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Medical revalidation
Revalidation is the process by which licensed doctors demonstrate to the General Medical Council (GMC) that they are up-to-date and fit to practice. The cornerstone of the revalidation process is that doctors participate in a regular (normally annual) full scope of work review – their annual medical appraisal.
For doctors in postgraduate training, the full scope of work review is conducted through the Annual Review of Competency Progression (ARCP) process. Under the legislation the Medical Profession RO Regulations 2010 and 2013, all medical practitioners holding a licence to practice are required to connect to the GMC through their Responsible Officer (RO). For doctors in postgraduate training, their RO is their Postgraduate Dean.
For doctors who are not on a training programme including those who are between training programmes e.g. a doctor undertaking a trust grade role between core and higher training, they need to establish a prescribed connection with the most appropriate Designated Body.
This is likely to be their main employer for their clinical practice. Online resources to help identify your designated body can be found on the GMC website.
The GMC has published helpful guidance on information about revalidation for doctors in training.
You should visit your GMC online account to ensure that you are connected correctly.
As a doctor in training you will already be collecting the necessary information through the requirements of your curriculum and training programme.
Your ARCP provides the assurance process, which is why you are asked to provide details of your full scope of work on your form R.
If you are undertaking work outside of your training programme for which you need a licence to practice, you need to ensure you your educational supervisor is aware of what you are undertaking and declare it on your form R.
Your Postgraduate Dean acting as your Responsible Officer will make a revalidation recommendation to the GMC based primarily on the information you have submitted through ARCP.
Further information about how that recommendation is made can be found on The Conference of Postgraduate Medical Deans (COPMED) website.
The Conference of Postgraduate Medical Deans (COPMED) has published UK-wide policies to support the delivery of revalidation for doctors in postgraduate training.