The question we keep getting from doctors using Sausage Dog: “Trust adverts are so generic. What are they actually screening for?”
So we stopped guessing. We pulled 188 real NHS doctor adverts from jobs.nhs.uk across foundation, core trainee, specialty doctor, registrar and consultant grades, read every one, and counted what UK Trusts genuinely ask for.
Whether you are a registrar writing a consultant application, a specialty doctor moving Trust, or a CT2 stepping up to ST3, here is the cheat sheet.
The headline finding: the registration the law requires is not the top thing they ask for
GMC registration with licence to practise is the one thing a UK doctor cannot legally work without. It appeared in 58% of adverts. Management language appeared in 70%. MDT appeared in 62%. Professionalism in 60%. Leadership in 56%.
Read that again. The legally required credential is mentioned less often than management, MDT, professionalism and leadership.
This is the same pattern we found in NHS nursing, NMC registration mentioned less than MDT working. The advert is not where Trusts filter on credentials. The advert filters on behaviour. The credential gets checked at application stage. The advert is asking whether you actually work the way an NHS Trust needs a doctor to work.
The top 8 things UK NHS Trusts actually ask doctors for
Ranked by how often each appeared across 188 adverts:
Top keywords in UK doctor adverts
| Keyword | % of adverts |
|---|---|
| Clinical | 89% |
| Management | 70% |
| MDT working | 62% |
| Professionalism | 60% |
| GMC registration | 58% |
| Research | 57% |
| Leadership | 56% |
| Teaching | 55% |
| On-call | 44% |
| Supervision | 44% |
1. Clinical: 89%
The expected baseline. Almost every advert uses the word. Your CV needs to evidence clinical decision-making with specific examples, case-mix, complexity, autonomy, not just claim it as a generic competence.
2. Management: 70%
More common than the GMC. Trusts want doctors who can manage clinics, manage referrals, manage rotas, manage trainees. If you have ever covered a consultant on leave, run a clinic list, redesigned a service or led a rota, that is management work. Name it.
“Managed a 14-patient acute medicine takeover on the post-take ward round, with two SHOs and a pharmacist; coordinated discharges and same-day cardiology liaison.”
3. MDT working: 62%
The same finding as nursing. Doctors do not work in a bubble, and the advert wants explicit evidence. Name the other professions you work with. Pharmacy, OT, physio, palliative care nurse, discharge coordinator, social worker. Generic “good team player” phrasing does not register.
4. Professionalism: 60%
This is the Good Medical Practice flag. Probity (mentioned explicitly in a smaller percentage), revalidation, appraisal, these are all signals that you understand the regulatory framework the GMC operates inside. Mention CPD, appraisal completion, e-portfolio currency. They want to know you take the framework seriously.
5. GMC registration: 58%
Mentioned less often than the behaviours above. Still essential to make visible. Your GMC number and licence to practise belong in the top third of the CV, in the personal summary, not in a credentials section at the end.
Format: GMC: 1234567, full registration with licence to practise (Specialist Register, [date])6. Research: 57%
Research-active doctors are recruited at every grade. Adverts do not require a published paper, they require engagement. Audit, QI projects, journal club, research interest, conference attendance, supervising a student elective, contributing to a Trust-level research initiative. Pick the strongest example and lead with it.
7. Leadership: 56% (and 61% at specialty doctor grade)
The most striking finding in the per-grade slice. Leadership appeared in 61% of specialty doctor adverts, more often than in the consultant adverts (55%). That is not an accident.
Trusts use the sub-consultant advert to recruit doctors who will move toward consultant within the next few years. The behaviour they are screening for is the behaviour they expect at the next grade. If you are applying as a specialty doctor or registrar, lead the CV with explicit leadership evidence: rota redesigns, audit cycles you initiated, junior teaching programmes you set up, service improvement work you proposed.
8. Teaching: 55% (and 86% at registrar grade)
Teaching of foundation doctors and core trainees has been pushed downward from consultants to registrars. 86% of registrar adverts mention it. If you teach on simulation days, deliver tutorials, supervise students or run regional teaching for higher trainees, evidence it specifically. “Designed and delivered a four-week teaching programme for FY1 doctors on acute medicine, with pre and post evaluation” lands. “Strong teacher” does not.
What NHS Trusts barely mention
What is missing from the list is informative too:
- Specific procedural numbers: the advert almost never lists procedure counts. They live in the e-portfolio. Your CV needs to evidence procedural breadth through case examples, not a numerical inventory.
- College exam dates: MRCP, MRCGP, MRCS, FRCA and FRCEM appear in single-digit percentages each. They are essential to list, but they are not the differentiator the advert is screening on.
- Specific guidelines (NICE numbers, BTS, GOLD, etc.): rarely in the advert text. Evidence applied use through clinical examples, not a guidelines checklist.
- Drug names and dose ranges: almost never. Prescribing competence is evidenced through the case examples in your bullets, not a pharmacology recap.
Do not write a procedural inventory. Write a story about how you operate as a clinician, evidenced through real management, leadership, teaching and MDT examples.
Before and after
A specialty doctor in respiratory medicine had this opening on her CV:
“Hard-working and dedicated specialty doctor with several years of experience in general and acute medicine. I am passionate about patient care and work well in a team.”
Tailored against a higher specialty trainee post, with the patterns from 188 real adverts applied:
“Specialty doctor in respiratory medicine (GMC: 1234567, full licence to practise) with five years post-CT2 experience across acute and respiratory medicine. Co-lead the weekly respiratory MDT for complex bronchiectasis cases, supervise two CT1/CT2 doctors per rotation, and run the local FY1 acute medicine teaching programme. Currently completing a service-improvement project on early supported discharge for COPD exacerbations.”
Same doctor. Same experience. The difference: every signal the advert was screening for lands in the first three sentences.
What this means for your medical CV
The advert is not a clinical checklist. It is a behaviour brief. The most-asked behaviours from 188 real NHS doctor adverts are: GMC visible in the summary, MDT explicitly evidenced, management work named, leadership at every grade, teaching of juniors at registrar grade and above, and a research interest with a current example.
Sausage Dog now weaves all eight patterns into doctor CVs automatically. Try it free at sausagedog.io. No card needed.
This is the third NHS-adjacent dataset in our library. Earlier pieces: 119 nurse adverts (NMC vs MDT), 148 paramedic adverts (community vs 999). The pattern keeps repeating: the legally required credential is filtered later, the behavioural signal is filtered now.
Frequently asked
What is the single most important thing to include in a doctor CV?+
Your GMC number with licence to practise, in the top third of the page, in the personal summary. 58% of UK doctor adverts mention GMC registration explicitly, and the recruiter has to verify it before shortlisting. Format: "GMC: 1234567, Specialist Register, full licence to practise". Do not leave it to be found in the registration section at the bottom.
Do I need to list every clinical procedure I have done?+
No. Specific procedures appear less often in adverts than the soft signals that surround them. Surgery, anaesthetics, paediatrics and the other specialty terms appear when relevant to the role, but the keywords that dominate are management (70%), MDT (62%), professionalism (60%), research (57%), leadership (56%) and teaching (55%). Your CV should evidence those, then point to the e-portfolio for the procedure log.
Why does the advert ask for management and leadership at specialty doctor grade?+
Because the advert is doing succession planning. In our dataset, leadership appeared in 61% of specialty doctor adverts versus 55% of consultant adverts, the entry tier above trainee is being recruited for behaviours that traditionally belonged at consultant grade. Trusts use the advert to signal future expectations, not just current responsibilities. If you have ever covered a consultant on call, supervised an SHO, or led an audit, that belongs in the top third of your CV.
Is teaching really expected of a registrar?+
Yes. Teaching appears in 86% of registrar adverts. The training of foundation doctors and core trainees has been pushed down the medical hierarchy from consultants to registrars over the last decade. If you teach on simulation days, deliver tutorials, or supervise FY1/FY2 doctors on the ward, write it as a bullet. Trusts genuinely need registrars who can grow the next layer of the workforce.
How should I evidence MDT working on a doctor CV?+
Not with a generic line saying "good MDT working skills". Evidence it with the specific other professions you work with regularly, pharmacists, physios, OTs, dietitians, palliative care nurses, discharge coordinators, social workers. "Co-led weekly MDT for complex frailty admissions, with pharmacy, OT, social work and community matron, covering 60+ patients per cycle" is the shape that lands.
How long should a doctor CV be?+
Two to four pages depending on grade. A foundation or core trainee CV is two pages. A specialty registrar CV is two to three. A consultant CV is three to four, with a separate publications and presentations appendix on a fifth page if needed. The NHS Jobs system requires a full CV alongside a supporting statement, so do not try to squeeze a career into one page.
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