Medical Training Initiative in Pathology - MTI(path)
Please note: the following information applies only to doctors who have qualified outside the UK or EU and who wish to come to the UK for a limited period of specialised training in pathology. All applicants will now have to be on a Tier 5 visa under the auspices of the Medical Training Initiative (MTI).
The Medical Training Initiative (MTI) was launched by the Department of Health in 2009. It is designed to allow medical graduates to come to the UK to undertake clinical training in the NHS for a maximum of 24 months before returning to their home country, providing they have the support of the relevant Royal College.
As part of the scheme, The Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) will act as the ‘professional sponsor’ for medical graduates, through the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC).
How can I gain sponsorship?
The College offers two routes to gaining sponsorship through its MTI(Path) scheme: MTI(Path) College and MTI(Path) Trust.
- The MTI(Path) College route is for those who haven’t been offered a placement but would like to undertake clinical training in the NHS for a maximum of 24 months before returning to their home country.
- The MTI(Path) Trust route is for those applicants who have themselves secured a suitable placement within an NHS Trust in the UK.
What posts are available?
We offer sponsorship to Trainees in the following specialties;
The Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board (JRCPTB) oversees training in immunology. Further information on their MTI scheme can be found on the JRCPTB website.
Only some of the placements on the MTI Scheme are paid and the trainee receives a salary. However, funding needs to be organised by the trainee for the unpaid MTI Scheme placements. In this case, trainee needs to have funding available from an official source e.g. home institution, government, scholarship etc. The funding should be above the UK national minimum wage (or at least £16,000 p.a.).
Please find the details of MTI(path) placements available for applications down below:
Job descriptions for the placements open for applications are available below:
What kind of visa will I be entitled to?
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) – the overarching visa sponsor for the initiative – is responsible for issuing the Tier 5 Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS). This enables an applicant to apply for their Tier 5 visa, which is issued for a maximum two year period. The certificate of sponsorship will only be issued if the application is supported by RCPath.
Please also note that the Home Office will never call migrants and ask for verification or information regarding their visa status. Furthermore, migrants will never be required to pay the Home Office outside of visa application fees, which are paid for through the UKVI website. You will never be asked to transfer money into a bank account by the Home Office or UK Visa and Immigration.
There is a section on the UKVI website titled Fraud, tricks and scams: guidance. Please take care not to share the details of your visa with anyone outside of your Trust, College, and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.
How do I apply?
If you wish to apply, you need to complete and submit the following complete documents to mti@rcpath.org:
- completed application form
- eligibility checklist
- CV template
- equality and diversity monitoring form
- supporting documentation detailed in the checklist found at the end of the application form.
The assessment of the application for MTI Scheme takes between two to six months, therefore ensure sufficient time for completion of the application process before your intended start date of the post. All applicants must also post a hardcopy of their application pack to the following address:
MTI Scheme
The Royal College of Pathologists
6 Alie Street
London
E1 8QT
Pre-registration verification of qualifications
From 11 June 2018, all applicants seeking registration with a licence to practise will be required to have their primary medical qualification independently verified before being granted registration, if they:
- Qualified at a medical school outside of the UK, EEA or Switzerland OR
- Are a national of a country outside the UK, EEA or Switzerland who graduated from a medical school outside the UK AND
- Do not already hold provisional registration with a licence to practice.
Verification will be carried out by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) through their online system, Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials (EPIC) service. Please visit the GMC website for detailed information on the process.
Applications started before 11 June
Applications for provisional or full registration with a licence to practise which have not been submitted to the GMC and paid for by midnight on 10 June, will be closed on 11 June as the GMC will need to update their system. If you start another application on or after 11 June, you will need to have your primary medical qualification (and post graduate qualification, if you have one) verified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) before the GMC can grant registration with a licence to practise.
Please note that applications that are submitted incomplete will be automatically rejected and that any applications submitted without the IELTS test results will not be assessed. Applications will not be processed until the payment of a non-refundable administration fee is received by the College.
Download our application pack
To ensure your application is processed, please ensure all the relevant documents and evidence are clearly labelled based on the 'Supporting documentation list' (e.g. 1. Primary Medical Education certificate) and returned together with the application. We will not be able to assess any applications submitted without the IELTS test results.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can check your eligibility for this scheme by completing and returning the pre-application questions listed in the eligibility check below to our MTI Officer.
Whilst it is not an essential eligibility requirement of the MTI(path) scheme, applicants who have taken and successfully passed the FRCPath Part I examination in their chosen specialty will be favourably considered.
If your application is successful, thos candidates who have passed the FRCPath Part I examinations in their chosen specialty are expected to sit the Part II examinations during their period of training in the UK.
Applications for the MTI(path) College route and Trust route are open all year around. List of the existing posts for the College route is available on the website.
If you wish to receive regular updates for when the scheme opens, then please sign up to our mailing list or read our latest edition here.
The application pack for 2016 can be found below:
Please note that applications for the MTI(Path) College scheme 2016 will open on Friday 15 July 2016 (at 17:00 BST) and will close on Friday 12 August (at 23:59 BST). The list of available placements that the international trainees can apply for will also be published on Friday 15 July 2016 (at 17:00 BST).
To be considered for the MTI(Path) scheme, you will need to complete and return the following by Friday 12 August (at 23:59 BST):
1. Completed application Form
2. Eligibility Checklist
3. CV Template
4. Equality and diversity monitoring form
5. Supporting documentation detailed in the Supporting documentation list
Please note that applications through our MTI(Path) Trust route are open all year round.
In order to process your application, you are required to pay a non-refundable administration fee of £75 using the College’s online payment system. The College accepts payment by credit/debit card (excluding American Express) and you will automatically receive a receipt for your payment from mti@rcpath.org. Unfortunately until payment is received, we are unable to process your application.
Once payment is received your application will be assessed for its suitability for the MTI(path) scheme.
Should your application be successful, an additional fee of £740 will be charged by RCPath to cover your enrolment with the College as a Trainee and access to the College’s e-portfolio and assessment systems for the first year. In year 2 (if applicable) this fee will be £450.
Please note that failure to reconcile payment by the given deadline may result in you no longer being in good standing with the College and consequently not eligible to sit the FRCPath exams. Your employing Trust will be notified and your access to the College’s e-portfolio and assessment systems will also cease immediately.
All applicants are required to provide a range of evidence in support of their application. An extensive list of those required is outlined in the document below:
Obtaining this information can take several months and we strongly advise applicants to begin gathering this evidence now.
Pre-registration verification of qualifications
From 11 June 2018, all applicants seeking registration with a licence to practise will be required to have their primary medical qualification independently verified before being granted registration, if they:
• Qualified at a medical school outside of the UK, EEA or Switzerland OR
• Are a national of a country outside the UK, EEA or Switzerland who graduated from a medical school outside the UK AND
• Do not already hold provisional registration with a licence to practice.
Verification will be carried out by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) through their online system, Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials (EPIC) service. Please visit the GMC website for detailed information on the process.
The College has created a range of resources to help you understand the process of gaining sponsorship through the MTI(path) College and MTI(path) Trust routes.
Please find below resources from our recent webinars:
We have a limited number of paid/funded placements available on the MTI(path) scheme and the College is currently developing a database of placements for 2016. Candidates who are eligible for the scheme will be matched to available posts.
Posts will be offered at a 'middle grade' level, equivalent in standard to Level 2 (ST2) of the UK ST training curricula. After a period of three to six months induction at a more junior level, it is expected that Trainees will progress sufficiently to spend the remaining 18-21 months working at a more senior level (ST3-ST4). The salary that you will receive is in line with Trainees who are working at a similar level in the UK, or at least £23,000 p.a. (subject to change). Some hospitals take prior international experience into account and some do not. This is at the discretion of the hospital and not by RCPath.
As not all the placements on the MTI(Path) scheme are paid, some Trainees choose to obtain funding (e.g. a scholarship) from their respective hospitals/institutiona/governments. Unfortunately we are unable to sponsor self-funded applicants (those who choose to support themselves using their own personal funds) as this does not satisfy the requirements for the Tier 5 visa. We find that a lot of trainees have been able to source placements through connections their educational supervisor and colleagues have in the UK.
Each year Health Education England (HEE) decides how many funded posts will be offered in each specialty. Legally, these posts must be advertised to UK trainees first. Posts which are unfilled across all specialties (pathology, paediatrics, surgery etc) are then advertised to overseas applicants. Some trusts use the Medical Training Initiative scheme to advertise paid vacant posts that they have been unable to recruit for. However, trusts can create additional unfunded training posts for overseas doctors who have their own funding from an official body (e.g. from their home government, university or employer). Please note that the College continues to advocate and lobby for paid training posts.
If you wish to pursue an unfunded post, you will need to have funding from an official body, for example your home government, university or employer. We appreciate that it can be difficult for some overseas trainees to obtain funding. We recommend that you speak to your educational supervisor who may have personal contacts in the UK. You can also contact the College's
Country Advisor for your region who may be able to help you identify where you can get funding.
In order to be eligible for the scheme you must have successfully obtained a Primary Medical Qualification (PMQ) that is recognised by the General Medical Council (GMC). A list of acceptable PMQ's can be found on the GMC website.
Pre-registration verification of qualifications
From 11 June 2018, all applicants seeking registration with a licence to practise will be required to have their primary medical qualification independently verified before being granted registration, if they:
- Qualified at a medical school outside of the UK, EEA or Switzerland OR
- Are a national of a country outside the UK, EEA or Switzerland who graduated from a medical school outside the UK AND
- Do not already hold provisional registration with a licence to practice.
Verification will be carried out by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) through their online system, Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials (EPIC) service. Please visit the GMC website for detailed information on the process.
In order to be eligible for the scheme you are expected to have spent some time in specialty training. We recommend you apply for the scheme once you have gained some of this experience. Full details of the scheme's eligibility requirements can be found on the College website.
You do not need to pass PLAB to apply for the MTI(Path) scheme. Instead, you must successfully obtain an overall score of 7.5 on the International English Language Test System (IELTS) test. For your score to be accepted, you must also obtain a score of at least 7.0 in each testing area (speaking, listening, reading and writing). Full details of the scheme's eligibility requirements can be found on the College website.
In order to be eligible for the MTI(Path) scheme you must successfully complete the British Council Academic International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test OR Occupational English Test (OET).
International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
For us to accept your IELTS certificate it must show that you:
- Obtained a score of at least 7.0 in each testing area (speaking, listening, reading and writing), and an overall score of 7.5;
- The certificate must have the original stamp and test report form (TRF) number
- Obtained these scores in the same test; and
- Took the academic version of the test.
IELTS certificates are valid for two years and if your MTI(path) application is successful, it must be valid when the General Medical Council (GMC) approves your application for registration with a license to practice.
Occupational English Test (OET)
You need to have taken the medicine version of the test with at least grade ‘B’ in each testing area (speaking, listening, reading and writing). The grades should been obtained in the same test. The test is valid for 2 years. The certificate must have your candidate number.
Some countries are exempt from paying tax on their funding/scholarship whilst in the UK under double taxation agreements. We advise you contact the
HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC) to clarify this.
Unfortunately, the MTI(Path) is only available to overseas trainees who reside outside the European Economic Area (EEA). The scheme is designed to allow overseas trainees to undertake pathological training in their specialty in the UK for up to maximum of 24 months under the Government Authorised Exchange (GAE) - sub category of the Tier 5 visa. Overseas trainees must return to their home country after 24 months. Full details of the scheme's eligibility requirements can be found here on our website.
Yes. As part of your enrollment on the MTI(Path) scheme, you will be given access to the College's Learning Environment for Pathology Trainees (LEPT) system. This system allows you to collect evidence and record your training whilst in the UK. This evidence can contribute to your Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR) application.
It may be possible to complete training in more than one specialty, however this would require agreement from the trust(s). If you are thinking of doing this, please provide details in your MTI(Path) application.
- A valuable opportunity for UK trusts to learn from their international colleagues and share knowledge and experiences.
- The scheme provides enthusiastic and well qualified trainees that have been endorsed by RCPath.
- Trainees contribute a wide range of skills and teaching expertise to UK trusts, and provide cost-saving alternatives to locums.
- Trusts can cultivate strong personal ties between UK consultants and foreign institutions/trainees.
- The MTI can help you find candidates to help fill posts in medical specialties that are undersubscribed. You will have a capable foreign postgraduate doctor, whilst also providing a training placement for a doctor who might not otherwise be afforded the same opportunity in their home country.
Trusts can request an application pack by emailing the College’s MTI Officer.
To be considered for the MTI(Path) scheme, your Trust will need to complete and return the placement details form along with a full job description and timetable. The placement details form asks for basic details on the post and will not be accepted if some sections are incomplete.
Please note that failure to return the completed form and required documentation by the specified deadline may result in your Trust’s application being rejected. If you have already sourced a Trainee for a post, then unfortunately we are unable to proceed any further with their application to the MTI(Path) scheme.
