Core Revision
Guide two · a checklist to live in, not read once
Your first 90 days
Moving countries and starting in the NHS at the same time is a lot — so don’t hold it in your head. Tick things off here as you go. Nothing on this list is urgent all at once, and thousands of doctors have walked this exact path before you.
Phase one
Before you arrive
Ideally the month or two before you travel ·
Know your registration date and what identity checks remain after you land — your employer’s HR team will chase documents, so keep certified copies of everything in one folder (paper and cloud).
Most NHS doctors come on the Health and Care Worker visa. The BMA toolkit for doctors new to the UK and GOV.UK are the two sources to trust over any forum post.
The BMA offers free first-year membership to international doctors new to the UK — contract checking and employment advice you’ll be glad to have.
Free, half a day, and repeatedly rated by IMGs as the thing they wish they’d done sooner — book it here for your first weeks.
The national e-learning induction programme can be done from anywhere — even before you fly.
Somewhere to stay for the first few weeks, and enough funds to bridge the gap to your first pay day (often a month or more after starting). Ask your employer about early-pay or relocation support — many trusts offer it.
Phase two
Your first two weeks
The admin fortnight — it gets easier after this ·
You need it for payroll and it can take a little while — apply on GOV.UK as soon as you arrive (you can usually start work while it’s pending).
A UK address helps; several banks open accounts with a passport plus an employer letter. The SIM matters more than it sounds — NHS systems and patients will need to reach you.
Yes — doctors need a GP too, and you’ll experience your new system from the patient side, which is quietly excellent training.
Smartcard, clinical system logins, e-portfolio access. Befriend the practice manager and the rota coordinator early — they solve more problems than any consultant.
Your clinical supervisor, your educational supervisor, and the duty doctor arrangement where you work. Asking early and often is read here as safe practice, never as weakness.
Phase three
Your first three months
Settling in, finding your people, starting to thrive ·
Between them they cover consent, confidentiality, prescribing culture and raising concerns — the things that differ most between health systems.
Watch experienced colleagues consult. Notice how they ask about ideas, concerns and expectations, share decisions, and safety-net. These are learnable, examined skills — start collecting phrases you like.
Once life admin settles, sketch your MSRA/AKT/SCA timeline. Our Revision Hub and Core Calendar exist to give you structure without overwhelm — and the IMG Hub will keep growing alongside you.
Council tax, driving licence rules for your country of origin, schools if you have children. One thing a week is a perfectly good pace.
Around months two to three many people feel a wobble: competence questioned, home missed, everything effortful. It’s the well-known shape of adjusting to a new country, and it passes. Talk to your buddy, your network, your supervisor — you are not the first, and you’re not alone.
Your ticks save on this device, so you can come back to this page across the whole 90 days. If you’d like this as a printable PDF, tell us at admin@corerevision.com — it’s on our list.
General information, not immigration, legal or financial advice — for visa and employment questions use the BMA and GOV.UK. Written by the Core Revision team · Reviewed by a practising GP · Last reviewed July 2026.