Career pathways in medicine differ in detail, and will almost certainly be subject to change in the future. 

Generally, you will spend 5 years at medical school (providing you progress satisfactorily) and then undertake a two year generic training programme – the Foundation Programme - which exposes you to a range of specialties and placements designed to meet the requirements of the nationally approved Foundation curriculum.

There are usually around 7,000 places available on the Foundation Programme (with 5% of posts designated for academic training for those who might wish to consider a career in clinical academic medicine). Once you have satisfactorily completed the Foundation Programme you will be eligible to apply to specialty training (which includes GP training). The length of this will vary depending on the speciality – for example, currently GP training  takes 3 years to complete, although more generally, specialty training will last approximately 5 years; but can last even longer.

For most specialties, training consists of 2 years core training and 3 or more years advanced training, after which you will receive your certificate of completion of training (CCT) in your chosen specialty and you will be eligible to enter the GMC’s specialist or GP register. Currently there are 63 approved specialties in the UK. In certain circumstances you may opt to pursue sub-specialty training in the latter stages of specialty training. There are currently just over 30 sub-specialties. This would generally result in a further extension to your training time, in most case one or two years. At present, specialty training is undertaken in NHS employment and so you will get paid during your training.

For those of you considering a career in academic medicine, the training pathway after the Academic Foundation Programme is different to the one outlined above. An academic career will involve undertaking an academic fellowship and clinical lectureship as part of your specialty training.  Detailed information can be found on this in the Walport Report.