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SAS career development
SAS psychiatrists have highly developed specialty skills and experience, and the College is striving to create more opportunities to develop their careers and be recognised for the substantial contribution they make.
There are three main career aims individual SAS psychiatrists may choose to pursue, and this page aims to provide information relevant to each of these. Individual’s career aims can change over time, and this section aims to provide information enabling SAS psychiatrists and employers to make choices and offer the appropriate support.
Developing within the SAS grade to Specialist Psychiatrist
This is by far the most frequent career aim stated by SAS doctors across all medical specialities. In most surveys around 70% of doctors in this group wish to become Specialists.
Developing further expertise while remaining in the current SAS role
This includes advancing clinical expertise in their sub-speciality and taking on additional extended roles such as educators of medical and wider healthcare professionals, medical and organisational managers and leaders, researchers and clinical academics, quality improvement practitioners and experts and any other such roles.
Join the GMC specialist register
This can be achieved by either returning to training (and CCT) or via the Portfolio Pathway (replacing the processes previously known as CESR and Article 14).
SAS career development options
Click on the SAS development choices below to see relevant information and advice.
The majority of SAS doctors across medicine aim to develop within the SAS career pathway and become specialists. The figure varies between 70 and 85% in various surveys.
In addition, the College has developed an exemplar job description for Specialist Psychiatrists based on this national capability framework, which includes a person specification, and which is used in the College’s job approvals process.
The required minimum experience for a Specialist Psychiatrist is:
- 12 years post primary medical qualification, including minimum of six years of experience in psychiatry (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)
- 10 years post primary medical qualification, including a minimum of six years of experience in psychiatry (Scotland)
- Section 12(2) approval is a requirement in England and Wales.
Doctors aiming to develop their careers by becoming a Specialist Psychiatrist are encouraged to use their annual appraisal system, including their PDP, study leave resources and additional SAS development funding to develop and evidence attainment of the capabilities in the capabilities framework above.
Once the doctor can evidence that they meet the capabilities of a Specialist Psychiatrist, they can apply for posts in open competition. This is much like doctors in training programmes applying for consultant posts on successful completion of training and attaining CCT, and like doctors who join the GMC specialist register via recognition of overseas qualifications or via successful Portfolio Pathway (the process that replaced CESR in 2023) applications.
Many trusts create senior posts (Specialist psychiatrist or consultant) for local doctors who attain the required competencies for these senior roles, and this is no different for the various pathways of career development.
There are a number of sources of information and support available for employers looking to create posts and recruit Specialist Psychiatrist, including from NHS Employers and BMA. The College also provide psychiatry specific information about the requirements for Specialist Psychiatrist job descriptions via the job approval process and the AAC recruitment process via the Workforce team.
Many SAS psychiatrists aim to further their clinical expertise within their sub-speciality. This is usually done by working in various settings and gaining experience to progressively increase skills and knowledge in their speciality, as well as pursuing special clinical interests, often in highly specialised areas.
The common means of developing these skills are through use of contractual SPA time in job plans, as well as study leave entitlement (and funding) and employer’s secondment opportunities.
The College offers a range of credentials, all of which are open to SAS psychiatrists. Please find details on our dedicated College credentialling pages.
Alongside developing clinical expertise, most SAS psychiatrists aim to develop associated extended roles such as educators, leaders, managers, researchers/academics, quality improvement experts and many more.
If you wish to consider returning training please contact the National Psychiatry Recruitment Team who will be able to give you further advice.
Telephone: +44 1612 689525
There are 3 ways of joining the GMC specialist register:
- Complete the UK training program in psychiatry and obtain CCT (Certificate of Completion of Training)
- Automatic recognition of overseas specialist qualifications (managed by the GMC)
- Apply for entry via the Portfolio Pathway
This section provides information on the option 3. above. Further information on the first two options can be obtained via the GMC website or by contacting their specialist registration team directly.
The Portfolio Pathway, via Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR), provides an alternative route for experienced psychiatrists, who do not hold a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) from the traditional UK training programme, to obtain specialist registration.
To achieve accreditation via the Portfolio, doctors must satisfy the General Medical Council (GMC) that their specialist training and or specialist qualifications, meet the higher learning outcomes (HLOs) in the specialty in question via evidencing Knowledge, Skills and Experience (KSE).
Eligibility and detailed information on the Portfolio Pathway application process can be found on our dedicated portfolio accreditation web pages.
Role of the College in the portfolio process
The College’s role is to support the GMC in assessing portfolio applications against the psychiatry curriculum standards, and enable the GMC to make decisions regarding the suitability of experienced psychiatrists to be added onto the specialist register.
The College does this by evaluating the evidence, submitted to the GMC by the applicant. When our evaluation is complete, we feedback to the GMC advising whether the evidence shows the applicant has the Knowledge, Skills and Experience to join the specialist register or whether additional evidence is required to support entry. The GMC makes the ultimate decision on each application.
SAS Specialist Grade
Please see the resources below if you want to develop to a Specialist grade post. The Specialist posts are for specialty doctors who have completed a minimum of 12 years’ clinical work since obtaining their primary medical qualification. A minimum of 6 years should have been in a relevant specialty.
Specialist grade posts should meet the criteria set out in the generic capabilities’ framework for the specialist grade, which has been developed by AoMRC, BMA and NHS Employers.
We have developed a psychiatry-specific Job Description and Person Specification; you will also find links to resources provided by NHS Employers and the BMA. If you have any question about developing a post in this grade, please contact us via our dedicated email address.
To seek approval of your post please see our dedicated Job Description Approval guidance.
If you need to find a SAS rep to sit on your interview panel and do not already have access to the College Assessor Database please contact the Workforce team
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