The United Examining Board was formed in 1993 to administer non-university qualifying examinations in medicine and surgery. The diplomas offered by the United Examining Board were registerable with the

General Medical Council The General Medical Council (GMC) is a public body that maintains the official register of medical practitioners within the United Kingdom. Its chief responsibility is to "protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public" by c ...

in order to register as a medical practitioner in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and an individual who had passed the examination could become a

Pre-registration house officer Pre-registration house officer (PRHO), often known as a houseman or house officer, is a former official term for a grade of junior doctor that was, until 2005, the only job open to medical graduates in the United Kingdom who had just passed the ...

. The qualifications offered by the United Examining Board were either the *English Triple

Conjoint {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 The conjoint was a basic medical qualification in the United Kingdom administered by the United Examining Board. It is now no longer awarded. The Conjoint Board was superseded in 1994 by the United Examining Board ...

(Licence of the

Royal College of Physicians of London The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

, Licence of the

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wales. The ...

, Licence in Medicine and Surgery of the Society of Apothecaries) ::abbreviated as LRCP, LRCS, LMSSA or the *Scottish

Triple Qualification The Triple Qualification (TQ) was a medical qualification awarded jointly by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Faculty (later Royal College) of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow betwe ...

, awarded since 1886, (Licence of the

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that sets the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by Royal charter ...

, Licence of the

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located on ...

, Licence of the

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, is an institute of physicians and surgeons in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by Peter Lowe after receiving a royal charter by James VI in 1599, as the Glasgow Faculty, it originally exist ...

). ::abbreviated as LRCP, LRCS, LRCPS or LRCPE, LRCSE, LRCPSG These examinations were usually taken either by partly trained refugee doctors, or by doctors who had been trained at an overseas medical school not recognised by the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

, or by other overseas graduates who wished to transfer more easily from limited to full registration with the

. They were also taken by students who had attended a UK medical school for one of two reasons; the first being those who had failed to obtain their primary medical qualification equivalent to a

Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United Kin ...

; and the second being that students were allowed to sit these exams, or their precursors, before they were able to take the degrees from their own universities and so sitting this exam could mean earlier GMC registration and therefore enabled them to earn money sooner. They were criticized as being a "backdoor into medicine". The United Examining Board was dissolved in 2007.

References

Higher education organisations based in the United Kingdom Medical education in the United Kingdom 1993 establishments in the United Kingdom 2007 disestablishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-university-stub