Medical Qualifications

The basic medical qualification is a degree in Bachelor of Medicine or Bachelor of Surgery.  The degrees are essentially the same but the names differ according to the university attended.

After graduating all doctors are obliged to hold 2 hospital posts in an approved institution.   The first post is a year as a junior House Officer (HO) in a hospital, followed by 2 years in the post of a Senior House Officer (SHO).  They are then put on the Medical Register by the General Medical Council, the statutory body regulating doctors.  A doctor who is not registered is not allowed to write a prescription or sign a death certificate.

Upon registration doctors undertake the following vocational training:

General Practitioners (GP) have to spend  at least 1 year as a registrar to an approved General Practitioner in practice.  In due course they make take an exam to become members of the royal College of General Practitioners (MRCGP).  Fellowship (FRCGP) is awarded by election, with nomination or assessment.

Physicians have passed an exam for Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP).  They may be elected to the Fellowship (FRCP) at a later date.

Specialist Registrars (SPR) are doctors who have completed specialist training in a particular medical speciality.  They take the first part of the test for Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) and undertake a vocational training period which varies dependent on speciality, with surgical departments requiring 6 years training.  Doctors work on rotation within their chosen speciality at various hospitals, usually for a minimum of 4 months at each.  Every year of their training they must achieve a satisfactory record in training assessment to progress to the next year's training.  The final part of the FRCS can be taken following the 4th year as a registrar.  On successful completion they qualified as Surgeons and entitled to use the title Mr or Miss. 

Consultants are doctors holding posts in the NHS after completion  of the Certificate of Specialist training.  The title is an honorific, not a qualification.

Hospital Consultants are heads of department in a specified hospital.  It is an NHS position which is applied for, no further exam is taken.  Hospital Consultants usually teach as well as practice medicine.

When doctors choose to specialise in a given subject they undertake a course of study usually followed by an exam.  On completion they are granted a Diploma by the organisation responsible for the course.

The letters after a doctors name mean the following (not an exhaustive list):

BS - Bachelor of Medicine
ChB - Bachelor of Medicine
DIH - Diploma in Industrial Health
DLO - Diploma in Laryngology and Otology
DMR - Diploma in Medical Radiology
DO - Diploma in Ophthalmology
DRCOG - Diploma from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
FRCGP - Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners
FRCOG - Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
FRCOphth - Fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists
FRCP - Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
FRCPsych - Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists
FRCR - Fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists
FRCS - Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (I or E at the end denotes Ireland or Edinburgh respectively)
MB - Bachelor of Medicine
MRCOG - Member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
MRCP - Member of the Royal College of Physicians
MRCGP - Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners
MCh - Master of Surgery
MS - Master of Surgery

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