International University of Health Sciences, Saint Kitts and Nevis GMC acceptability

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Dear Munga Mungulu,

Your information request – IR1-4890914796

Thank you for your email dated 19^th April 2025.

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From: Munga Mungulu <[FOI #1272489 email]>
Sent: 19 April 2025 15:11
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - International University of
Health Sciences, Saint Kitts and Nevis GMC acceptability

Dear General Medical Council, I am an health professional and i would like
to clarify the acceptability of the University of Health Sciences
acceptability for GMC registration/Sitting PLAB/UKMLA. I note there are
Doctors registered with the

Dear General Medical Council,

I am an health professional and i would like to clarify the acceptability of the University of Health Sciences acceptability for GMC registration/Sitting PLAB/UKMLA.

I note there are Doctors registered with the GMC who graduated from this university. There have been some conflicting information which i would like to clarify before i make an informed decision about going to this university.

1)  A previous FOI response (IR1-4001653028) mentioned applications were refused from graduates from the international university of health sciences as "they did not spend sufficient time in St Kitts and Nevis during the duration of the course"

2) Another FOI response (IR1-4566125514) regarding the requirement to spend 50% time in the country awarding the qualification, "The criteria to spend more than 50% of the course in the awarding body country no longer exists, when this changed, we wrote to all impacted

schools to see if they wanted their listing reviewed".

3) Continuing from 2 above, " We currently will accept online learning, such as joining online live lectures as a replacement for face-to-face lectures and we will count these towards the total 5500 clock hours. However, we would not expect online learning to make up the majority of a course across its duration and we do not consider that the any online learning can be considered towards practical clinical placements/rotations. We expect practical

clinical rotations/placements to make up a minimum of 20% of a graduate’s

study. Therefore any online learning can be counted towards the overall

5500 hours, but must not make up the majority of the course and it cannot

be counted towards the minimum 20% clinical placements/rotations".

4) Another FOI response (IR1-4738590623) which made a reference to online live medical courses not exceeding 6 months in reference to a similar program at the University of Edinburgh, and a requirement for overseas medical qualifications to be referred to a specialist team if  students have attended remotely for more than 6 months.

Can you clarify based on current/known policies if a student can attend live lectures via online platform for more than 6 months a year, attend campus 3 weeks a year during the pre-clinical phase for practical/labs, attend full time face to face  clinical placements could potentially make a student eligible to sit the UKMLA/PLAB.

  I am aware of the Patel vs GMC case, i am not asking for a position statement on future policy change. My question is based on current answers to similar FOI requests and 'logical inference' about the applicability of these to make an informed decision.

Yours faithfully,

Munga Mungulu

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Dear Munga Mungulu,

Your information access request- IR1-4890914796

Thank you for your email dated 19 April 2025 asking the if the GMC could
clarify based on current/known policies if a student can attend live
lectures via online platform for more than 6 months a year, attend campus
3 weeks a year during the pre-clinical phase for practical/labs, attend
full time face to face  clinical placements could potentially make a
student eligible to sit the UKMLA/PLAB. We have considered your request
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

Please be informed that we don’t specify in our policies what the maximum
accepted amount of online study is as we consider each case on its own
merits. Also, we are not able to advise on the acceptability of a course
of study unless:

 1. For an individual applicant they have already completed the course of
study or,
 2. A full assessment has been carried out directly with the awarding body

Also, the GMC provides detailed information regarding  [1]Our criteria for
acceptable overseas qualifications - GMC on the GMC’s website.

I hope you find this information useful. If you have any queries about
this, or need anything further, please contact us on the details below.

Kind regards, 

Information Access Team

General Medical Council

[2]www.gmc-uk.org

[3][email address]

General Medical Council

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