Your development
Important update - as of 30th November 2023, the GMC has changed the existing CESR process to the new Portfolio pathway to specialist registration.
We will continue to update this page as changes are confirmed - in the meantime, please refer to the GMC webpages outlining the changes.
At some stage in your SAS career, you might wish to consider applying through the GMC for Specialist Register via the Portfolio pathway (formerly CESR, the Certificate of Eligibility for the Specialist Register).
The first port of call should be the GMC website where you will find your Specialty specific guidance for CESR and CEGPR applications - GMC (gmc-uk.org) which will give you an indication of what equivalent experience you are required to evidence in your application. Please note that all Specialty Specific Guidance documents have been updated and you should always work from the current SSG on the GMC website, rather than download and save a copy, as the website version is the most up-to-date version.
You need to access the relevant, up-to-date Curriculum document for your specialty area, as this will clearly detail the range and breadth of competencies you will be expected to achieve or provide evidence of equivalence for. However, do ensure you stay aware of any curriculum changes as you gather your evidence, as you will need to ensure your Portfolio application contains all the essential requirements applicable at the time of your submission.
Your relevant specialty Royal College should be able to provide you with specialty specific Curriculum/Portfolio-related advice and guidance. Using the format of the College’s own Portfolio to gather your evidence can be very helpful, as your documentation is then in a format familiar to assessors. Many Royal Colleges have an appointed person/team who are involved in the Portfolio process.
We suggest contacting the relevant Training Programme Director (TPD) for your region and your specialty: these individuals usually support trainees but should be able to give you guidance regarding potential gaps in experience and potential ways to gain the required experience and competencies. Your SAS Education Adviser can help identify who this is for your region.
The GMC have implemented some important changes to the application process, primarily:
Portfolio Pathway for Physician training curricula
The current curricula are outcomes-based, assessed against the fundamental capabilities required of consultants in the working week. These are known as ‘Capabilities in Practice’ or ‘CiPs’.
Internal Medicine Training Stage 1 now forms the first three years of post-foundation training. 12 months of further Internal Medicine (Stage 2) will be integrated with specialty training in a dual programme for the main specialties supporting acute medical care. See also Portfolio Pathway | JRCPTB
Portfolio Pathway for Surgical Specialties
The current curriculum is outcome-based, unlike the 2020 curriculum which was competency-based. These outcomes are assessed against the fundamental capabilities required of consultants in the working week. These include the general skills which all doctors need to have: the GMC’s Generic Professional Capabilities (GPCs) as well as those needed to carry out all the specific day-to-day tasks undertaken by a consultant surgeon. The tool to assess GPCs and CiPs is called the Multiple Consultant Report (MCR).
Apply for registration and/or licensing with us - GMC (gmc-uk.org)
Portfolio Pathway application - GMC (gmc-uk.org)
How the SAS Programme can help to support your Portfolio Pathway Application
The SAS Development Programme endeavours to understand and support the needs of Scottish SAS doctors who are working towards Portfolio Pathway applications. In 2024, we conducted a nationwide survey to gauge the experiences and needs of SAS grades regarding Portfolio - please click here to view the summary report, including our team's reflections and plans for support in the future.
GMC-led Portfolio Pathway Workshops for SAS Doctors
The SAS Development Programme aim to offer a GMC workshop for SAS to learn about the application process and ask their own questions, usually once or twice a year. We aim to offer the next workshop in 2025 and will provide details here when available. Please email SASDevelopment@nes.scot.nhs.uk to enquire about and register interest in future Portfolio Pathway workshops.
The most recent workshop on Specialist Registration was held on Thursday 21st November 2024, and covered:
Please see below a recording of the presentation by the GMC at the last workshop of November 2024:
GMC CESR/Portfolio workshop - Audio recording with presentation slides* (from Nov 2024 workshop)
*Info is correct as of Apr 2024 but subject to change
Guidance from your SAS Education Adviser and potential support from SAS development funding
If you've been unable to obtain specialty-specific Portfolio Pathway advice from your Royal College, the SAS Programme will be able to refer you to a Training Programme Director in your specialty area, through its Deanery network.
Our network of SAS Education Advisers in each of the regional Health Boards have all received training on the Portfolio process from the GMC and will be able to signpost you to people who can advise you on your specialty requirements.
As a result of being unsuccessful in a previous CESR/Portfolio Pathway application or whilst you are preparing a Portfolio Pathway application for submission, it may be necessary for you to undertake a period of additional top-up training, to meet any final gaps in the competencies required of the Curriculum you are following. SAS funding is limited, and is there to support all SAS in substantive posts across Scotland, so this funding is available to address specific gaps - not for a full training programme. We can currently support funding for up to 6 months for this purpose, for SAS in substantive posts who have evidenced that they have met all the other criteria for their curriculum and passed the relevant exams.
The SAS Programme has, to date, already supported a number of SAS Doctors across Scotland in their quest to achieve CESR (the predecessor to the Portfolio Pathway) by providing current salary backfill funding so that they can receive the additional training they require, to further support their CESR application. Some of the applicants the SAS fund has supported have now had their CESR application approved. We can also potentially support some costs towards essential training courses required for your Portfolio Pathway application.
In order to be considered for SAS funding for Portfolio Pathway purposes, you will have to apply to the SAS Development Fund, providing full details, and applying well in advance of any proposed training or secondment. Funding is limited, and cannot be guaranteed.
SAS Development Fund Application Process
NHS Scotland CESR/Portfolio Pathway Peer Support Network on Microsoft Teams
The CESR/Portfolio Pathway Peer Support Network on MS Teams is a place to meet others from Health Boards across Scotland who are interested in applying for the Portfolio Pathway or have started the process and would like some help and support from others going through the same process, or who have already achieved it. The Teams group is a place to meet, chat, share tips /resources /materials/ challenges/ solutions for all things Portfolio Pathway. It is a chance to link up with those in your own and other specialties or Health Boards who may be going through the same process and may be able to support each other through your own experiences.
We have over 170 members in the group including mentors who have already achieved CESR in their specialties and SAS Education Advisers from the regional Health Boards. If you would like more information about the group and how to register, please contact SASDevelopment@nes.scot.nhs.uk.
Regular meetings with Peer Support Mentors who have already achieved CESR are underway; the next sessions for 2024 will be posted here as soon as they are confirmed. Please note that the below sessions reference CESR curricula at the time of the speaker's application.
Recordings of these sessions are available to view on the CESR Peer Support Network on MS Teams.
Details of upcoming meetings of the Portfolio Pathway/CESR Peer Support Network:
Monday 13th January 2025, 12:30-13:30 - Dr Jayakrishnan Nair, Specialty Doctor (Ophthalmology), NHS Tayside
If you would like to join the CESR Peer Support Network on Teams, please contact: SASDevelopment@nes.scot.nhs.uk
E-Portfolio access by Specialty Information - updated for 2019
We strongly recommend that you keep a record of work done, this is best recorded utilising the same E-Portfolio access for SAS that trainees use. You should aim to ensure that new areas of learned competencies are signed off by a supervisor. This will make gathering evidence for CESR much easier.
This August 2020 AoMRC document summarises e-Portfolios access by Royal College / Joint Training Board.
Further Portfolio Pathway-related Support
CESR: How You Can Succeed
The Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh made available 8 videos from SAS doctors in England offering their advice on the CESR process, following their own success in applying. These are viewable at this link after registering a RCPE account; registration is free and open to all.
Leadership Development Passport
The Leadership Development Passport has been developed to aid trainees in generating and recording their leadership experience.
The aim of the passport is to provide a framework within which doctors can add their experience and reflections. This will help demonstrate leadership development for job interviews and ARCPs, while also showing the wide range of options available to trainees who wish to develop their leadership skills.
You may also be interested in reviewing this August 2020 AoRMC report on access to Leadership training for SAS doctors and dentists.
GMC Contacts
The team of advisers at the GMC are extremely helpful and very knowledgeable in the Portfolio application process, and are happy to take email-based enquiries from SAS doctors. Please email portfolio@gmc-uk.org.
SAS Programme Contact
If you have any further questions with respect to the SAS Portfolio Pathway process and the SAS Development Fund, please email your SAS Education Adviser see Specialist and Associate Specialist Doctors and Dentists | Scotland Deanery (nhs.scot) or SASDevelopment@nes.scot.nhs.uk.
This page was last updated on: 10.12.2024 at 11.16
