Curious to hear from people actually working in different specialties.

Some specialties seem to get loads of attention in med school, while others barely get any exposure, and you only really understand what the job is like once you work in or around them.

What specialty do you think is genuinely underrated in terms of the actual day-to-day work, training, lifestyle, or overall job satisfaction?

And what is it about the specialty that people usually don’t realise until they’ve experienced it?

Just about to start GPST3 and I'm wondering what salary to expect as a newly qualified GP. I've heard that anywhere from £10k-12k per session used to be the norm but recently I've seen some ARRS GP jobs being advertised for £8-9k per session. Has average pay gone down? Annual salary for a full time GPST3 is currently £78k (ST3 pay plus pay premium) should I expect a pay decrease once I qualify?

Also how many sessions is realistic for a newly qualified GP? Does 2 sessions equate to 1 day of work? Does anyone have any experience in supplementing their income with locums, private work or urgent care work on the side and what sort of numbers are realistic to expect?

Thank you in advance!

BMJ article on the changes to medical training and their potential impact. Curious to hear what others think.

Just started Histopathology training and I’ve got to say, it might genuinely be one of medicine’s best kept secrets.
So far the training has been exceptional and very training focused, with surprisingly little service provision at ST1.

What’s struck me most is how little exposure many junior doctors get to the specialty. I barely appreciated what the day to day job and training were actually like before getting some proper exposure to it.

Obviously I’m very early on and I’m sure there will be plenty of challenges ahead, but thought I’d put a small positive post out there for anyone who might never have considered it.

There has been a significant rise in the number of students wanting to study medicine in the UK, figures show.

This is despite well publicised challenges in medicine in recent years, including strike action, nine health secretaries since 2020 and competition for specialty training posts.

In October 25,770 applied for medicine courses, a rise of 10.4% compared to the previous year. This rise reverses a consistent fall in the number of applications since 2022.

The highest number on record was in 2022, when 29,710 applied.

After A-level results were published last week, universities accepted 13,040 applicants onto medicine and dentistry courses.

This represents a 2% increase on last year, when 12,750 applications were accepted, but a 19% increase on 2020.

The increase has happened despite a disruptive few years for the medical profession.

Since the 2019 General Election there have been nine health secretaries, the latest being Yvette Cooper in Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s cabinet.

Industrial action has been a common theme too with 15 rounds of strike action between 2023 and this year until the BMA’s resident doctor members agreed to accept the government’s latest offer on pay and working conditions.

GP Dr Akash Gandhi runs The UKCATPeople, a website which helps students interested in medicine through the UCAS process.

He said medicine “remains an attractive career” and there are increasing numbers of students from a wide range of backgrounds considering the profession, including those who may be the first in their family.

“I think greater awareness that medicine is an achievable career path for people from different backgrounds is a positive development,” he said.

“Importantly, I don't think students are unaware of the challenges facing the profession. The strikes, pressures on the NHS and wider uncertainty around speciality applications are certainly things that students and their families are aware of when making decisions about their future.

“However, I don't think those challenges necessarily outweigh the reasons people are attracted to medicine in the first place.”

Medicine has its challenges like any profession, he added, but students recognise the rewarding aspects of it particularly if they gain work experience or shadow doctors.

University of Nottingham associate professor in medical education Rachel Woods said the Covid pandemic increased the visibility of healthcare professionals to young people.

“Many of the students starting university this year would have been in secondary school when the Covid pandemic hit. If becoming a doctor interested them during this period, it would have been quite good timing as they would have had the time to prepare, ensuring they got the GCSE and A level results needed to study medicine,” she said.

Medical schools have also increased their efforts to widen access to medicine, Woods added. “This can be a lengthy process as it requires efforts at several stages of education, starting from secondary school. So we may hopefully be starting to see this work paying off, which I really hope is the case.”

Creating future bottlenecks?

The British Medical Association (BMA) has called for a pause in the increases in student numbers until postgraduate training capacity has improved.

The union’s medical students committee chair Erin MacCabe said: "It is encouraging to see so many young people motivated to serve in our NHS, but enthusiasm alone can only carry a generation so far. Expanding medical school places without proper investment in the required infrastructure and educators risks diluting our world-class standards.

“Beyond graduation, expansion in numbers must be matched with more foundation and specialty training posts.

“While recent progress through the resident doctors' deal in England is a positive step forward, there is still a long way to go to fix the medical training pipeline to make sure this next generation of doctors can progress to become the GPs and consultants of the future.”

Professor John Alcolado, associate pro vice chancellor of a planned new medical school at the University of Wolverhampton, previously told Doctors.net.uk that calls for a managed reduction in medical school intake “looks like ladder pulling”.

“We should be honest with people and say look you can do five years of medical school – it may be then difficult to get a job.

“You might not end up being a cardiothoracic surgeon in your chosen specialty. To my mind fairness means if someone wants to study medicine, they’re aware of the risks of it – we should give them the opportunity,” he said.

Hi team,

Seeking advice from those who have it figured out.

Currently on a weight loss / fitness journey, but nights and on calls have thrown a massive spanner in the works.

Calorie counting? How on earth do I classify breakfast, lunch and dinner when I'm eating so bizarrely over nights?

Likewise gym - absolutely shattered after long days or nights - feels like my progress is being haltered.

How can I get snatched please - holiday booked for September

I’ve had an overwhelming day.
I do find that when there is a lot going on I often forget what I was just about to do. For example: I’ve noticed that some of the referrals I’ve sent while feeling overwhelmed have bits missing (major parts like presenting complaint, patient details) and I feel like I forget what I was just about to do once I sit down if there is a lot going on around me.
This often tends to happen when there’s a lot of noise around me (basically every hospital environment ever) and with constant interruptions from members of staff (with good faith). I’m not sure whether this is something that I will grow out of or whether I need to go to occupational health with - and even if I do go what would they even be able do?

Have been messing about with inflation calculator in bored moments.

2008 is often used as a salary comparator (incidentally the year that I was appointed), but it was to be fair a salary high point.

What about further back? Google tells me that consultant pay was in the range 42.5 to 52k in 1997 when I qualified. It doesn't seem that much, yet even the younger consultants seemed pretty wealthy.....usually kids in private schools, often single salary family and we were invited to some pretty impressive places for drinks (this was London btw).

Was this really what people were earning, or were there lots of supplements? I know that cea was big back then and private practice was very popular in London. Or is it mainly because things like private schools and housing have inflated much faster than headline figures.

Just curious.

Hi everyone
I’m a CT2 anaesthetics trainee really struggling. Due to a particular placement plan I have had to rotate halfway through CT2. I’ve just moved hospital and am on obstetrics and CEPOD on calls (which I’d been doing for 15 months at my previous hospital) At present I’m really struggling trying to get my IACOA. I won’t dox myself but in my first week I’ve made a drug error, been singled out for missing documentation (that I missed due to not being used to paper notes whilst familiarising myself with the new hospital and systems), failed multiple spinals and also had a needlestick injury.

Needless to say, my confidence has completely tanked. All my consultants and registrars at my new hospital really scrutinise what I do and I had got used to a level of independence at my previous hospital.

On my main theatre on calls, I’m literally being told at times how to put in an LMA. Today I was doing an arterial line (having done 3 months of ICU and signed off at level 4) and my reg kept saying everything I was doing was wrong even though I was in the vessel. Of course I appreciate I’m very junior but I’m feeling constantly on edge and unable to perform with being watched this closely and my mental health is really plummeting to the point where I’m considering quitting altogether.

How do I get over this and keep moving forward when everything I seem to do is going wrong? I am literally dreading going into work so much that I can’t sleep.

I was left speechless yesterday at the most NHS thing I've seen in a while.

We asked estates for an extension lead for one of the shared offices so we could stop plugging/unplugging things as needed.

They said no as they don't supply them anymore. Fine.

What they will do however is come an install new wall outlets if there's a day when the office can be completely vacated of people trying to work 🤦🏻‍♂️

Everyone got their date? Anyone able to swap with 2nd November?

Hello, I’m a new FY1 and OH took me off evenings and nights due to medical reasons as my seizures are generally well controlled but are provoked by sleep disturbances. I’m very private about my health and diagnosis and I know that colleagues will notice I’m not doing nights. Does anyone have any advice on how to navigate questions or comments on the issue?

Hi I’m an FY2 seriously considering leaving medicine.

Im wondering what kind of other things I could possibly do?

Hi,

I'm a medical student still currently, I am currently also preparing to be a driving instructor.

I wanted to ask how feasible this would be as an F2 and also if it's worth it as I'm sitting my ADI part One exam in a few weeks.

I'm mainly doing it as I've always liked the idea of teaching driving and also I figured the pay would be quite good and would help me out a lot during foundation years.

Thank you.

Currently working an extremely busy and understaffed job, which has meant doing many many exception reports.

Got a couple of questions about these, wondering if anyone with more knowledge than me can help?

1. if there is an exception report made for a shift that exceeds 13 hours, I understand that a fine is payable to the doctor. Is the fine levied on all the additional hours worked during that shift, or just any hours over 13? I had a shift that was rostered as 0830 to 1730, but ended up being 0800-2130, so 4.5 additional hours in total. Am I paid the ‘fine’ rates for all 4.5 hours, or just the standard pay for 4 hours and then the ‘fine’ rate for the final 0.5?

2. what should happen regarding a work schedule review? I raised an ER requesting one several months ago as I’m definitely working >48h a week (and have done approx 50h of exception reports in the last 6 months). Spoke with GOSW initially but nothing has changed following this.

3. if a doctor is found to have been working >48h/week for the duration of a rotation, is there any fine payable (above simple payment for the extra hours worked?)

Novice anaesthetist here, finding the sheer volume of things to remember overwhelming. Anyone got any useful mmemonics they used/still use to make even small things more memorable? Looking for anything to help remember drugs, things to check before tubing, monitoring etc etc anything whatsoever but I really work off of memory cues and finding it all a bit challenging without any! (I know A-E is king in almost all scenarios obviously do utilise this but just seeing if anything else exists to make life easier!)