Are you interested in flexible training for your house officer post? Farnaza Ariffin lets you in on what its really like ...

I had never heard of flexible training as a student. I was due to have my first baby during my final year, and I had the dilemma of working full time, sacrificing precious time with my new born child or deferring my preregistration house officer training. When a colleague mentioned flexible training, I realised there could be a third way. I arranged a meeting with the flexible training office, and I spent the next six months organising the job and shopping for baby clothes.

I was paired up with another student and we were offered a job share in a supernumerary post. I started work when my baby was only five weeks old. It was hectic, and I spent a lot of my lunch break running up to the on-call room and expressing milk. I managed to breast feed my baby until she was nine months old. I had a very supportive job share partner who understood what it is like to be a mother. Some of my other colleagues were more curious about my lunch break disappearances, and some jokingly asked if they could use my babys milk in their coffee.

Getting the job approved was a long and painful process. Being in a job share that was also a supernumerary post, a lot of the time no one, apart from ourselves, knew what we were doing. We spent a year in medicine and eight months in surgery. In medicine, we rotated around four firms. It all got quite complicated, and, by the end of the job, I had worked for every medical consultant in the hospital: I felt very privileged to be recognised by them all. I enjoyed the variety, but for the purpose of training it can present a number of difficulties. At times, you can feel a little bit in limbo, and you spend twice as much time and effort getting to know your patients because you keep changing firms all the time.

The other drawback is that it takes longer to complete the training. It can be frustrating to see your colleagues moving up while youre stuck in the same job. It can feel quite lonely to lose colleagues with whom you have developed good working relationships, but, of course, the time you spend with your child makes everything worth while. I barely felt any resentment from my colleagues. Even if they made subtle comments, they tended to change their minds when I told them that I was spending a year in a job that they would complete in six months. Most of the time they were very supportive; Ive developed some good friendships along the way.

Some people ask me what I do when Im not working; do they realise how one tiny thing can take up so much of your time? Others find my presence rather therapeutic. Of course, being there only half the time, I do tend to miss out on some “bad” days. I remember one of my colleagues once said to me that while I was away, nobody smiled.

Overall, I enjoyed flexible training: it gave me the confidence to become a doctor. There are many bright potential doctors out there who, for whatever reason, may not be able to work full time. Flexible training allows these people to fulfil their dream of pursuing a career in medicine.