It’s important to note that the scheme is not a means to seek permanent employment in the UK. The MTI makes use of spare training capacity within the NHS. The RCR is facilitating your employment of the applicant. Your responsibilities as an employer are the same as for any other employee.
The post
An overseas doctor must be offered a suitable job in order to start the process. Both the post and the applicant must meet the MTI’s eligibility criteria. The post must be a clinical training post at specialty registrar grade, and encompass a period of higher specialty training (ST5/6/7) as set out in the current RCR specialty training curriculum. It cannot be core radiology training and we do not offer sponsorship for research posts, LAS posts, specialty doctor posts, or locum consultant posts.
The MTI is designed to allow the doctor to take up a temporary training post to benefit their practice when they return to their home country, not for the purpose of settling in the UK, and the scheme should not be used to address workforce issues at a service level.
Job descriptions and timetables
Job descriptions for the MTI doctor must reflect that the role is a training post. What we look for in approving the job is a clear weekly timetable which includes a balance of imaging reporting and procedural work, MDT attendance, administration and SPA time, and no inclusion in the out of hours on-call rota until the MTI doctor has been in post and assessed by the clinical supervisor as competent to be included.
The post should be properly contracted and suitable funding should be available e.g. salary, scholarship. The applicant cannot self-fund. As this will be a specialty training post, it is expected that the employer will have the usual clinical and educational supervision procedures in place for the MTI applicant. As with any employee new to practice in the NHS, it is also expected that the UK employer will arrange an induction and orientation period. Both the UK employer and MTI trainee will be contacted periodically throughout the placement by the RCR to confirm that all is progressing as expected.
An example clinical radiology job description can be found on the right hand side of this page.
Training Programme Director/Head of School post confirmation
As part of the application process, the relevant Training Programme Director/Head of School must co-sign the UK supervising consultant form confirming that the post is appropriate and contains sufficient education and training to benefit the applicant. By co-signing the application form, the TPD/HoS also confirms that the applicant’s appointment does not adversely affect the training of UK/EEA doctors or existing trainees. The UK supervising consultant/UK employer must submit the application form along with the job description, timetable and applicant's CV in order for the complete application to be considered for initial approval by the Medical Director of Education and Training (MDET).
Your complete MTI application should therefore include:
UK supervising consultant form co-signed by the TPD/HoS
Applicant's CV
Job description
Timetable
IMPORTANT
We sponsor on the understanding that MTI applicants will finish their placements and return to their home country at their conclusion. Any changes to the agreed post must be taken up with the RCR before they are implemented. A failure to do that may compromise our sponsorship and consequently the applicant's immigration status.