What stages do medical doctor go through before becoming a consultant?
Following medical school you would need to complete 2 years as a foundation doctor, which would include training in general medicine and surgery in the first year, then a choice of specialities in the second. In order to progress from here, you would need to satisfy local informal assessments, and completion of a portfolio. Then you would choose a speciality such as surgery to enter the speciality training grade ST1. It is now proposed that this will progress through to ST7 eventually, ie one ST grade a year, at which point you could apply for consultant posts. During the ST grades you would need to pass membership exams, which are currently 3 staged for surgery, as well as annual local assessments and the ubiquitous portfolio. This is a very recent change to the traditional system of house officers, senior house officers and registrars.
