Thursday, March 08, 2007
Modernising Medical Careers
There's a great deal of uproar in the British medical community at the moment. The government and NHS have introduced a new system for doctors that wish to apply for specialist training.
All current specialist trainees have had to reapply for their own jobs, even those who are well advanced in their training and have been at their posts for a number of years. The application process has been web-based and there have been loads of cock-ups. The problem is that only 20% of the doctors in my hospital have been offered an interview for any job. Some have been been invited to interviews for jobs that they didn't apply for or are not qualified for. One of my psychiatrically minded friends was offered a interview for a paediatric position.
Unfortunately, the British Medical Association is as useless as the Australian Medical Association when it comes to negotiating on behalf of junior doctors. They have made no effort to ensure that this process has gone smoothly or even to give advice or support to their members.
Many of my friends are very worried about their futures. Some of them are people with families who are facing the prospect of not getting an offer for a London job and will have to relocate to wherever in the UK they are sent.
For more information on what's going on, check out this excerpt from Channel 4 News (7/3/7). Click on "Watch the Report" to see what went out on the air.
There is one group that is taking a stand against these changes. Check out Remedy UK's website here.
All current specialist trainees have had to reapply for their own jobs, even those who are well advanced in their training and have been at their posts for a number of years. The application process has been web-based and there have been loads of cock-ups. The problem is that only 20% of the doctors in my hospital have been offered an interview for any job. Some have been been invited to interviews for jobs that they didn't apply for or are not qualified for. One of my psychiatrically minded friends was offered a interview for a paediatric position.
Unfortunately, the British Medical Association is as useless as the Australian Medical Association when it comes to negotiating on behalf of junior doctors. They have made no effort to ensure that this process has gone smoothly or even to give advice or support to their members.
Many of my friends are very worried about their futures. Some of them are people with families who are facing the prospect of not getting an offer for a London job and will have to relocate to wherever in the UK they are sent.
For more information on what's going on, check out this excerpt from Channel 4 News (7/3/7). Click on "Watch the Report" to see what went out on the air.
There is one group that is taking a stand against these changes. Check out Remedy UK's website here.
# posted by Michael @ 2:41 PM 
