- The GMC's two-part licensing exam. PLAB 1 is a written paper you can sit overseas; PLAB 2 is a practical OSCE sat in Manchester.
- The UK regulator. You cannot work as a doctor in the UK without GMC registration with a licence to practise.
- A letter from every regulator you have been registered with in the last five years confirming you have no restrictions. Usually valid for three months.
- The ECFMG service the GMC uses to verify your primary medical qualification directly with your university.
- An electronic reference number issued by a licensed UK employer that lets you apply for a Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker visa.
- A per-person, per-year NHS charge on most visas. Health and Care Worker visa holders and their dependants are exempt.
- The route to the specialist or GP register for doctors whose training was not a UK-approved programme, assessed on an evidence portfolio.
- The three-year UK physician training programme that follows foundation level and feeds into medical ST4+ specialties.
- A sponsored two-year scheme letting overseas doctors train in the NHS, with GMC registration sponsored by a royal college.
- A non-training NHS post (also called clinical fellow, LAS or service post). The most common first job for a newly registered IMG.
- Extra pay on top of basic salary for out-of-hours, weekend and night work. It can add 20–40% to a resident doctor's take-home.
- The current term for doctors formerly called junior doctors — everyone below consultant or GP level.
- The five-yearly GMC process confirming you are fit to practise, based on annual appraisals, CPD and supporting information.
- Your yearly documented review with a trained appraiser. It feeds directly into revalidation.
- Learning activity you record each year. Most doctors aim for around 50 credits annually.
- A healthcare-specific English exam accepted by the GMC as an alternative to academic IELTS.
- The yearly checkpoint for doctors in a UK training programme that decides whether you progress.
- An unpaid observership in an NHS department. It cannot count as work, but it builds references and UK context.
- The paid period at the start of a new NHS post where you learn local systems before taking clinical responsibility.
- The national pay framework. Doctors sit on the medical and dental pay scale rather than Agenda for Change bands.