CESR stands for Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration. Doctors who haven’t completed a GMC-approved programme to obtain their CCT, but can evidence that their specialist training, qualifications and experience are equivalent to what is acceptable for CCT in the UK, can apply to join the GMC Specialist Register via the CESR pathway.
This article has been created to assist doctors who are applying for entry to the GMC Specialist Register with a CESR in Medical Microbiology.
- An introduction to CESR in the CCT specialty of Medical Microbiology
- Eligibility criteria
- How much evidence is required?
- How recent should the evidence be?
- Which evidence is required?
- Suggested evidence
- Tips for a successful CESR application in Medical Microbiology
- Can I apply for CESR without having worked in the NHS?
An introduction to CESR in the CCT specialty of Medical Microbiology
The indicative period of training for a CCT in Medical Microbiology is six years. By successful completion of training, you are awarded a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) and can be recommended to the GMC specialist register. You must then demonstrate that you are capable of unsupervised practice in all generic and specialty CiPs.
To be awarded a CESR in Medical Microbiology, you will need to submit a range of evidence to demonstrate that your specialty training, qualifications and experience taken together are equivalent to the CCT in Medical Microbiology as set out in the specialty training curriculum.
Upon successful completion of a CESR application, you will receive entry to the GMC specialist register.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible to apply under this route, you must have either (1) a specialist qualification in the specialty you apply in or (2) at least six months of continuous specialist training in the specialty you apply in.
How much evidence is required?
Most CESR applications contain around 800-1000 pages of evidence.
How recent should the evidence be?
Evidence of your competencies should be recent and from within the last five years. Evidence over five years old will hold less weight, as it typically doesn’t demonstrate that the competencies have been recently maintained.
Which evidence is required?
You will need to demonstrate that your specialist training, qualifications and experience are equivalent to a doctor who has successfully completed training according to the CCT curriculum for Medical Microbiology.
The Medical Microbiology curriculum is divided into 13 capabilities in practice (CiPs). There are six generic CiPs, and seven CiPs are specific to specialists in infection.
Capabilities in Practice (CiPs)
Generic CiPs
1. Able to function successfully within NHS organisational and management systems.
2. Able to deal with ethical and legal issues related to clinical practice.
3. Communicates effectively and is able to share decision-making, while maintaining appropriate situational awareness, professional behaviour and professional judgement.
4. Is focused on patient safety and delivers effective quality improvement in patient care.
5. Able to carry out research and manage data appropriately.
6. Acts as a teacher and clinical supervisor.
Specialty CiPs
1. Able to provide clinical leadership and support to the laboratory.
2. Able to use the laboratory service effectively in the investigation, diagnosis and management of infection. 3. Able to advise on infection prevention, control and immunisation.
4. Able to manage and advise on important clinical syndromes where infection is in the differential diagnosis. 5. Able to lead and advise on treatment with and stewardship of antimicrobials.
6. Able to provide continuity of care to inpatients and outpatients with suspected or proven infection.
7. Able to manage and advise on imported infections.
Suggested Evidence
Information about the suggested evidence that you should use to demonstrate your key capabilities in the different CiPs can be found from page 9 of the CESR-specific guidance in Medical Microbiology.
Tips for a successful CESR application in Medical Microbiology
Usually, CESR applications fail due to inadequate or poor evidence of current capability covering the entire curriculum being provided. We have put some tips together for you to consider when completing your application:
- Prior to submitting your CESR in Medical Microbiology application, you should review the current CCT curriculum in conjunction with the CESR-specific guidance in Medical Microbiology.
- Ensure you provide evidence of your current capabilities in all areas of the curriculum, including the maintenance of CiPs and key skills over the last five years.
- Ensure that your evidence is clearly linked to the CiPs and is presented in a clear, logical manner.
- Ensure that your referees provide detailed support for your key skills across all (or most) areas of the curriculum and understand the requirements for specialist training and registration in Medical Microbiology.
- You can provide evidence of managing a broad range of patients (as seen daily by Medical Microbiology doctors in the UK).
- You ensure that your evidence demonstrates equivalent knowledge and skills to Internal medicine or alternative core training.
- You provide evidence of your clinical capability across the range of experiences, ages and settings.
Can I apply for CESR without having worked in the NHS?
If you haven’t worked in the NHS then it can be very difficult to make a successful CESR application. This is because key features of training and practice in the NHS are not always covered in the same way outside it. For example, MDT meetings, appraisal, multi-source feedback and patient feedback, safety, and quality activity especially in clinical audit and quality improvement projects and other areas.
The vast majority of international Haematologists will complete their CESR applications from within the UK, having taken up employment with an NHS organisation. If you’re considering making a CESR application and are currently, or have recently, been practising in an environment that is not comparable to practice in an NHS Haematology department, then you might find it useful to consolidate your experience in the UK beforehand.
Doctors Relocate works alongside NHS organisations across the UK that can support CESR applicants. To further discuss how we could assist you, please contact us.
This article has been created to assist doctors who are applying for entry to the GMC Specialist Register with a CESR in Medical Microbiology only. We do not offer any CESR advice, nor can we comment or assist with any individual application. If you have a query regarding the speciality-specific guidance, then please contact the GMC.
