National mechanisms for the selection of trainees. Procedure in Great Britain
Hide, T.A.
Acta Neurochirurgica. Supplement 69: 6-7
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0065-1419 PMID: 9253429 Document Number: 472590
Selection for and career progression in medicine and surgery in the United Kingdom and Ireland are broadly similar. After completing school and university, a pre-registration year is spent as Junior House Officer usually with six months in medicine and six months in surgery. Following this, the aspirant to surgical training will apply for a basic surgical training post (Senior House Officer). This is for a minimum of two years but may be extended to three after which the trainee will sit an examination of one of the Royal Colleges to obtain a Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS). The next stage in training is to obtain a higher surgical training post in the grade of Specialist Registrar. This will be in the specific surgical specialty in which the trainee wishes to become qualified and lasts for a period of six years in which there will be organised periods for research and travel, most often towards the end of the training period.