Glossary of doctors
September 2007
Doctors are the primary managers in the treatment of most patients. They examine symptoms, consider a range of possible diagnoses, test the diagnosis, decide on the best course of treatment and monitor the progress of that treatment.
All doctors, in the NHS or private practice, must be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) to undertake clinical practice in the UK. Doctors, particularly in the hospital setting, are often known by the specialist area in which they practise, for example an anaesthetist or an obstetrician, but will practice at a certain grade depending on their level of training and experience.
Doctors start as medical students and, typically, continue training until they become a consultant or GP – general practitioner. Doctors are assessed and examined during their training, with the ultimate aim being the award of a certificate of completion of training followed by entry on the GMC's specialist register or general practitioner register. Doctors from overseas can also gain entry to the specialist or general practice registers providing they have the right qualifications, training and experience. Entry on either of these registers is the marker that says the doctor can act as an independent doctor in the NHS.
The doctors listed in this section of the glossary are all medically qualified and will usually use the title Dr before their name. However, doctors that perform surgery may, due to historical reasons, use the title Mr or Mrs, for example, instead. A doctor could also be a university Professor and use that title instead of Dr.
Academic doctors
Academic or clinical academic doctors are those who often work in hospital or general practice but also spend time teaching or researching at a university. As well as performing the usual duties of a doctor, academic doctors are responsible for teaching new generations of doctors and/or undertaking research in order to forward the science of medicine. Common job titles for academic doctors are: clinical academic fellow, clinical lecturer, clinical research fellow, lecturer, senior lecturer, professor or reader. Academics who are professors or senior lecturers will normally have a consultant contract at a hospital or be a GP – general practitioner. A doctor in a post such as clinical lecturer will also normally also have duties as a specialty registrar or GP registrar.
Medical students
Medical students typically undertake a five-year course of study to become a doctor – two years studying basic medical sciences followed by three years of more clinical training during which they work in hospital wards under the supervision of consultants. If the hospital or practice you attend is one where teaching takes place, you may see medical students accompanying qualified doctors on, for example, ward rounds or in out-patient clinics. As a patient, you should be asked whether you mind a medical student(s) being present. Following success in final examinations, newly qualified doctors receive their primary medical qualification typically denoted in the UK by one of the following: MBBS, MBChB, BM, MB BCh.
Junior doctors
Junior doctors are doctors in training usually in hospital or in general practice. They will have been through medical school and have obtained registration with the General Medical Council, but are not yet trained to a level which allows them to work as a consultant or general practitioner. However, as they progress through training and gain experience their responsibilities increase, but they are always under, though not necessarily directly, the supervision of a senior doctor. On completion of training they gain a certificate of completion of training and gain access to the General Medical Council’s specialist register, for those completing specialist training, or the general practitioner register for those completing training as a general practitioner. All postgraduate training in the UK is overseen by the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board. Junior doctor grades are foundation year 1, foundation year 2, GP registrar and specialty registrar.
Senior doctors
Senior doctors are consultants or general practitioners. They are allowed to practice independently (ie without supervision), and will have been fully trained or have gained an appropriate level of experience. Before a doctor can become a consultant or general practitioner they need to be listed on the General Medical Council’s specialist register, for hospital and other specialists, or the general practitioner register for general practitioners.
Staff and associate specialist grade doctors
Staff and associate specialist doctors are neither junior nor senior doctors. Doctors at this grade are hospital doctors who will normally have spent some time as a junior doctor but will not have formally completed training in the UK or have not yet been judged to have acquired an equivalent level of experience to be registered on the General Medical Council’s specialist register. The main job titles for these doctors are staff grade or associate specialist.
Job titles/grades
Associate specialist
Location Hospital
Description An associate specialist is a doctor who will have trained and gained experience in a medical specialty but has not yet attained the status of a consultant. They will often work without direct supervision, but will be attached to clinical team lead by a consultant in their specialty.
Training An associate specialist will have undertaken some specialist training and will almost certainly have attained the professional qualifications to be a member or fellow of the relevant medical royal college or faculty.
Regulator General Medical Council
Useful links The relevant specialty medical royal college or faculty
Consultant
Location Hospital
Description A consultant is a doctor who is fully trained in a particular specialty area and has the ultimate responsibility for the clinical care of patients. Most consultants work in hospitals in multidisciplinary teams which will include nurses and other healthcare professionals as well as other doctors. Consultants are responsible for the education and supervision of junior doctors in their team and also for the supervision of staff and associate specialist grade doctors.
Training Completion of a specialist training programme (or assessed as equivalent) leading to entry to the General Medical Council’s specialist register, plus continuing professional development.
Regulator General Medical Council
Useful links The relevant specialty medical royal college or faculty
Foundation year 1 (alternatives: house officer, pre-registration house officer), Foundation year 2 (alternative: senior house officer)
Location General practice, Hospital
Description Foundation year doctors are newly qualified medical graduates who undertake a two-year programme of training in order to gain practical experience of being a doctor and gain the general competencies required to be a good doctor. They undertake supervised training in hospitals and sometimes in general practice. After the first year of foundation training the doctor will become fully registered with the General Medical Council. After the second year of foundation training the doctor will decide whether to enter training in a specialist area of medicine or as a general practitioner.
Training The foundation training programme
Regulator General Medical Council
Useful links The relevant specialty medical royal college or faculty, Modernising Medical Careers
GP – general practitioner
Location General practice, Health centre
Description General practitioners have overall responsibility for the management of patient healthcare, including the diagnosis and treatment of health problems and referring patients for specialist treatment where necessary. They are increasingly responsible for monitoring their patients’ health on a regular basis. Some general practitioners develop an interest in a special area, for example, dermatology, epilepsy, mental health or sexual health.
Training Completion of a general practitioner training programme (or assessed as equivalent) leading to entry to the General Medical Council’s general practitoner register, plus continuing professional development.
Regulator General Medical Council
Useful links Royal College of General Practitioners, patient information
GP registrar – general practitioner registrar
Location General practice, Health centre
Description A GP registrar is a general practitioner in training. During this time, under the guidance of a GP trainer, they will learn about how general practice is organised and managed and will see patients both in the surgery and at home. GP registrars also have the opportunity to gain extra skills in areas such as women’s health and drug misuse.
Training Following foundation training, at least three years of further training in approved training posts including at least one year training in a general practice or health centre under the guidance of a GP registered as a trainer. The period of training done in hospital will be as a senior house officer. Successful completion of training will lead to entry on the General Medical Council’s general practitioner register.
Regulator General Medical Council
Useful links Royal College of General Practitioners, patient information, Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board
Specialty registrar (alternatives: registrar, senior house officer, senior registrar, specialist registrar)
Location Hospital
Description Specialty registrar is the grade of doctors in training, typically in hospitals, undertaken after completion of foundation training. They train in a specialist area and progess through the skills and knowledge needed for that specialty. As specialty registrars gain experience they progressively manage more difficult patient complaints, which they are competent to treat, and have increased clinical responsibilities. They will always, though not always directly, be supervised by a consultant. By the end of training a specialty registrar will have attained all the professional qualifications required for their specialty area.
Training Following foundation training, normally between six to eight years of further training, depending on the specialty, in approved training posts leading to a professional qualification from the relevant medical royal college or faculty and, on successful completion of training, entry on the General Medical Council’s specialist register.
Regulator General Medical Council
Useful links The relevant specialty medical royal college or faculty, Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board
Staff grade (alternatives: hospital doctor, trust grade doctor)
Location Hospital
Description Staff or trust grades are doctors who work in a specialist area and undertake clinics and perform procedures under the supervision of a consultant.
Training They are not trainees but will have done some training and are likely to have a professional qualification, or part of, from the relevant medical royal college or faculty.
Regulator General Medical Council
Useful links The relevant specialty medical royal college or faculty
Specialty doctors and related royal colleges and faculties
The medical royal colleges and faculties are the professional bodies for doctors in a certain specialty or specialty area. They also design the curricula that doctors undertake during training and conduct examinations which doctors must pass if they are to progress.
Anaesthetist
Royal College of Anaesthetists, patient information
Emergency medicine doctor (A&E)
College of Emergency Medicine
General practitioner (GP)
Royal College of General Practitioners, patient information
Gynaecologist
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, patient information
Obstetrician
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, patient information
Occupational medicine doctor (occupational health physician)
Faculty of Occupational Medicine
Ophthalmologist
Royal College of Ophthalmologists, patient information
Paediatrician
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Pathologist
Royal College of Pathologists , patient information
Pharmacologist
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine
Physician
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
Royal College of Physicians of London, patient information
- Cardiologist
- Dermatologist
- Endocrinologist
- Gastroenterologist
- General physician
- Geriatrician
- Haematologist
- Neurologist
- Oncologist
- Renal physician
- Respirologist
- Rheumatologist
Royal College of Psychiatrists, patient information
Public health doctor
Faculty of Public Health
Radiologist
Royal College of Radiologists, patient information
Sport and exercise medicine
Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine
Surgeon
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
Royal College of Surgeons of England, patient information
- Cardiothoracic surgeon
- General surgeon
- Neurosurgeon
- Oral and maxillofacial surgeon
- Otolarnygologist (ENT/ear, nose and throat)
- Paediatric surgeon
- Plastic surgeon
- Orthopaedic surgeon
- Urologist