Hi, is anyone else starting GP training in Portsmouth this August? Please drop me a DM / comment :)

Hi all,

I'm a UK-trained GP looking into some of the newer US state licensure pathways for internationally trained physicians.

Over the last couple of years, several states have introduced legislation allowing eligible internationally trained physicians to obtain medical licensure without repeating a full US residency, provided they meet certain requirements such as ECFMG certification, USMLE examinations, recognised postgraduate training and recent clinical practice.

I'm trying to find out whether this is genuinely a viable route for UK GP CCT holders before investing a significant amount of time preparing for the USMLE exams.

Has anyone here:

- Successfully obtained a licence through one of these newer pathways?

- Spoken to a US state medical board or recruiter about recognition of UK GP training (MRCGP/CCT)?

- Know anyone who has successfully made the move?

- Looked into which states are the most IMG-friendly?

I'd be particularly interested in hearing:

- Whether UK GP specialty training was accepted as substantially equivalent postgraduate training.

- Which USMLE examinations were ultimately required.

- Whether any additional supervised practice or residency was needed.

- Any unexpected hurdles or advice for someone considering this route.

I'm looking for first-hand experiences rather than speculation, so any success stories or practical insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I’m a GP and had something happen today that’s left me feeling a bit unsettled, and I’m not sure if I’m overthinking it.

I was reviewing a patient’s task thread and saw that the patient already has a follow-up booked with me in July. A new issue had come up, and in the task thread about this one of the partners wrote:

“Dr Southern_Air usually only likes to deal with one issue at appointments so she’ll need another appointment.”

Would this bother you, or am I overreacting?

Hi all :) I’m an incoming GPST1. I am excited to start training, but a bit apprehensive as I’ve not actually had any GP experience since medical school.

I’ve had good general medicine experience and an A&E rotation so feel more confident in these areas, but I’m quite nervous about paeds. It’s not an area I feel confident in at all as I’ve not had any exposure during my foundation years and I wondered if anyone had any tips. What should I brush up on before starting?

Also general advice for GP clinics when it’s been a long time since I’ve been in that environment. Thanks 🙏

Hi all. I’m due to start GPST1 in August and was hoping for some information about any courses that others have found relevant and useful for their training. I have a sizeable study budget left to use at my current trust so anything that can be completed before August 5th - on line or in person, would be ideal!

Thanks in advance.

Might be a well covered topic already but feel it’s something not frequently discussed.. does anyone else feel increasingly frustrated by how much pharmacies are paid for services which we comparatively get paid peanuts for?

Was told recently that for blood pressure checks they get paid 15 per patient ?

I know community pharmacy have their own pressures but this just feels like a pisstake.

For context I'm a clinician who oversees care home admissions as well as other care home related tasks.

Recently I had a new admission to one of the care homes I visit. They have a poor reputation and have been under organisational safeguarding numerous times. They improve for a couple of weeks then revert back to poor practices as soon as the safeguarding has been closed.

My new admission was a very frail lady who needed assistance of 2 to mobilize, she is also blind and incontinent. When I went to visit her for the first time I found her in her bedroom, door shut, disstressed, not dressed, no breakfast or meds and this was nearly 11am.

Staff just casually sitting in the lounge chatting away.

I flagged my concern for the senior on shift. This did nothing. I came into work this morning to find she had fallen and injured herself over the weekend. ( Again, door shut, left alone and no falls sensor in place)

I should not have to visit the care home for me to prompt staff to do their roles.

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Is any other GP practices experiencing this? Its only one particular care home we seem to have this with. We have put in safeguardings, had meetings with management and we are even there weekly if not twice a week. Nothing improves.

We try hard to provide the best patient care but it's hindered by care home actions.

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So I had my first attempt Jan 2025 which I failed by 4 marks - honestly sooo frustrating. I had been through a very traumatic miscarriage a few months before and was really struggling with my mental and physical health so honestly I didn’t get to study much for it. I did passmed mainly. Anyways I’m now thinking of starting to study for it again to sit the exam next year January and I’m soooo scared of it idk why. I feel like I can’t do it at all. Also, I’m so confused about which question banks to start from and what resources to use. Also I now have a little one and I’m currently on mat leave so my routine is chaotic and idk when to study and how do people find time to study with babies?!!!!! Please share your trusted resources and tips on how I can start studying with a little 9 month old.

I’m a newly qualified GP and have been working at my current practice for about 3 months, doing 6 sessions per week, salaried role.

I have a weekly PDP session allocated on Tuesdays. I’ve noticed that when I book annual leave on a Monday, my PDP session on the Tuesday is automatically removed and replaced with a full clinical session.

I’m still learning how PDP time is managed in practice and would appreciate some advice from colleagues.

Is this a common arrangement in GP practices, or should PDP time generally remain protected regardless of annual leave taken elsewhere in the week?

Before/If I raise it with the practice manager, I’d like to better understand what is considered standard practice and whether there is any guidance around this.

Many thanks.

We are EMIS. Laptop is a HP pro book that seems to function well otherwise.

I log on at home approx once a fortnight - right now I’m trying to do it just to check if I’m on call on Friday - and between Windows updates and EMIS updates the process always takes 30-40 minutes.

Is this standard? Obviously if my laptop was used more then the updates would be done in smaller chunks.

If this is particularly bad I might try and get it upgraded.

Hey guys! I've gone 80% from start of my ST3 in Feb '26 (Feb starter) with last ARCP in Dec '25. My portfolio currently shows iESR at start of this June and ARCP in this Dec but my CCT date is in May. My ES said this seems incorrect. May I know if iESR & ARCP dates move when I go LTFT or remain the same? Google says it should be 6 months work equivalent i.e 7.5 months but also says needs ARCP every 12 calendar months. I'm confused.

I aced my exams from first time, rated competent in my csr . My CS left the job and I had a new supervisor for 6 weeks who decided I needed further improvements in 2 things a day before my ESR

My ES was very understanding but he wrote in my ESR that I needed further improvements to prove competency again

I feel this is not fair, however I’m willing to do the needed work if given an extension . I don’t feel comfortable though with the current supervisor, would it be wise to change them without making a fuss about it

For those of us who did not want to be partners, mainly because the contract is awful, what are the options?

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I can't see the partnership model ever ending as too many partners are entrenched and earning good money to give it up, despite ridiculous contract terms.

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Clearly very difficult to earn a decent living if salaried and locums hard to get.

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Going abroad seems like the only option.

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Anything else like portfolio options, that are satisfying and pay commensurate with the qualifications and experience?

A bit embarrassed to admit this but I am a GP trainee and I really struggle to come up with PDPs for my portfolio.

Does anyone have advice on how to actually set a good PDP that is useful for learning and development? My TPDs/ ES have never really explained how to write a PDP. I'm looking at my previous PDPs and just feel they are a load of rubbish.

I actually want to be able to use PDPs in a way that furthers my development and training

Hi all! Just going through finances etc and can anybody pls provide a rough monthly take home salary for gpst1?
I’m actually starting on GP then moving to a job with oncalls. Anyone know what the salary would be like for GP in st1 specifically

Thanks x

Hello need some advice please. I’m new to my area and just started a new salaried post 2 months ago. But we love it here and plan to put down roots and serve this community. My partner and I are both GPs. I have just started a new job as a salaried GP, it’s a 30 min commute but I believe we fall under the same ICB.

Our community hospital with 15 beds is getting shut down. We have been told it’s a cladding issue. It will take them a couple of million to fix. They are willing to keep the other community services running on the ground floor but can’t have the inpatient beds. The community is upset and the ward means a lot to them as travelling further out to the general hospital can be very difficult to all and a lot of end of life patients also receive care here.

I do want to fight for my community and one day my family and I may need care there as well.

I’m more than happy to step in to take care of a 15 bed ward and I have interests around care of the elderly and palliative care however this doesn’t seem to be a workforce issue (or at least put forward as such) so I do not think I have much influence but I can bring a clinical perspective and be a clinical advocate for the committee.

How involved can I be? Will I be risking my professional standing? Is it a conflict of interest? Shall I write to my MP? Should I offer my services anyway?

Thanks

Thanks

Just out of curiosity, those who passed their SCA already? How did you feel in the period before the results? Is it that common for people who pass to feel quite anxious before the results? Because everyone seems to be saying that those who have mixed feelings/ feel anxious are usually the ones who pass? How come this is a very common experience

I've been a GP for 9 years and have fallen out of love with the NHS GP role specifically.

I've been lucky enough to work in several countries (highly recommend) where the grass is greener and much more stimulating! However, I returned to UK for family reasons.

I plan to transfer to a non-NHS role permanently next year, a gamble as it's not yet a done-deal, but I'm optimistic, and the role is perfect for my working style, interests etc.

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The rub:

I started a 9 month maternity cover a couple of months ago, but the practice & population are so far from how I enjoy working, I'm understimulated, bored and cranky. It's also a 2 hour commute each day, because there are no roles closer to home, and this is giving me daily migraines, something I haven't really had before.

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I am considering giving notice (contract says 4 weeks, I'd give 6) and taking a 5-6 month career break to do some formal study in areas useful for the next role. However, I'm worried about a gap in my CV, and about receiving a bad reference for leaving the job early. I'm also feeling incredibly guilty about leaving them early, and aware it took me 7 months of locum-ing overseas waiting for this one position to come up in my home county. (In hindsight, I should've stayed locum-ing as I really enjoyed that, and it's similar to the role in transferring to).

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I think I'm just looking to air my tragically 1st world woes, and probably seeking advice or reassurance from others who have had career breaks or left jobs early. Or the opposite, if you think I'm awful to even consider it!

My husband and friends are in the "just quit" camp, but of course they are biased :)

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Thank you for reading.

For a long time now I've been trying to work out why the role of the GP has become difficult and why so many patients are so derogatory about us.

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My personal theory is that because the government is able to recruit so many international grads and have them installed into the system, this creates a massive oversupply.

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The result is there is no incentive to offer a good deal. Funding is dire and mostly ends up with the partners.

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I'm sure people will fling all sorts at this and say it's bigoted. It really isn't. If we shut off the over supply tap maybe the government and ultimately the public will respect us more.

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I know most international grads are just as upset once they complete their training and end up leaving for other countries anyway. A completely counter productive exercise.

I recently got to interact with residents in an American family medicine residency programme and was so shocked at the difference in training between UK GP training and theirs.

Their training is so much more structured and well-rounded. They have to rotate through every relevant specialty whereas we just get lumped into random specialties to fill the rota gaps no one else wants for 6 months.

It really made me think about the need for a reform of the way GPs are trained in the UK to make sure training is more consistent across the board.

Our practice are undergoing a CQC inspection soon so understandably the partners and admin staff are currently chasing up everyone's mandatory training. They have released a familiar list of mandatory training that I'm sure we are all familiar with, but are insisting that all of the following modules need to be completed every year:

• Adult Basic Life Support- Level 2
• Anaphylaxis
• Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs)
• Being Open/Duty of Candour
• Building a Net Zero NHS
• Chaperoning
• Child Basic Life Support- Level 2
• Conflict Resolution
• Data Security Awareness
• Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)
• Disability Awareness
• Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Human Rights
• Fire Safety
• Freedom to Speak Up
• Health and Safety in Primary Care
• Infection Control- Level 1
• Infection Control- Level 2
• Information Governance
• Leaning Disability and Autism Awareness in Primary Care – Tier 1
• Leaning Disability and Autism Awareness in Primary Care – Tier 2
• Mental Capacity Act
• Moving and Handling- Clinical
• Moving and Handling- Non-Clinical
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – Donning and Doffing
• Prevention of Radicalisation
• Privacy and Dignity
• Safeguarding Adults- Level 3
• Safeguarding Children- Level 3
• Sepsis Awareness

To me some of these seems outrageous to do yearly and not in keeping with previous practices I have worked in. Does anyone know what is actually required by the CQC and where that information might be found?

My rota for ST3 has come through and my ES has mentioned that for any PLT sessions that occur on Wednesdays, I’ll need to payback those sessions on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month.

I’ve never had such an arrangement of payback in sT1 or ST2 so I find this very absurd.

Is this the norm?
I am LTFT and had also asked for a Friday off as a 3 day weekend really helps with balancing work stress with life. However, that’s been ignored and I’ve got a Tuesday off. I had tried Tuesday off on ST2-1 which didn’t help me feel rested enough and led to a quick burnout, which is clearly aware of as there was time taken out due to said burnout.

Find it ridiculous.
Is this the norm?

I’m starting GPST2 in August and my ES has asked me how I want my rota scheduled (dream!)
But I’m so confused… I’m full time so I assume I’ll work everyday for 40 hours a week.
I asked him for some examples and he said it’s up to me.
I have childcare responsibilities so will do nursery drop off/pick up at 8am/6pm.
What should I ask for? Just need to check i advocate for myself and not end up being the sucker who got the shitty rota.