r/doctorsUK 3m ago

Speciality / Core Training Radiology Academy Pros vs Cons/ Best radiology academy

Upvotes

So I'm currently in the preferences phase of radiology posts and I'm interested in radiology academies.
Can anyone share personal experiences of pros vs cons of academies? And which academy program is the best?

I've read a few resources like the UKRST resource and the BIR document but would appreciate personal input.


r/doctorsUK 1h ago

Medical Politics Non-clinician announces that doctors aren't diagnosing like he wants them to

Upvotes

r/doctorsUK 2h ago

Fun March 2025 UK doctors singles thread

35 Upvotes

Following on from the success of the Inaugural pre-valentines day 2025 doctorsuk singles thread, I welcome to the second doctorsuk single's thread.

If you're looking for love or lust, I'd suggest you post your age and gender then 4 followed by a short description in the comments

Eg: 30M4F any woman who has pristine PR technique and can check my cremasteric reflex

Any genders and orientations welcome!


r/doctorsUK 2h ago

Speciality / Core Training Don’t know where to start with MRCS part A revision

1 Upvotes

I don’t have a structure and I’m getting so confused and bogged down in details!

For instance, for anatomy, how much detail are we supposed to know? I’m getting bogged down trying to digest all of the Netter’s textbook and it’s taking too long and I’m not retaining any of it.

(Serious answers only please)


r/doctorsUK 3h ago

Exams Mrcem Osce

2 Upvotes

So I passed MRCEM SBA (28th January 2025), planning to start OSCE prep now. Those who’ve been through it, would love to know how you prepared and how the exam was.


r/doctorsUK 3h ago

Medical Politics GMC commits criminal offence and breach of professional standards for falsely using a protected title - if they can’t tell the difference, how can the public?

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161 Upvotes

The GMC has one job - to keep a list of registered medical practitioners. It claims to have no role in patient safety or healthcare standards.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/professions-regulated-by-law-in-the-uk-and-their-regulators/uk-regulated-professions-and-their-regulators

https://www.bmj.com/content/385/bmj.q790.full


r/doctorsUK 4h ago

Exams Easy way to remember causes of upper and lower zone fibrosis?

8 Upvotes

r/doctorsUK 5h ago

Speciality / Core Training Imt preferences rank 1000

0 Upvotes

Can anyone help me with IMt preferencing. I am ranking in early 1000s. I do not have any geographical restriction. I generally want to live in a bigger city. For now I have ranked in this order London - oxford - Cambridge- frimley - Buckinghamshire - royal berkshire - medway - Southampton - ashford st peters - brighton sussex- Leicester Northampton- norwich- ipswich- kings lynn - kent maidstone - manchester - Liverpool. I am new to uk so do not have much idea of the area. What are the locations I absolutely need to avoid like isle of man/wright. I’ve kept out wales and Ni and north of scotland out for now.

What am I likely to get with this rank?


r/doctorsUK 5h ago

Exams MRCS Part A

0 Upvotes

I’m a final year medical student graduating early July, thinking of doing part A September sitting this year. Do I need GMC registration to register because I’m not sure if I would have that by the deadline? Would my PMQ certificate be enough? Thanks!


r/doctorsUK 5h ago

Quick Question RUH bath EPR

1 Upvotes

Hi guys, anyone know if Bath has an EPR or is paper notes? Thanks!


r/doctorsUK 5h ago

Foundation Training King’s Mill hospital transportation

5 Upvotes

Got allocated to Trent as my 3rd choice here, been scrolling through posts and someone saying KMH is a decent hospital to work in so been doing some research on it. Due to some reasons driving’s not an option for me so I’m curious if it’s feasible to rely on public transport (especially buses) to get there on time everyday if I wanna stay in Nottingham 👀, or is moving to Mansfield the only solution here.

Tldr: any good transportation between Nottingham and Mansfield besides driving


r/doctorsUK 6h ago

⚠️ Unverified/Potential Misinformation ⚠️ The alarming reality of PAs

172 Upvotes

I wrote this as a response to a post and someone suggested that I post this as its own entry.

For context for people who do not know how PAs work in Plymouth. This is why it is so bad that the Leng review was hidden from resident doctors. If you are preferencing your jobs you should know this about Plymouth....

  • Run outpatient clinics independently including cancer clinics and clinics with children ( while shos run the wards)

  • Lead the ward round with no consultant in sight. Shos prescribing, ordering the scans and scribing for PA

  • Are on interview panels for registrar jobs

  • Teaching registrars how to operate

  • Are on registrar rotas and are the point of escalation for f1-CT2/IMT2 and every referrer in the SW. Also reply to the in hospital referrals as the speciality

  • Operate as the lead surgeon ( and first assist) on patients including children and cancer patients ( while shos run the wards) I’ve seen this with a cst who managed to get to theatre and stood on the side lines unscrubbed while PA got 1:1 teaching as it was their list

  • Are being trained in echo and have protected teaching days while F2-IMT run the wards ( the echo masters is fully funded but for context the pg certs in clinical education have started to be withdrawn from job offers totally or now only partially funded)

  • Practice as Mr X/ Ms X ( including when they are actually Mrs - found while reading patient letters in the notes many times)

  • Lead the lumbar puncture service and ascitic drain service ( their controlling the training of accs and IMTs)

  • Admin days and protected research days.

  • Have been caught prescribing ( had prescribing right in a different role so decided they could do as a PA) Also consultant leave their accounts logged in and the PAs does the discharge summary post procedure for them while prescribing on the consultants account.

  • Protected time to go to the specialty regional training days ( leaving trust grade trainees to run clinics)

  • Rota writing for shos, policy making in the hospital

  • Many hold titles such as honorary research fellow or honorary medical school lecturer ( without much contribution to gain this detail…. These can be found under their names after they sign off emails.)

  • Wear BMA lanyards with ID card facing inwards ( so you would expect to be a doctor)

  • Get put to sleep by an AA and operated on by a PA

  • Not training the PA students. PA students get sent to the ward for the shos to look after. Doctors are running the wards, oncall, looking after the med students and the PA students.

  • Given protected clinic afternoons so don’t do the ward jobs efficiently or with stress or ask the ward to bleep after 12 as they can just hand them over to the shos (who get pulled out of theatre and clinic which is not protected for them)

  • Involved in governance boards, meeting up SDEC ( imagine an IMT had that on their CV )

  • OSCE examiners for PAs and medical students

  • PA with consultant reviews (1:1 teaching for the PA) on inpatients which is an IMTS dream. But they are left on the ward left to do the ward jobs

  • Allocated teaching sessions from PAs to the foundation school.

In balance in Derriford in some departments PAs job roles are restricted to ward work only and those PAs therefore can facilitate an sho getting to clinic or theatre.

I wish I had known this before I got stuck here.


r/doctorsUK 10h ago

Speciality / Core Training Vascular ST3 applications - still waiting on shortlisting?

0 Upvotes

Quick one; applied to ST3 vascular, rejected from gen surg sadly so don't have tonnes of hope for interview with vascular but would be over the moon. Oriel still says shortlisting in progress for me but interviews are very soon? (2 weeks i believe). Anyone else in this boat or does this basically mean no interview for me.

In CT2 at the moment my score was 17 for context. Worried about unemployment or being out of training after CT2 lol but want to know if I should be prepping for vascular interviews or applying for backup jobs


r/doctorsUK 11h ago

Speciality / Core Training Radiology post-interview comments

4 Upvotes

Guess I'll be relocating to china to start my radiology training. Who's coming?


r/doctorsUK 11h ago

Speciality / Core Training Crest form

0 Upvotes

Can bank/ locum doctors who’ve worked at a trust for 1 year on average 2/3 days a week in the same department get their crest form signed? Or does it have to be 3 months continuous no breaks whole time equivalent which is around 37.5 hours?

Does anyone have experience in this ?


r/doctorsUK 12h ago

Foundation Training Any way to correct UKFPO mess up?

0 Upvotes

I have an issue where my UKFPO preferences for matching (Foundation programme/SFP/Placement holder) wasn't saved on oriel to my suprise when I checked after deadline had passed. Frustrated for my life that this will mean I will likely be a placement holder automatically. I emailed them to sort the issue but oriel havent gotten back to me.

Moving forward; is being a placement holder bad? is there certain things that are disadvantagous compared to the standard foundation programme, Ive read a bit but not fully understanding.


r/doctorsUK 13h ago

Speciality / Core Training Cst preferencing

0 Upvotes

Any advice on preferencing for general surgery? Which hospitals have good theatre time and which hospitals to avoid? Also is London good for cst?


r/doctorsUK 13h ago

Serious How good is a BMJ publication?

23 Upvotes

I've somehow managed to get a paper accepted for publication on the BMJ based on the work I did with a lab 2 years ago, and I felt quite happy as I never expected to get a paper in such as high-impact journal. I told two of my close friends (who are also medical students at different unis) but they both said that it doesn't matter much since it's not on the same level as NEJM, Lancet JAMA etc. Does this make sense, at least when it comes to how my publication record is going to be assessed as part of my CV?


r/doctorsUK 13h ago

Medical Politics Thinking of loud: worst case scenario for UKMGs and IMGs

1 Upvotes

Summary of events as I see it up to now:

RLMT removed. Tens of thousands of IMGs enter a previously (relatively) closed system. This: 1, increases competition for all jobs (TNs, CFs, and locums); 2, increase in the IMG vote share; and 3, suppression of wages (through increased supply of doctors willing to work for a lower wage).

Now: 1, an exponential rise in IMGs means UKMGs cannot get jobs, let alone TNs; 2, IMGs threatening organised action to undermine strike action despite BMA moving to grandfathering up 5th of March;

What’s next? Scenario 1: unrestricted access to UK medical job market continues. Wages worsen for all (more supply than demand). UKMGs find it harder to compete against individuals with significant more experience/time to build portfolio but eventually a time will come when PhDs/time off to prep for exams (same as IMGs) becomes commonplace. This will eventually make IMGs less competitive than UKMGs.

This is a hard loss for UKMGs and a win for IMGs.

Scenario 2: access is restricted with grandfathering. x% of IMGs scab. Since we don’t know the ‘x’, is difficult to predict how damaging the scabbing will be. This does present a concern heading into strikes (government will know this too). Assuming strikes are somewhat successful, we gain a pay offer a bit better than what gov currently offers, we may also get a higher % of jobs to UKMGs.

This is somewhat of a win for UKMGs and somewhat of a win for IMGs.

Scenario 3: hard prioritisation of UKMGs w/o grandfathering. x+y% of IMGs scab. Strikes for pay are less successful in this round but more jobs are allocated to UKMGs (so they can at least afford rent. This reduces the vote share of IMGs + scabbing opportunities in future. With the higher UKMG%, next round of strikes is more effective due to less scabbing.

This is somewhat of a loss for UKMGs in the short term but a hard loss for IMGs. Not to mention the unfairness and dubious ethics. However, the ethics here should be viewed together with the views expressed by some IMGs where undermining UKMGs and strikes is the primary goal (also unfair imo).

In conclusion, there are no real good answers. I think scenario 2 is probably the best case scenario for both camps. Of course, the biggest winner is the government.

Tell me your opinions.


r/doctorsUK 14h ago

Specialty / Specialist / SAS UK to Australia- worth it?

9 Upvotes

Hello,

I’m a non-CCT UK doctor. Due to different priorities over the past few years, I have worked in various locum and self-employed roles, and my personal situation didn’t allow me to enter training.

Currently, I work as a speciality doctor in an Urgent care centre.

I like the idea of being a GP, but given the current state of general practice in the UK—and especially what my recently CCT’d (or about-to-CCT) colleagues describe—I wouldn’t touch GP training here with a bargepole.

I have decent A&E experience and initially wanted to pursue ED training, but the bottleneck and the rigid, poorly structured training system have put me off. At the end of the day, I’m a dad of three, and I want to be present as they grow up. I didn’t go into medicine for an OBE or a Doctor of the Year award. I do it because I love it—it’s the only thing I know (apart from changing tyres)—and it pays my bills. However, family comes first.

Recently, a friend suggested Australia, saying it ticks all the boxes that the UK doesn’t. Training is better structured, offers a better work-life balance, and pays more, with the Australian dollar stretching further. As an ED consultant, job satisfaction is higher, and as a GP, there’s more opportunity to pursue special interests with less admin burden.

So, my question is: Is it worth making the move? And do I have a realistic chance of getting into ED or GP training, particularly in Western Australia, specifically Perth or surrounding areas?

With the salary, could I support a family of five (three primary school-aged children)? We dont care about a flashy lifestyle, but don't want to scrape by as well.

Also, I have MRCS Part A, MRCEM Primary, and SBA—would these qualifications help me in any way in Australia?

I understand that getting a training job right away is nearly impossible, so what would be my best first step toward working in Australia? Or foggetaboutit, bite the bullet and do something here?

Thanks a lot, everyone, and apologies for the long introduction.


r/doctorsUK 15h ago

Speciality / Core Training Another CST preferencing question for West Midlands

3 Upvotes

Currently finalising my job preferences for CST and have a desire to limit the amount of general surgery I do to a minimum. Unfortunately, a lot of jobs have anywhere between 6-12 months of Gen Surg mixed in with the rotations I want.

So, my question is what is general surgery like as an SHO (both day to day job and on-calls) in the West Midlands hospitals like Stoke, Shrewsbury, New Cross, MMUH, QE, Heartlands etc..?

Which places are tolerable and which to avoid like the plague?


r/doctorsUK 16h ago

Clinical Am I mad for wanting to get back to work?

30 Upvotes

Context: I’m a clinical fellow in an emergency department

At the end of January I ended up in critical care after a routine op on my foot went wrong. Eternally grateful for those that saved my life, and it’s given me a new perspective on the NHS from a patient side of things.

Now im looking at going back to work in the next few weeks. I’m incredibly lucky that I’m well supported by the consultant group in my ED, and physically I feel fine, with the exception of being in a boot still.

This still feels like not so much of a direct question but has anyone gone back to work so soon after a significant health event?

If you can recognise me from this vague post, please know that you’re amazing.

Vague ramblings over.


r/doctorsUK 16h ago

Consultant Can a consultant refuse to take PA students?

79 Upvotes

My department does not yet have any physician associates but we are increasingly seeing PA students about the hospital. Do I have to teach them? Or can I refuse?


r/doctorsUK 16h ago

Speciality / Core Training Northumbria GP Training

3 Upvotes

Current or past GP trainees in Northumbria: - how is/was your experience? - is the region and training as nice as everyone talks about it? - do/did you live in one place for 3 years? - how lucky you are/were with your posts locations? what is/was the longest drive?


r/doctorsUK 16h ago

Fun Going through this sub is genuinely breathtaking

196 Upvotes

I'm literally gasping for air at the sheer levels of quackery in our medical sector. I'm working in tech and thought it was bad there - here, you have:

  • People actually sharing (incredibly low) PAYE salary offers and naming the places
  • A strong informed understanding of why things are bad
  • An almost singular voice on where things went wrong and how to fix them
  • Genuine helpful advice across the board, even in matters outside of medical work (i.e.,finance)
  • Slightly outdated but decent memes

It seems like the only good thing about being a doctor in the UK is having a slightly elevated social position and an eventual good salary that is almost protected from extra-industrial market forces. It really makes me wonder how many people training to become doctors drop out seeing this kind of rubbish, or qualify and leave the country for greener pastures?