Only in medicine must we work for free to enhance our professional portfolios!

(+ PAs examining medical students and ANPs be equivalent to ST3+ as far as examining capabilities are concerned)

I have never understood how all these medical programmes often set in A&E work logistically. Surely every single staff member, patient and visitor would have to consent to being filmed. How would this work when the patient coming in has no capacity. Also ED and trauma calls are usually very busy and surely having a load of camera crew in the way is incredibly annoying.

I'm an FY3 working ED and I'm beating myself up about an enounter I had. It was mid night shift my concentration was slipping. I saw a baby who had a burn from a hot cup of tea. Burn looked superficial and I was like baby's fine. I completely forgot to consider the safe-guarding aspects of the case and I also muddled the history and said there was a kettle involved when there wasnt. I completely recognise how subpar this is and have definitely learned. My consultant was not impressed understandably. I haven't had any such issues since I've worked for a few months here. I'm just so anxious she'll raise a concern. I don't think I'll ever be so careless in the future but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Really struggling with my current rotation (ED)

Terrible rota, constantly leaving late, and feeling really clinically inadequate - not helped by spending 2 years out of acute medicine. Feel like the seniors think I'm stupid (and I definitely feel the slowest and least competent of all the SHOs incl F2s)

Im trying to just grin and bear it and get it out of the way, but I'm exhausted, barely able to do basic stuff at home, and crying most drives home

Supervisor situation is complex but dont feel comfortable seeking support there

Teaching, getting skills and SLEs signed off, etc, is non existent

Thing is, when it's a good day, I actually really enjoy it, but the bad days are becoming more frequent and really getting to me

Does anyone have any advice on how to get through this?

Ltft isn't really an option (both time wise to be approved and finance wise)

Hi, I'm looking for some advice regarding certain issues I've been facing with my locum agency.

I'm an SHO and this is my first time doing a locum job with an agency. I have worked with them for a year now. At the start, they'd promised to reimburse certain costs related to my relocation and they'd later said they'd also pay my appraisal fees. However, both of these are yet to happen despite multiple requests to be paid.

In addition to this, they'd also botched my grade when they'd initially got me the job. Despite me telling/ emailing them multiple times requesting to clarify that I was an SHO (I'd received the hospital contract that stated it was a Reg post), and they'd reassured me they'd clarified this with the hospital, I find out after joining that they were expecting a Reg. Sorting this out with the hospital took me about 10 days, during which time I incurred hotel costs as I couldn't start looking for a long term accommodation (as worried the hospital would prematurely terminate my contract and I'd have to return home since I wasn't a Reg). I could only start looking for an accommodation afterwards, after the hospital clarified I could still continue working with them as SHO.

I have been asking my agent, since many months, to be reimbursed for-

1. My relocation costs, as promised

2. Appraisal fees, as promised

3. Hotel costs for the initial days of confusion.

I have had no luck with any of the above so far.

Are my expectations reasonable? If yes, how do I proceed? Should I try escalating within their agency first and if so, who do I approach? Is going to small claims court a good idea? Or are there any other ways I could handle this better, please?

These expenses total a significant amount for me, and I've been stressed out trying to get them back. Any advice/ suggestions on how best to go about this would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

What do people think about the core surgical training changes to 2027?

CST 2027 recruitment – key changes
Self-assessment scrapped: No more points-based Oriel self-assessment.
Portfolio revamped: Now assessed across 3 domains: Knowledge & Skills, Patients/Partnership/Communication, and Safety & Culture.
Quality over quantity: Greater emphasis on your personal contribution, impact and lasting outcomes rather than collecting achievements.
New portfolio interview: 15-minute virtual station discussing 2 portfolio domains.
Scoring: Portfolio 45%, clinical/management interview 45%, MSRA 10%.
MSRA: Approximately the top 1,200 candidates invited to interview.
Prioritisation: Now applies at interview shortlisting AND job offers.
IST posts: Recruitment to IST posts in England paused for 2027, with places transferred to standard CST recruitment.
Official guidance:
https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/surgery/core-surgery/core-surgical-training-portfolio-guidance-for-candidates

Hi guys,

Has anyone heard anything yet?

CT1 Feb 2027

Good luck everyone with their results!

Here’s a spreadsheet to help us collate information.
Hopefully will be of use to people and for the future

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kBaby0cINLmZeVLP8pIL1mVOo-z16UQkD3cEvfLIwjE/edit?usp=sharing

Historically I’ve always been told ENT is one of the best surgical specialities for private income potential, however, the more I speak to/hear second hand from consultants, it seems that really only the slightly older consultants in Rhinology, or the Rhinologists at big tertiary institutions are raking it in, whilst for other subspecialties, private income is not particularly lucrative.

How good is ENT for private practice potential for the general or the average ENT surgeon across the UK, especially those who are not in large tertiary units in London?

Do we think jobs will be released for CT1 anaesthetics today?

Hi all

Anyone here taken the certificate of pharmaceutical medicine? How did you prepare? Resources, time, etc? Any help appreciated!

Hi all,

I'm strongly considering a career in psychiatry, but I'm curious about the private practice market in the UK.

How does psychiatry generally compare to other medical specialties such as gastroenterology, dermatology, oncology, etc., in terms earning potential and availability of patients?

Thanks in advance!

my old knackered pair of Nike trainers are in LDOL. what are people getting to wear on the wards these days, and how much are they costing?

Hi, any advices or suggestions about ST4 training in Acute Medicine at KSS please.

Hi, I'm a new CST and wanted to get some good books/websites to study before my theatre lists. I'm hoping to do ENT but tbh need resources to help me with part A anyway so general anatomy/surgery books would be great

If I apply for both Radiology and GP, will I likely sit the MSRA in the January or February window?

TIA

Hey all,

Hope everyone does well in their results today!

I’ve suddenly had my application change from “interview” to “application withdrawn” and wondering whether this was happening to anyone else?

The MRCS part A September 9 results are scheduled to be released tomorrow. Has anyone been lucky and got the glitch yet?

Hi guys,

Slightly confused over MSRA booking dates.

If I apply for mix of specialities - ones that require MSRA and ones that don’t. Will I be put in Jan or Feb sitting. For example applying for GP and IMT.

Thanks

Thoughts on the recent MRCS part b exam
How much do u need to pass? Did you guys knew all of the answers

Hi there,

I am looking for a bit of advice regarding Round 2 specialty applications.

I don't have a strong research/conference/poster etc background, so was thinking of completing a 'teach the teacher' course for a couple extra points - has anyone completed courses such as those from Oxford Medical or ISC Medical and the courses been acknowledged/garnered points on the application?

I would be grateful for advice re above or if any other courses would be more appropriate.

Thank you in advance.

Hello all

Young Doctor here who knows very little about private practice.

My question is two parts:

Which surgical specialties are best for pp

What is the barrier to pp like? As in is it easy to simply start private practice once you cct or is it another decade or so of building a name and marketing etc.

Ik personally a fair few GP partners on 400k+, some a lot more. Are these numbers that a surgeon can compete with?

Love surgery but seems to be that there are easier and quicker ways to make money :/

Trying to get Claude to write some questions with the latest ALS guidelines to work from. TIA

disclaimer: I’m a luddite - but I know chatGPT is not reliable and its takes several goes before it will cite any reasonable evidence if any.

I don’t mind if it’s taken information from forums etc but I wish it would make it clear where it taken it’s evidence from

I’ve seen adverts for things like Vera AI but honestly I have no idea

please don’t bully me