Titles in medicine are a mixture of legal protection, professional convention and marketing. Knowing which is which makes a biography much easier to read.
Consultant
In the UK this has a specific meaning. A consultant has completed full specialty training, holds a Certificate of Completion of Training or equivalent, and appears on the Specialist Register held by the General Medical Council for a named specialty.
Someone describing themselves as a consultant in private practice should normally be on that register for the specialty you are consulting them about. It is free to check, and how to check the register explains where to look.
The word “consultant” on its own, in a line like “consultant in aesthetic medicine”, does not carry that weight unless the specialty appears on the register. Aesthetic medicine is not a recognised specialty on the Specialist Register.
Specialist
Used precisely, it means the same thing: on the Specialist Register for that specialty. Used loosely in advertising, it can mean someone has an interest in a subject.
The test is the register entry, not the sentence on the website.
Specialty doctor and associate specialist
These are substantive, experienced hospital roles below consultant grade. Doctors in them are often highly skilled and may have decades of experience in a field. They are not consultants and should not use the title.
GP
General practitioners appear on the GMC’s GP Register rather than the Specialist Register. A GP offering private appointments should be on it. A doctor who is on neither register is in training or has not completed it.
Mr, Miss, Mrs and Ms for surgeons
In Britain, surgeons traditionally revert from “Dr” to “Mr” or the female equivalent after passing Royal College surgical examinations. It is a historical quirk, dating from when surgeons trained by apprenticeship rather than at university and were not awarded medical degrees.
It confuses patients constantly. A surgeon called “Mr” is signalling completed surgical training, not the absence of a medical qualification.
The letters after the name
Most indicate examinations passed or fellowship of a Royal College.
MBBS, MBChB, MB BChir and similar are the primary medical degree. Everyone practising medicine has one; the variation is which university awarded it.
MRCP, MRCS, MRCPsych, MRCOG, MRCGP are membership of a Royal College, normally gained by examination partway through specialty training.
FRCP, FRCS, FRCPsych are fellowship — a further stage, sometimes by examination and sometimes by election for standing in the profession.
MD, PhD, MSc are academic degrees. An MD in the UK is a research degree, not the basic medical qualification it denotes in the United States.
These are real and they are worth something. But they describe examinations passed, in some cases decades ago, rather than current standing. The register tells you about now.
Titles anyone can use
“Doctor” is not a protected title in the UK. Someone with a doctorate in any subject may use it legitimately. Someone with no relevant qualification may also use it without committing an offence. The protected element is GMC registration, not the word.
“Clinic”, “medical centre”, “institute” and “specialist centre” are not protected either. The meaningful check for a clinic in England is registration with the Care Quality Commission.
“Harley Street” is a street. What that address actually means is worth reading if it is part of why you are considering someone.