GMC clarifies its use of the term “medical professional”

Readers have expressed some anxiety over the General Medical Council’s use of the term “medical professional.”1 I’d like to offer some clarification on this point.We use medical professional to collectively describe all the professionals we will regulate in future, in preference to listing out each individual role. The term is not a protected title, and it is not defined in law. By contrast, it remains emphatically the case that the term “registered medical practitioner” is a protected title and applies only to doctors, as defined in the Medical Act 1983. It is a criminal offence—and a breach of professional standards if the individual is regulated—for a person to falsely use a protected title.We have engaged with the BMA, medical royal colleges, members of the profession, and patients to help inform our approach and terminology. There has been strong agreement that physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs) should be held…
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