So...you want to be a manager?

Rachel Hooke discusses some of the managerial positions available to medical students and gives some advice on what to do

Most medical students are probably not inclined to think much about management, and there tends to be a "them and us" culture in the medical profession, often combined with a certain amount of contempt and superiority.

There are, however, many informal management positions for students and doctors. These include medical faculty representative, student magazine editor, mess president, BMA representative, committee chairperson, social secretary, annual dinner coordinator. The list is endless.

In the 1980s the government realised that the NHS needed more dedicated managers, and doctors were largely excluded from this process. However, it is much more acceptable nowadays for medics to enter this world. It is becoming almost essential to have some management knowledge and experience at higher levels.

Why do it?
There is nothing like being plunged into a situation to make you realise the resources that you possess. When the adrenaline is flowing and you have a sense of purpose, you may think of and do things that you might not have done previously. You can feel a sense of importance, power, and confidence in your actions.

As a medical student you can think about roles that you have played or are currently playing. You can reflect on what you have learnt or are learning from these, and think of the skills that you have developed. They may stand you in good stead. Remember to include them on your CV, because if you have held a position of responsibility this may make you stand out from other candidates.

The options
Some of the skills that you put into practice may be ones that you take for granted or do not even realise that you are using. For instance, communication can be a valuable lesson.

If you are a medical faculty or BMA representative, you may need to obtain the views of other medical students before a meeting, perhaps speak at the meeting and report back afterwards, orally or in written form. You may have to relay material that you do not agree with and make a point of being fair to everyone.

As a student magazine editor, you might have to manage the budget and account for income and expenditure. This could be simple, involving relatively small amounts of money, but it can be good practice for being a GP or clinical director at a later stage. As a mess president or secretary, you may also have to act as a treasurer.

As a committee chairperson, you have to be neutral and keep a meeting in order. This could involve inviting people to speak, trying to dissuade other people from speaking too much, time keeping, adhering to the agenda, and clarifying any actions that people need to take for the next meeting. Here, you are using communication, people management, and time management skills, to name just three.

As a social secretary or annual dinner coordinator you may have to take responsibility for choosing a date and place and publicising it, ensuring that you motivate sufficient numbers of people to make the event worth while, collecting money, and dealing with complaints. You may have to negotiate for a discount at different possible venues and decide which is offering the most worthwhile deal.

If all of the above sound too daunting you can always start at a lower level. You can be a committee member with limited commitments and responsibility. You can write for the student magazine, which gives you practice in keeping to deadlines. You can be a representative for your year or other group, not necessarily the whole faculty.

My experience
As a student, I worked for the university students' newspaper as a freelance journalist (although not an editor, despite standing for election one year), simply by volunteering to help. I would be given a topic and some suggestions of whom to contact. It was a good exercise for me in accepting responsibility--I knew that I had to deliver a piece by a certain date, and that there were no excuses for backing out once I had accepted it. It could be quite challenging at times. Once, the only time I had to interview people was at ten o'clock one night. I ended up trawling round the halls of residence on my bike, badgering hall presidents and deputies. I used to see many different people, including the vice chancellor of the university, the dean of the faculty of medicine, animal rights protestors demonstrating outside the medical school. I became more confident in my dealings because I was representing a newspaper and not myself. The satisfaction at seeing my name in print made all the effort worthwhile.

As a senior house officer, I was mess president for a year in one hospital and mess secretary for a year in another. I took on these roles because I wanted some control over organising events and because I wanted to feel important. Also, there were few other people willing to volunteer, so somebody had to do it. At the time, I saw myself as a kind of manager--for instance, when chasing up the non-arrival of milk and bread in the mess. I would be approached by drug representatives wanting to provide lunches, and my opinion would be sought by medical staffing on issues concerning junior doctors. One example of this was when I was asked to "sign off" the six monthly returns on junior doctors' hours, although I really had no idea what I was signing.

If you take on a paid job as a student you are effectively managing your own time. I had a flexible job at a local GP surgery, tagging and summarising the records. This could be done at any time during surgery opening hours, so I used to fit in sessions around lectures, tutorials, and studying. The job itself probably contributed to my general medical knowledge, so it was not simply a money spinner. I also learnt about the tax system, when inadvertently they started to deduct tax.

Develop the following skills

• Time management--prioritisation, distinguishing between what is urgent and important
• Delegation-- assigning a task to someone else and checking on their progress
• Motivation--of yourself and others
• Negotiation--engineering a "win-win" compromise
• Communication--written (either paper or electronic), oral