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Career development

The RCOG is committed to providing and promoting opportunities for clinicians to focus on their continuing professional development (CPD) within O&G.

CPD

All of the resources and materials in the CPD section of the website are designed to support healthcare professionals advance the safety and quality of their care practises. If you are working as a SAS or Locally Employed doctor, you can find out more about the career development opportunities available to you.

RCOG Learning

We also offer a range of products to support training and professional development in O&G on the RCOG Learning platform, which is an online educational resource developed by the RCOG.

Below are some resources on the RCOG Learning platform we think would be especially beneficial for International Medical Graduates:

For further modules available on the RCOG Learning site, please search the catalogue of courses.

Educational supervisors

All doctors in training should have a nominated educational supervisor who has responsibility for facilitating and ensuring the progress of doctors in training through their designated curriculum. The RCOG recommends that all doctors, including those in locally employed and specialty doctor posts, should have an educational supervisor who undertakes their appraisal to support revalidation. The RCOG also recognise that all consultants and senior specialists should have an appraiser too.

For further information, please visit the Educational Supervisor Toolkit.

Revalidation and Appraisal

All doctors need to revalidate every five years. The GMC’s revalidation tips for doctors new to UK practice and their video on the revalidation process provide more information.

The RCOG can support you through revalidation. For more information, visit the revalidation section of the website.

As part of revalidation, all licensed doctors must participate in an annual appraisal process. The appraisal must cover all of your medical responsibilities and be based on the General Medical Council (GMC) guide to Good Medical Practice. This is a core set of standards which doctors must demonstrate they meet.

The College is committed to supporting doctors through their revalidation. For further information and resources, please visit the appraisal section.

RCOG ePortfolios

The RCOG provides two ePortfolios to support doctors working in O&G. We have summarised each ePortfolio below, to help you decide which is best for you.

Training ePortfolio: Our online learning tool is designed for doctors in training wording towards there CCT, to review their training and to track their progress through the curriculum. However, it can also be used by doctors working in posts not on the O&G specialty training programme.

CPD ePortfolio: The CPD ePortfolio is designed for doctors not on the O&G specialty training programme. It supports them to remain up to date in an ever-changing medical environment.

Study leave

If you are a doctor in training or consultant, please see BMA for information of study, professional and special leave.

For those not on the training programme, study leave is managed by local trust policy. Speak to your educational supervisor to find out more information.

Out of programme (OOP)

If you are on the training programme, you can make a request to go out of programme (OOP). Taking time OOP can be beneficial for your educational and professional development and career, as well as being interesting, enjoyable and personally rewarding. For further information on OOP, please visit this section.

If you are an international medical graduate, please check your visa regulations.