As a Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMed) graduate undergoing House Officer training at Kluang hospital, I am eligible to apply for Full Registration with the UK General Medical Council (GMC) after completing 3 postings, through the ARCP programme.
On 6 December 2022, I completed the 3rd posting of my House Officer training in Orthopaedics, fulfilling the requirements for the ARCP. That was after I got extended by 2 months in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) posting and 1 month in the Orthopaedics posting.
The next ARCP meeting would be held in June 2023. On 10 May 2023, I submitted all of the required documents to the ARCP panel, well ahead of the deadline. In late June 2023 after the ARCP meeting took place, my batchmates received the outcome of their ARCP, but I didn't receive it.
On 7 July 2023, much to my disappointment, I was informed that my ARCP was unsuccessful due to the fact that I required extensions in the O&G and Orthopaedics postings and some concerns were raised by my clinical supervisors in those postings.
Consequently, the ARCP panel required me to complete another posting in House Officer training without an extension and with a satisfactory logbook and clinical supervisor's report. As I got extended by 1 month in my 4th posting in Surgical as well, that posting couldn't be taken into consideration.
I had received an offer for the highly competitive F2 Stand-alone Programme in UK due to begin in August 2023, which was subject to GMC Full Registration. Due to my unsuccessful ARCP, I couldn't get GMC Full Registration in time to join the F2 Stand-alone Programme. I had no choice but to withdraw from it.
On 6 September 2023, I successfully completed my 5th posting in Paediatrics without any extensions. I received my clinical supervisor's report for Paediatrics on 31 October 2023. I then submitted my Paediatrics logbook and clinical supervisor's report to the ARCP panel.
The next ARCP meeting was supposed to be held in December 2023. However, it got postponed to the next month due to unforeseen circumstances. On 6 January 2024, I successfully completed my 6th posting in Anaesthesiology without any extensions and successfully completed the whole of House Officer training.
In late January 2024 after the ARCP meeting took place, the ARCP panel informed me that they would also like to review the logbook and clinical supervisor's report for my 6th posting as well as my Certificate of Completion of Housemanship Training (CCHT). I received my clinical supervisor's report for Anaesthesiology and my CCHT on 1 February 2024. I then submitted both documents to the ARCP panel.
On 9 February 2024, the ARCP panel finally informed me that my ARCP was successful. I had been granted a Certificate of Experience which enabled me to apply for Full Registration with GMC. On 11 February 2024, I submitted my application for GMC Full Registration.
GMC then informed me that as part of my application for Full Registration, they required a completed Postgraduate Professional Experience (PPE) form and a Certificate of Good Standing (COGS) from the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC).
I submitted the PPE form promptly and applied for a COGS from MMC. On 25 February 2024, MMC approved my application for COGS and sent it to GMC. On 27 February 2024, I was finally granted GMC Full Registration.
With GMC Full Registration and having completed 2 years of House Officer training, I am eligible to apply for specialty training programmes in UK. From now on, I will always have a backup option available. For now, I have no plans to go to the UK, as I intend to complete my compulsory service with the Ministry of Health of Malaysia.