CESR – Clinical Radiology

Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR) in Clinical Radiology

The Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR) allows doctors who have not completed a General Medical Council (GMC)-approved training programme to demonstrate that their specialist training, qualifications, and experience are equivalent to the UK Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT).

Successful CESR applicants gain entry onto the GMC Specialist Register, enabling them to work as consultants in the UK.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for CESR in Clinical Radiology, you must have:

1. A specialist qualification in Clinical Radiology, or
2. At least six months of continuous specialist training in Clinical Radiology.

Evidence Requirements

A typical CESR application comprises approximately 800 to 1,000 pages of evidence.

This evidence should demonstrate that you have acquired the relevant competencies across the breadth of the Clinical Radiology curriculum and have maintained these competencies within the last five years.

Evidence older than five years is generally not accepted.

Capabilities in Practice (CiPs)

The Clinical Radiology curriculum is structured around 12 Capabilities in Practice (CiPs), which outline the professional capabilities expected of a consultant clinical radiologist.

Your evidence must demonstrate competence in each of the following CiPs:

1. Professional Values and Behaviours: Demonstrate the professional values and behaviours expected of all doctors as outlined in Good Medical Practice.
2. Healthcare Systems: Successfully function within the health service and healthcare systems in the UK.
3. Clinical Governance and Quality Improvement: Engage in reflection, clinical governance, and quality improvement processes to ensure good practice.
4. Evidence-Based Practice and Data Protection: Engage in evidence-based practice and safeguard data, including imaging data.
5. Teaching and Supervision: Act as a clinical teacher and supervisor.
6. Team Working and Leadership: Work well within a variety of different teams, communicating effectively with colleagues and demonstrating the skills required to lead a team.
7. Imaging Selection and Tailoring: Appropriately select and tailor imaging to patient context and the clinical question(s).
8. Reporting: Provide timely, accurate, and clinically useful reports on imaging studies.
9. List Management: Appropriately manage imaging examination lists/procedures according to clinical need and professional expertise.
10. Image Quality Evaluation: Evaluate image quality and utilise the knowledge of imaging sciences to optimise image quality.
11. Emergency Care Management: Safely manage the imaging and image-guided intervention needed to support emergency care.
12. Multidisciplinary Team Contribution: Effectively contribute a clinical/imaging opinion to a multidisciplinary (MDT) meeting.

Types of Evidence

To demonstrate equivalence to the CCT in Clinical Radiology, you should provide the following types of evidence:

– Primary Medical Qualification (PMQ)

– Specialist Medical Qualifications

– Recent Specialist Training

– Curriculum Vitae (CV)

– Employment Letters

– Job Descriptions

– Multisource Feedback

– Patient Feedback

– Appraisals

– Complaints and Significant Incidents

– Courses and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Activities

– Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) Meeting Activity

– Participation in Developing Guidelines or Standard Operating Procedures

– Clinical Governance Activity

– Reflective Activity

– Safety and Quality Activity

– Audit and Quality Improvement Projects

– Management and Leadership Activity

– Research Activity

– Patient Consent Forms

– Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Certification and/or Other Research/Ethics Courses or Qualifications

– Notes from Journal Clubs

– Relevant Meeting Participation (e.g., Ethics Meetings)

– Teaching Activity

– Evidence of Assessments on Others (e.g., Workplace-Based Assessments)

– Radiology Reports

– Workload Statistics

– On-Call Rotas/Weekly Activity Rotas

– Participation in Morbidity and Mortality or Other Relevant Meetings

Application Without NHS Experience

Applying for CESR without NHS experience can be challenging, as key features of training and practice in the NHS may not be covered elsewhere.

Elements such as MDT meetings, appraisals, multisource feedback, patient feedback, safety and quality activities, clinical audits, and quality improvement projects are integral to NHS practice.

Therefore, many international radiologists choose to consolidate their experience within the UK before applying for CESR.

Engaging in employment with an NHS organisation can provide valuable exposure to these practices and strengthen your application.

 

If you’re interested in working in the UK and would like to discuss this blog, available positions in your specialty, or how we can assist you, please contact our Permanent & Fixed-Term Recruitment team at [email protected].