Queen's University Belfast have joined a collaboration coordinated by Belfast City Council to help qualified and experienced refugee doctors living in Belfast with the process of registering with the General Medical Council. The participants come from several countries – Syria, Iran, Somalia, Sudan.  All have been granted refugee status and have a right to stay and work in the UK. All are eager to join the local workforce, but the path to registration with the General Medical Council is challenging. They are required to demonstrate a high level of proficiency in English, pass the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board written and clinical examinations set by the General Medical Council for international medical graduates and, if possible, gain some firsthand experience of work in the NHS.

The City Council has provided access to excellent English Language teaching, tailored specifically for work in clinical environments. We in Queen's University are providing access to our extensive suite of online learning resources and self-assessment material to help with Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board examination preparation. The Belfast Trust hopes to offer clinical observership placements soon.

A highlight of the Queen's University support has been the ‘Human Healthcare Factors’ course – a week long in-person course run by the Centre for Medical Education to prepare final year medical students to deal with challenging situations in the workplace. Through roleplay students gain experience in dealing with, for example, disagreements between colleagues or a member of the public unhappy with their care. The refugee doctors who attended were positive and enthusiastic about the course - particularly as it gave them a feel for the culture and expectations of working in the NHS. Of course, the benefits went both ways as Queen's students learned first-hand from these experienced colleagues about the realities of healthcare provision in war-torn or under-resourced environments.

You can learn more from The Doctor BMA article, "Here to Help: Refugee Doctors," which shares the inspiring stories of two of the eight refugee doctors Queen's University has enrolled as 'occasional students.'

It has been a joy to welcome these folk into Queen's University. Hopefully they will soon be in a ward or General Practice near you!