1 of the hospitals approved for the ARCP House Officer programme as described above, even though you cannot join the ARCP House Officer programme. This is because at the very least, GMC has already assessed the housemanship training at those hospitals and considers them acceptable for the purpose of granting GMC full registration to NUMed graduates. However, this is just my speculation and there's no official information. In any case, you will still have to provide the required evidence to GMC.