Online courses for
GMC-registered doctors.
Ethics, probity, fitness to practise, professionalism and professional boundaries — all built around Good Medical Practice 2024. For doctors facing a GMC investigation, preparing for revalidation, completing required remediation, or wanting to practise with complete confidence.
What brings you here today?
Professional standards courses for doctors — all five areas
42 courses across ethics, probity, fitness to practise, professionalism and professional boundaries. Select an area to see courses most relevant to your GMC situation.
Fitness to Practise — What You Need to Know
- How the GMC triages, investigates and refers concerns to the MPTS
- What the GMC needs to see at each stage to resolve or close a case
Insight — Understanding Your Mistakes
- Apply the four-pillar framework the MPTS uses in every case
- Write a reflective account that holds up in a GMC hearing or at appraisal
- Avoid the six reflection failures that undermine even well-intentioned accounts
Reflection — Learning from Your Practice
- Produce structured reflections that satisfy GMC appraisers
- Use Gibbs' cycle to write accounts that demonstrate genuine learning
Remediation — Demonstrating Change
- Build a remediation plan that connects to identified causes
- Present evidence of change — not just stated intentions
How to Ensure a Similar Mistake Won't Happen Again
- Demonstrate systemic learning — what the MPTS requires in serious cases
- Build sustainable practice changes with evidence they have held
How to Deal with a Complaint
- Navigate the complaints process and GMC investigation stages
- Draft a response that is honest and does not worsen your position
How to Avoid a Complaint
- Identify the communication failures that trigger most GMC referrals
- Build documentation habits that protect you if a concern is raised
Ethics in Everyday Practice
- Apply autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice to real clinical situations
- Navigate conflicting ethical duties with a structured, defensible framework
Consent — What Valid Consent Really Means
- Apply the Montgomery standard — what this patient would want to know
- Assess capacity and document consent in a way that holds up to scrutiny
The Duty of Candour
- Understand your professional and statutory candour duties precisely
- Handle difficult conversations with patients after an error
Confidentiality in Practice
- Know when disclosure is permitted, required or prohibited under GMP 2024
- Navigate complex cases — police requests, safeguarding, public interest
Decision Making for Patients Lacking Capacity
- Apply the Mental Capacity Act framework and document capacity assessments
- Make and record lawful best interests decisions
End of Life — Ethical Considerations
- Navigate DNACPR, advance directives and best interests decisions lawfully
- Apply the ethical and legal framework to withdrawing treatment
Ethical Dilemmas in Healthcare
- Use a structured framework to analyse and document competing duties
- Produce defensible ethical reasoning in difficult situations
Research Ethics
- Apply informed consent requirements and REC standards in research
- Manage data governance and participant welfare obligations
Probity — What It Means to Be Honest
- Understand what GMP Domain 4 requires across all aspects of professional life
- Identify where probity obligations arise beyond the obvious situations
Candour — When and How to Be Open
- Know exactly when and what your candour duty requires
- Handle disclosures to patients after errors in a way that satisfies GMP
Documentation and Records
- Produce records that are accurate, complete and contemporaneous
- Understand why retrospective alteration is treated as a cardinal GMC probity failure
Raising Concerns
- Know when, how and to whom concerns must be raised under GMP
- Understand the protections available to doctors who raise concerns
Conflicts of Interest
- Recognise, declare and manage conflicts under GMP Domain 4
- Apply the transparency requirement to financial and relational conflicts
Honesty in Applications and References
- Understand GMP's requirements on honesty in applications and declarations
- Know how misrepresentation is treated by the MPTS
Financial Integrity in Practice
- Apply GMP probity requirements to fees, billing and financial relationships
- Identify arrangements that could compromise professional independence
Professional Conduct & Communication
- Apply GMP Domains 3 and 4 to everyday patient and colleague interactions
- Communicate in ways that build trust and protect you if a concern is raised
Appraisal & Revalidation Preparation
- Structure your revalidation portfolio to meet GMC and AoMRC expectations
- Write reflective accounts that demonstrate genuine professional development
Maintaining Competence
- Apply GMP Domain 1 to recognising limits and seeking support appropriately
- Plan CPD that genuinely develops competence, not just records it
Social Media in Professional Practice
- Understand what GMP 2024 expects of doctors' online conduct
- Manage your online presence without risking your GMC registration
Leadership & Professional Responsibility
- Understand the additional GMP obligations that come with leadership positions
- Apply accountability and governance standards to clinical leadership
Working in Teams
- Apply GMP Domain 3 to collaborative working and team dynamics
- Raise concerns about colleagues constructively within your GMP obligations
Communicating with Patients
- Communicate clearly and compassionately in difficult or high-stakes conversations
- Document communications in a way that protects you and the patient
Prescribing Responsibilities
- Apply professional and legal responsibilities in complex prescribing situations
- Manage off-label use, controlled drugs and prescribing under pressure
Returning to Practice
- Navigate GMP requirements when returning to practice
- Rebuild competence and demonstrate fitness to return to your appraiser
Managing Stress & Wellbeing
- Understand GMP obligations around health and fitness to practise
- Identify support routes without fear of GMC consequence
Maintaining Appropriate Limits
- Understand where GMP Domain 4 draws professional limits with patients
- Maintain appropriate limits in complex or long-term clinical relationships
Social Media & Digital Conduct
- Understand the GMP requirements that apply to social media and messaging
- Manage patient contact requests online within your professional obligations
Relationships with Patients
- Understand what GMP says about personal, social and romantic patient contact
- Navigate longer-term therapeutic relationships and what happens when they end
Gifts, Benefits & Conflicts of Interest
- Know when accepting a gift is appropriate and when it creates a GMP issue
- Manage financial and personal conflicts with the transparency GMP requires
Power Dynamics in Healthcare
- Understand how power dynamics create boundary risks with patients and trainees
- Apply appropriate limits in supervisory and hierarchical relationships
Online Presence & Professional Identity
- Understand how your online identity intersects with your GMC registration
- Manage anonymous accounts and public commentary appropriately under GMP
Telephone & Digital Consultations
- Understand how GMP standards apply differently in remote settings
- Manage consent, documentation and limits in video and telephone consultations
Boundaries in Mental Health Practice
- Manage emotional dependency and complex attachment under GMP Domain 4
- Maintain appropriate limits through intensive or long-term treatment periods
Boundaries in Paediatric Practice
- Navigate consent, confidentiality and parental rights in under-18 care
- Understand the additional GMP boundary considerations in paediatric settings
Boundaries in Research
- Manage dual roles without compromising clinical or research boundaries
- Apply appropriate limits to participant relationships in research settings
Showing 12 of 42 courses
The four domains — how our courses align
Good Medical Practice 2024 is the standard against which every GMC fitness to practise case is assessed. Every CrownEthics course maps to its specific language.
Knowledge, skills and performance
Keep your knowledge and skills up to date. Recognise and work within the limits of your competence. Provide a good standard of practice.
Safety and quality
Protect patients and improve care. Respond to risks. Raise and act on concerns promptly. Contribute to systems that maintain safety.
Communication, partnership and teamwork
Communicate effectively with patients and colleagues. Work collaboratively. Respect patients' right to be involved in their care.
Maintaining trust
Be honest and open with patients. Act without discrimination. Never abuse your professional position. Maintain appropriate professional boundaries.
The one question every GMC case comes back to
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service is independent of the GMC. In practice, one factor shapes its decisions above everything else.
"Is this doctor safe to practise now and in the future?"
Insight is the answer. Not the severity of what happened. Not the doctor's career record. Whether the doctor genuinely understands what went wrong — and whether they have demonstrably changed. The four pillars:
Recognition
Clearly acknowledging what happened, in the first person, without minimising.
Understanding
Knowing specifically why — the mechanism, not "I was busy" or "system pressure."
Impact
The full effect on patients, colleagues, and the profession — even without lasting harm.
Remediation
Specific, evidenced, already-done changes that connect to the cause in Pillar 2.
- The account reads as a legal defence, not a reflection
- Apology without understanding why it happened
- "I will be more careful" — signals the account is incomplete
- Jumping to remediation before fully acknowledging the event
- Generic language that could belong to anyone about anything
- "Fortunately no lasting harm occurred" as the full impact assessment
- Acknowledges clearly before explaining — event stated in the opening
- Specific about cause — the precise mechanism, not system pressure
- Full impact — patient experience, affected colleagues, professional trust
- Remediation connects to cause — every change flows from what was understood
- Already done — past tense, with evidence where possible
- Sounds like this doctor — personal, specific, authentic
Fitness to Practise Complete — all 7 courses
Insight unlocks now. Six more courses as they launch, at no extra cost.
What GMC-registered doctors ask
The questions doctors most commonly ask about GMC investigations, Good Medical Practice, and how our courses help.
What does the GMC look for in a fitness to practise case?
The GMC assesses genuine insight — whether a doctor clearly acknowledges what went wrong, understands specifically why, appreciates the full impact on patients and colleagues, and has made concrete evidenced changes. The severity of the event matters less than whether the doctor genuinely understands it.
A serious clinical error made by a doctor who demonstrates full insight and effective remediation poses far less ongoing risk than a pattern of minor concerns from a doctor who cannot explain why it happened.
What is the MPTS and how is it different from the GMC?
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) is an independent tribunal that hears the most serious cases — those that cannot be resolved through the GMC's own investigation. It operates independently of the GMC, is chaired by a legally qualified chair, and makes independent decisions about sanction from no further action through to erasure.
How long does a GMC investigation take?
Many concerns resolve at initial assessment within weeks. Full investigations typically take 12–24 months. Cases referred to the MPTS add a further 6–12 months. During this period, demonstrating ongoing professional development and reflective practice strengthens the case that insight is genuine and continuing.
What does Good Medical Practice 2024 require?
Good Medical Practice 2024, in effect from 30 January 2024, sets out what the GMC expects across four domains: knowledge, skills and performance; safety and quality; communication, partnership and teamwork; and maintaining trust. It is the standard against which all GMC fitness to practise cases are assessed and all revalidation portfolios are reviewed. Read GMP 2024 on gmc-uk.org →
How do I demonstrate insight to the GMC?
Through four elements: Recognition (acknowledging what happened, first person, no minimising), Understanding (the specific mechanism — not system pressure), Impact (full effect on patients, colleagues, the profession), and Remediation (specific evidenced changes already in place that connect to the cause you identified). Each is assessed in written reflections, supporting documentation, and at any MPTS hearing.
Can I use these courses for GMC revalidation?
Yes. Every course provides a certificate on passing the 80% assessment and a structured reflective account template for your revalidation portfolio. The AoMRC recommends a minimum of 50 CPD credits per year across the five-year revalidation cycle, with substantive reflection as a core requirement.
What happens if I receive a GMC letter?
Contact your medical defence organisation immediately — MDU, MPS or MDDUS. Do not make any formal response before you have professional advice. How you respond at the first stage significantly influences how the case progresses.
CrownEthics courses are educational — they help you understand what the GMC and MPTS assess and how insight is demonstrated. They are not legal advice and are not a substitute for your defence organisation's support in a formal process.
Are these courses specific to doctors or for all healthcare professionals?
This page is written specifically for GMC-registered doctors and references GMP 2024 throughout. The courses themselves are relevant to all UK healthcare professionals — they are built around the principles all eight regulators share. CrownEthics also has dedicated pages for NMC-registered nurses and midwives, GDC-registered dentists, and all other UK regulators.
Not registered with the GMC?
Our courses cover all 8 UK healthcare regulators. Select yours for specific guidance.
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