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I am a final year medical student but because of
academic problems my graduation is being delayed. I have a job secured for
February 2006 but wish to use the intervening time beneficially. Do you
have any advice?
You can certainly make the most of the time between now
and February. If you’ve had problems getting through the exams, you
probably now need a well deserved holiday, and I suggest that’s the
first thing you do. That way you really can throw yourself into the
following six months. It is important that you are able to
“sell” what you do in the next six months—that way any
future interviewer will be more interested in what you did with this spare
time than in why you didn’t pass your exams first time. So what are
you interested in? What do you want to do with this golden opportunity? The
world is your oyster. Do you want to work in the developing world? Because
you aren’t registered yet and have limited experience,
non-governmental organisations and aid agencies are unlikely to take you.
You can always write to hospitals directly—and to be honest, that
would be your best approach. You can try to apply to more Western
hospitals, however, without being registered in the United Kingdom, you
probably won’t get more than locum house officer work (if that). If
you have a specific medical field that you think you will want to pursue as
a career, it would be a good idea to try to incorporate that in the next
six months. But once again, the most important bit of advice is to think
about how you’re going to sell what you have done when you get back.
What you may be seeing as a negative situation at the moment could be
turned into something very positive. Good luck.
Mark Wilson, Accident
and emergency/plastics clinical fellow, Royal London Hospital
I am seeking advice on late entry to medical school. I
am working in the NHS as a midwife who holds an MSc and special training in
neonatal intensive care. I am 36 and have a young family that I need to
support. Do you think that I am too old to start a new professional career
in medicine? Is there any kind of financial support during the period of my
studies that will enable me to carry on supporting my family?
The number of medical student places has increased from
about 4000 a year to about 6000 year with a large number of these being
specifically offered by medical schools for mature entrants. Indeed, both
new and existing schools have created programmes specifically for graduate
entrants.
Your age would not be a barrier, although you need to
consider that after five years of basic training, you will still need
several years of postgraduate study either to be a hospital doctor or a
general practitioner. I would regard your background in nursing and
neonatal intensive care as a positive asset, together with the fact that
you can clearly cope with academic study.
Unfortunately, specific funding to the level that would
help you in supporting a young family is not readily available. I think
that some charities will give some money and schools often have hardship
funds, but these will not be large sums. Many people in your position
continue to work part time as this brings in a salary, but then this adds
to the stress of trying to balance work, study and family life.
Paul O’Neill, associate
dean for medical undergraduate studies, University of Manchester
Does experience or training in hospital administration
help in getting senior house officer level jobs? Or is it a hindrance?
I am not convinced that training or exposure to
hospital administration is of help in getting a senior house officer job.
It does show that you have a breadth of knowledge and experience but does
not show that you have an ability to safely treat patients, work as an
independent doctor, and manage medical emergencies. The priority after
completing preregistration house officer training is to develop clinical
skills, theoretical knowledge, and to expand clinical experience.
Examinations of the relevant royal college when passed
are a practical way to prove that you are progressing in your career and
are much more significant than management administration experience. If you
are an experienced senior house officer who has passed postgraduate exams
then some exposure to medical administration may help in getting a
specialist registrar post. Many royal colleges and postgraduate deans will
allow time spent in the specialist registrar grade working in management
(especially in the higher years) towards completion of training. I was
allowed three months of my higher professional training in management. I do
not see any skill or exposure to non-core requirements of a job (such as
exposure to management or administration) as a hindrance. I would not rely
on it as a substitute for clinical knowledge and experience. Some
shortlisting panels for jobs may be a little reluctant when they see
administrative experience on a job applicant’s CV. Many individuals
with this skill often spend time in BMA or royal college work and may spend
less time on the clinical job. You therefore must prove yourself as a good
clinician with good work, excellent references, and postgraduate exam
success. Above all do not consider that administrative experience is a
substitute for clinical experience and success.
Peter Maguire, consultant
anaesthetist, Daisy Hill Hospital, County Down, Northern Ireland
When applying for senior house officer or registrar
posts in the UK, are UK or European Union nationals preferred?
It would be illegal to discriminate against doctors
from outside the European Union for training posts, provided that the
Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board and permit-free training
requirements are met, so I do not think any employing authority would be
seen to overtly prefer UK or EU doctors over the others. Whether there are
more subtle factors at play when it comes to shortlisting and also at the
interviewing stage, is altogether another matter. It might also be
incorrect to think that UK and EU doctors are seen as a uniform group. In
fact, I feel that doctors from other European countries are perceived
similarly to how other foreign doctors are perceived—different from
UK graduates.
If an overseas candidate is clearly better in terms of
his or her CV and does well at the interview they are likely to be
preferred over a less attractive local candidate. In other words, any
selection committee would like to recruit the best possible candidate and
if that person were not from the United Kingdom, it would hardly affect the
decision.
All things are equal, however, it is possible that a UK
candidate may be preferred, and I believe there may be several reasons for
this. Firstly, the training structure and the progress so far as set out in
the CV may make more sense, as it is familiar. In comparison, it is more
difficult to understand a CV from overseas. So it is possible that
proportionately more UK graduates may make it past the shortlisting stage.
Secondly, at the interview stage, UK graduates have
usually obvious linguistic and communication advantages and may come across
as more confident. They may seem to match the personal attributes part of
the job specifications better.
Manoj Kumar, consultant, Leeds Mental Health
Teaching NHS Trust
studentBMJ 2005;13:309-352 September ISSN 0966-6494
