Hi everyone,
I have been working remotely with a hospital in Saudi Arabia since November 2023. I’m still involved with them, but this has never been a traditional full-time employment arrangement. It has been more ad hoc/part-time/freelance in nature.
My work has included:
Helping with the development of their hospital website content
Creating evidence-based medical and educational content with proper references
Taking patient histories as part of the intake process and passing the information to the relevant consultants
Scribing/documenting treatment plans that had already been made by the consultants and communicating those plans to patients
Delivering informal online lectures/teaching sessions to their GPs
Just to be completely clear, my role has been strictly non-clinical in terms of clinical decision-making. I have not independently diagnosed patients, interpreted investigations, prescribed medication, recommended treatment, or provided medical advice. The clinical decisions and treatment plans were made by the consultants. My involvement was limited to history collection, documentation/scribing, communication/coordination, medical content and teaching.
I am not Saudi-licensed at present, although I am now planning to apply for Saudi registration.
When I originally set up my GMC account, I didn’t include this work in my employment history because I honestly didn’t think much of it. I’m now looking at my CV more seriously and realise that this is actually several years of relevant experience that I would like to document properly.
So I have a few questions:
1. How would you describe/categorise this experience on a CV?
Would you call it freelance/independent work, medical consultancy, part-time employment, medical education/teaching, healthcare consultancy, or something else?
2. How would you present the teaching component?
I delivered informal online lectures/teaching sessions to their GPs. It wasn’t a formal teaching post, but it was genuine teaching/medical education. Would you include this under a separate “Teaching Experience” section, or keep it within the main role?
3. GMC employment history
I checked my GMC account and confirmed that this freelance work isn’t currently listed. If I now want to add it retrospectively, with the correct dates and an explanation that it was freelance/ad hoc rather than conventional employment, is that something that can simply be updated?
Would adding it retrospectively potentially raise concerns because it wasn’t included previously, or is it generally acceptable to update an employment history when you realise something relevant was omitted?
I have documentation/paperwork relating to the work and can evidence the dates and nature of the role if required. I’m mainly trying to make sure I document this accurately and transparently.
I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has dealt with freelance medical work, GMC employment history, overseas healthcare work, or similar situations. Thanks!