UK Medical Appraisals
Independent, GMC-Compliant Medical Appraisals for UK and International Doctors
Fast, supportive, and fully accredited — with no hidden fees. Providing free support and REV12 completion, if you don't have a Designated Body.
Fees from £350
1. What can I expect from a Medical Appraisal with UKMA?
You will receive expert guidance and support with your Appraisal preparation.
Your appraisal will be a formal, but relaxed, friendly and supportive meeting, with one of the most experienced Medical Appraisers in the UK. It will be via video link and will last about 1 hour.
Your appraiser will create an environment in which you will feel able to ask questions about the appraisal process and about any concerns you have.
During the meeting, your Appraiser will facilitate discussions and your reflections on the supporting evidence you have provided for your Appraisal. These discussions and reflections will be used to formulate your Personal Development Plan for the subsequent 12 months [your Appraiser will guide you on this].
Following your Appraisal, your Appraiser will complete [finalise] the Appraisal form and complete all sections of the REV12 form. They will then email these completed documents to you, during the 48 hours following your Appraisal.
You then upload these to your online GMC account. Within 14 days, the GMC will then email your Appraiser, to ask them to confirm that they met with you for your Appraisal and that they completed the Appraisal forms. Your Appraiser will confirm this within a few hours and your Appraisal process will then be complete.
Contact UKMA for more information
Your appraisal will be a formal, but relaxed, friendly and supportive meeting, with one of the most experienced Medical Appraisers in the UK. It will be via video link and will last about 1 hour.
Your appraiser will create an environment in which you will feel able to ask questions about the appraisal process and about any concerns you have.
During the meeting, your Appraiser will facilitate discussions and your reflections on the supporting evidence you have provided for your Appraisal. These discussions and reflections will be used to formulate your Personal Development Plan for the subsequent 12 months [your Appraiser will guide you on this].
Following your Appraisal, your Appraiser will complete [finalise] the Appraisal form and complete all sections of the REV12 form. They will then email these completed documents to you, during the 48 hours following your Appraisal.
You then upload these to your online GMC account. Within 14 days, the GMC will then email your Appraiser, to ask them to confirm that they met with you for your Appraisal and that they completed the Appraisal forms. Your Appraiser will confirm this within a few hours and your Appraisal process will then be complete.
Contact UKMA for more information
2. What is Revalidation?
Revalidation is the date that your GMC licence to practise renews. It occurs once every 5 years and it is generally set 5 years after: a] you first registered with the GMC, or b] you completed FY1 training, or c] you completed specialist training.
Contact UKMA for more information
Contact UKMA for more information
3. What is a Medical Appraisal?
UKMA provides the annual process of facilitated self-review, supported by information gathered from the full scope of your work. Your scope of practice is defined by all the types of Medical work you do, inside and or outside of the UK. Looking back over a 5 year Revalidation Cycle, the supporting information should have been gathered predominantly from UK practice. However, for any given 1 year appraisal period, this is not necessary.
There are 6 types of supporting information that are provided for appraisals and that should cover your scope[s] of practice.
1. Continuing professional development (CPD / CME) [try to aim for 50 hours each year - this can include UK-based and non-UK based activities]. The number of hours maybe less than 50, particularly if this is your first appraisal.
There are 6 types of supporting information that are provided for appraisals and that should cover your scope[s] of practice.
1. Continuing professional development (CPD / CME) [try to aim for 50 hours each year - this can include UK-based and non-UK based activities]. The number of hours maybe less than 50, particularly if this is your first appraisal.
2. Any Quality improvement activity [such as audit, case-based discussions, service improvement activities]. UKMA will provide you with templates for these.
3. Any Significant Events that you and or your team were involved in [A Significant Event is an event that did lead, or could have led, to harm].
4, Feedback from patients or those to whom you provide medical services. This needs to be collected at least once within each Revalidation Cycle, but it is not necessary to provide this for each appraisal].
5. Feedback from colleagues [Reference letters / letters of recommendation for each appraisal. These should cover each of your UK and any non-UK scope[s] of practice. Formal multi-source feedback from colleagues needs to be collected at least once within each Revalidation Cycle, but it is not necessary to provide this for each appraisal.
6. Any Compliments and complaints that you and or your team were involved in.
Contact UKMA for more information
Contact UKMA for more information
4. What is an Annual Return?
An Annual Return is the process by which doctors, who do not have a Designated Body, make a direct submission to the GMC. It comprises an Annual Appraisal [with an Appraisal form + a REV 12 form, completed by your Appraiser] + completion of certain documents on your GMC platform account, such as the REV11 form.
Please note, NHS England has discontinued the use of the MAG4 appraisal form, and it should no longer be used for appraisals. UKMA will provide you with an alternative, that is fully compliant with updated NHS England and GMC requirements.
Contact UKMA for more information
Please note, NHS England has discontinued the use of the MAG4 appraisal form, and it should no longer be used for appraisals. UKMA will provide you with an alternative, that is fully compliant with updated NHS England and GMC requirements.
Contact UKMA for more information
5. Does UKMA facilitate Appraisals for International Medical Graduates (IMGs) ?
The answer is yes, of course. We recognise the huge contribution that IMGs make to UK Medical Practice.
There are five common scenarios in which IMGs have an appraisal with the UK Medical Appraisals:
1. The IMG is working in paid clinical practice, both within the UK and outside of the UK
2. The IMG is working in paid clinical practice, outside of the UK, whilst they are actively applying for paid clinical work and or a Clinical Attachment / Observership, in the UK
3. The IMG is working in paid clinical practice, within the UK
4. The IMG is undertaking, or has recently undertaken, a Clinical Attachment / Observership in the UK, but is not in paid clinical work. However, they are actively applying for paid clinical work in the UK
5. The IMG has been on a career break / maternity leave and is actively applying for paid clinical work and or a Clinical Attachment / Observership, in the UK
Contact UKMA for more information
There are five common scenarios in which IMGs have an appraisal with the UK Medical Appraisals:
1. The IMG is working in paid clinical practice, both within the UK and outside of the UK
2. The IMG is working in paid clinical practice, outside of the UK, whilst they are actively applying for paid clinical work and or a Clinical Attachment / Observership, in the UK
3. The IMG is working in paid clinical practice, within the UK
4. The IMG is undertaking, or has recently undertaken, a Clinical Attachment / Observership in the UK, but is not in paid clinical work. However, they are actively applying for paid clinical work in the UK
5. The IMG has been on a career break / maternity leave and is actively applying for paid clinical work and or a Clinical Attachment / Observership, in the UK
Contact UKMA for more information
6. What Other Resources Does UKMA provide?
A certified course on Quality Improvement Activities for Doctors [3 CPD points] - free for all Doctors having an appraisal with UKMA
A comprehensive CPD Directory - free for all Doctors having an appraisal with UKMA
A Clinical Attachment Guide for IMGs, which includes a list of hospitals that provide Clinical Attachments - free for all Doctors having an appraisal with UKMA
A State of the Art Case Based Discussion Template - free for all Doctors having an appraisal with UKMA
A State of the Art Reference letter Template - free for all Doctors having an appraisal with UKMA
Contact UKMA for more information
A comprehensive CPD Directory - free for all Doctors having an appraisal with UKMA
A Clinical Attachment Guide for IMGs, which includes a list of hospitals that provide Clinical Attachments - free for all Doctors having an appraisal with UKMA
A State of the Art Case Based Discussion Template - free for all Doctors having an appraisal with UKMA
A State of the Art Reference letter Template - free for all Doctors having an appraisal with UKMA
Contact UKMA for more information
►Hot Topic of the Week
Monday 2nd March 2026
Monday 2nd March 2026
Human Factors in Medicine: What Doctors Can Learn from Air Accident Investigation
Modern medicine is extraordinarily advanced. Yet serious incidents still occur — often not because of lack of knowledge, but because of human factors. Aviation confronted this reality decades ago. When aircraft accidents were investigated in the 1970s and 1980s, investigators recognised something uncomfortable: most crashes were not caused by mechanical failure. They were caused by human error within complex systems. Healthcare has followed a similar trajectory.
What Are Human Factors?
Human factors refer to the environmental, organisational, and psychological elements that influence how individuals perform tasks. In medicine, this includes fatigue, cognitive overload, communication breakdown, authority gradients, interruptions, poor system design, inadequate safety-netting and time pressure. Importantly, human factors are not about blaming individuals. They are about understanding how systems interact with human limitations. This mirrors the philosophy of modern air accident investigation.
The Aviation Model: From Blame to Systems Thinking
Early aviation investigations often focused on “pilot error.” Over time, accident investigators realised that this approach was simplistic and unhelpful. Instead, they began asking deeper questions: Why was the pilot fatigued? Why was the checklist unclear? Why did co-pilots feel unable to challenge captains? Why was critical information poorly displayed? The result was the development of Crew Resource Management (CRM), improved checklist design, and a culture of psychological safety in cockpits. Fatality rates fell dramatically. Healthcare is now moving in the same direction.
Parallels in Medicine
Consider common medico-legal themes: missed diagnoses, failure to escalate, delayed investigations, poor documentation, inadequate safety-netting and communication failures at handover. When analysed deeply, these rarely represent incompetence. More often, they reflect time pressure, cognitive bias, system inefficiencies, unclear responsibility and cultural barriers to speaking up. Modern Serious Incident frameworks increasingly emphasise human factors analysis rather than individual blame.
Why Human Factors Matter in Medical Appraisal
Medical appraisal should not simply be a compliance exercise. It is an opportunity to reflect on how we make decisions under uncertainty, how fatigue affects judgement, how cognitive bias influences reasoning, how we communicate risk and how we function within complex systems. An appraisal discussion framed through a human factors lens is significantly more meaningful than one limited to CPD credits and documentation. It aligns closely with high-quality medical practice, including Structured Clinical Reasoning, Risk Management, Evidence-Based Practice, Patient-Centred Care and Clinical Governance. This is reflective professionalism — not form-filling.
Human Factors and Structured Clinical Reasoning
Human factors directly affect diagnostic reasoning. Anchoring bias can lead to premature closure. Availability bias may distort risk estimation. Fatigue impairs information synthesis. Overconfidence may suppress help-seeking. Reflective appraisal can explore what influenced decision-making, what pressures were present at the time, what alternative explanations were considered and how system design could better support safe reasoning. This shifts appraisal from retrospective defence to proactive risk reduction.
From Air Accident Awareness to Medical Risk Awareness
Air accident investigation transformed aviation safety through transparent reporting, learning from near misses, non-punitive safety cultures and continuous systems improvement. Healthcare continues to evolve in this direction. Doctors who understand human factors recognise their cognitive limitations, value checklists and protocols, encourage colleagues to speak up, reflect constructively on incidents and reduce risk before harm occurs. This mindset represents professional maturity.
Final Reflection
Clinicians, like pilots, work in complex systems where error is always a possibility. The real risk lies not in human fallibility itself, but in failing to recognise and manage it. Aviation has shown that excellence does not come from pretending to be infallible, but from building systems that anticipate human limitations and mitigate risk. Medicine must continue to evolve in the same way. Medical appraisal provides a structured opportunity to reflect on decision-making, human factors, and system influences — embedding risk awareness, structured clinical reasoning, and professional maturity into everyday practice. If you would like your appraisal discussion to focus on meaningful professional development — including human factors, structured clinical reasoning and risk reduction
Created with
