The brief
The General Medical Council (GMC) wanted to better understand the experiences and motivations of international doctors who join the UK medical register and either give up their licence to practise or leave the register, without practising as a doctor in the UK.
The research aimed to understand any barriers they faced, concerns they had or opportunities they encountered throughout the process. It also aimed to explore their motivations, experiences, and outcomes, including their intentions, barriers faced, reasons for not entering UK practice, differences by qualification route or experience, and what they did after – whether remaining on the register or leaving it.
The approach
The research used a mixed-method approach:
- An online survey of non-UK graduate doctors who joined the UK medical register but didn’t practise in the UK, which received 855 responses. This explored overall experiences of joining the register, alongside any barriers, concerns or opportunities encountered for those who took further steps to join UK practice.
- 30 in-depth interviews with doctors. These gained detailed insights into decision-making around joining UK practice, and helped understand the strength of influence of different factors.
- To supplement the research, we also conducted 6 interviews with stakeholders across medical bodies that support non-UK graduate doctors, bodies associated with employing non-UK graduate doctors and organisations involved in preparing international doctors with the PLAB test.
The value
We produced a detailed but concise published report, synthesising findings from all stages of the research into a clear narrative.
The report included case studies, designed to reflect the findings from different participant audiences and bring the research to life. The report highlighted key insights, and contextualised them within the healthcare environment and systemic landscape.
