Doctor Titles in the UK

Junior doctor

Junior doctors are qualified doctors in clinical training. They have completed a medical degree and foundation training, and have anywhere up to eight years' experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
All junior doctors work under the supervisor of a senior doctor.

Specialist registrar

A specialist registrar (SpR) is a the UK who is receiving advanced training in a specialist field of medicine in order to become a consultant or General Practitioner.
Specialist Registrars generally stay in post for around five years (more or less depending on the speciality), gaining experience in a broad speciality (e.g. general surgery), and in a subspecialty (e.g. pediatric cardiology) after which they receive the Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT). The CCT is awarded based on satisfactory yearly Record of In-Training Assessments (RITA) and completion of an 'exit' exam or fellowship diploma in the specialty from one of the Royal Colleges. Listing on the Specialist Register permits application to consultant jobs.

Consultant

Consultants are the most senior grade of hospital doctors and are responsible for leading a team. Every patient who is admitted to hospital will have a named consultant.
Consultants are senior doctors that have completed full medical training in a specialised area of medicine and are listed on the GMC’s specialist register. They have clinical responsibilities and administrative responsibilities in managing SAS and junior doctors.
They usually work in hospitals or community settings.
After graduating from medical school, it takes around six to eight years to become a consultant.

SAS doctor

SAS doctors are experienced and senior doctors in permanent posts. They have at least four years of full-time postgraduate training, two of which have been in their relevant specialty.
SAS doctors work in hospitals and have a very ‘hands on’ role with a lot of patient contact.
There are SAS doctors in every hospital specialty and also in community hospitals (eg psychiatry and paediatrics). Some hold jobs in both the hospital and the community (eg gynaecology and sexual health).
Some SAS doctors also work part-time as GPs. SAS doctors therefore work across primary, community and hospital care.
Many SAS doctors have made a positive choice to step into a SAS position from a traditional consultant training pathway. This could be for reasons such as geographical stability and the chance to work regular hours in a chosen specialty. It often provides a better work-life balance.
There are routes, through gaining CESR (certificate of eligibility for specialist registration) or applying for a
training post, for SAS doctors to become consultants if they want to.

General practitioner

GPs have overall responsibility for the management of patient care outside of hospitals. This includes the diagnosis and treatment of health problems and the referral of patients for specialist treatment where necessary.
Rather than having a specific specialist area, GPs can diagnose many illnesses or ailments, and determine whether a patient needs to see a doctor with more specialist training. They are also increasingly responsible for the management and monitoring of complex chronic illnesses.
Some GP doctors have a GPwSI (GP with a special interest) accreditation, which supplements their role as a generalist to provide an extra area of specialist knowledge.

Academic doctor

Academic or clinical academic doctors often work in a combination of teaching, research, and specialist clinical care. They undertake research in order to develop the science of medicine and can be any grade of doctor from a foundation year junior doctor to a consultant, GP or SAS doctor.
Common job titles for academic doctors are (from junior to senior):
• ACF – academic clinical fellow
• CL – clinical lecturer
• CRF – clinical research fellow
• CSL – senior clinical lecturer
• reader/associate professor
• prof – professor.

Other common titles

Locum doctor

A locum doctor is a fully qualified doctor who is temporarily covering a position. For example, if a doctor is on sick leave or there is large workload in a GP surgery or hospital ward that requires the support of a temporary doctor.
All doctors, other than a foundation year one doctors, can work as locum doctors. Locum doctors can therefore be foundation year two junior doctors, junior doctors in speciality training, SAS doctors, GPs or consultants working in hospital. All locum doctors are fully registered with, and regulated by, the GMC.