Emergency Medicine

Emergency Medicine in the UK

Emergency Departments are where the public know to go if they need urgent medical attention. Doctors working in Emergency Medicine treat those patients who need immediate care.

Doctors in Emergency Medicine (EM) carry out the initial assessment and treatment of patients of all age groups who have serious or life-threatening illnesses and injuries.

The broad base of Emergency Medicine means that there is huge scope for EM doctors to develop a specialist interest. Well recognised sub-specialties in EM include:

With rapidly increasing demand and an enormous shortage of doctors in Emergency Medicine across the UK, there is a vast number of opportunities in this speciality for overseas candidates.

Working as an Emergency Medicine specialist in the UK: What’s required?

For international doctors with experience in Emergency Medicine, the most frequent route to GMC registration is by completing the MRCEM or FRCEM postgraduate qualifications. Junior doctors from overseas are encouraged to complete PLAB to begin with, and then the MRCEM/FRCEM exams after gaining further experience in the UK. 

For our comprehensive guide on the MRCEM qualification, click here.

Additionally, you can find our FRCEM overview here and our guide to PLAB here.

The GMC require doctors from countries where English is not the native language to provide evidence of their English language skills. This means passing either the OET or IELTS.

Doctors from within the EEA (European Economic Area), who have completed a postgraduate qualification in their home country, are able to use this qualification, accompanied with a pass in either OET or IELTS, to attain GMC registration. 

If you would like to discuss the opportunities in Emergency Medicine in the UK, or if you have any questions about what qualifications may be required, please contact us.