Doctor Parent Help

[mumsneedwine]

Here you go

Thanks.
I am disappointed that after everything our young medics have been through with med school, covid and foundation years that there are such limited opportunities for training places and many are stuck. We have the answer to the doctor shortage already here but I cant see any recognition of this from any political party.
I thought the foundation years were just something to be endured until you chose a training pathway - how wrong I was 😮‍💨
Anyone else there or approaching there with their YPs?

Took mine 3 attempts, but they have the training post they want now. They built up their portfolio, practised interviews, and took one of the exams they need. Got their first choice of post.

Hi, checking in. Thanks for setting up the thread @mumsneedwine

I'm mum of DS2 who's an F1 and also DS1 who is doing medicine as his second (3rd?) degree as a mature (in theory) student.

DS2 has just texted us with a lot of lols to say he has failed his F1 year. In fact after giving us a mild heart attack he's explained it's a bureaucracy issue - he needs a form signed to say he'd a meeting with his clinical supervisor and with his educational supervisor. He had attended the meeting but his 2 supervisors were actually one and the same person so she only signed one form. Annoying but not the end of the world.

BMA going to take the GMC to court over PAs and regulation. I love a strong union 😊

@Haffdonga I've had ARCP explained to me now. A weird and very beurocratic tick box exercise.

Mine is busy building up his points to apply for a training post but I fear his head had been turned by all of his friends leaving for Brisbane. I cant say I blame him

Another F1 parent here (I’ve name changed many times over the years).

Who would have thought that this stage would be worse than getting into med school?

We have been looking into retirement visas for Australia just in case.

It's actually disheartening that my 26 year old still only rents a room in someone else's house, doesn't know if he will have a job after August as the Trust is very slow and has done nothing but move around every few months to yet another HMO and to places he doesn't know a single person. I really feel like he has sold his soul to the NHS, seems to work at least 3 hours extra every day and spends his days off working on his portfolio. They love him though - he gets glowing feedback from staff and patients and is a born doctor. From my perspective, they are taking the piss out of him and the other junior doctors.

GP here - I'm relieved that neither of my children want to do medicine

we have FY2s in the practice on a 4 monthly rotation. Of the 6 FY2s that we have had over the last 2 yrs only one is staying in the NHS (and even they don't have a proper training post). The others are either in or about to go to Aus/NZ or doing botox/cosmetic work. I don't know if the ones abroad will ever come back - I'm not sure that I would if I were them. I really feel for the young doctors who work hard, love their job and are the good doctors that we need but they're being treated so very badly

Does anyone understand the purpose of training yet more medical students when they seemingly have limited options just a couple of years down the line?

Also, does anyone know if more senior doctors are even needed?

Lastly, if yes, does anyone know what the solution is to training the juniors to become seniors, given the numbers as they stand?

Good questions. I shall add them to my list for asking any would- be MPs who dare to knock at my door 😃

Just watching last nights Dispatches. It's a horror show.
So sad for the patients but just as sad for the staff who have to deal with this every day and must be so stressed at being unable to do anything about the situation, just put up with it

Thanks Sluj I'll watch it later tonight.

DD in ED at the moment and said it's like that every day. They've been in critical incident more than they haven't. 130+ patients waiting, 20 ambulances outside, resus full. Corridors are now part of the board as numbered bays.
It's so sad.

In contrast, I had to go to ED recently, was triaged in 10 minutes and taken to minors straight away. Had amazing care, was there 6 hours but was having stuff done the whole time. Treated by ANP who was awesome.

DS was on rotation in a city A and E a couple of years ago and it was very busy but not as desperate as it seemed to be on Dispatches. Who could work like that?

Wow Sluj that was horrific to watch. Grateful to you for flagging it up.

There seem to be a number of consultants on these threads. I really do wonder if they can shed light on what's going on. Is the block on training places intentional, for the purposes of keeping NHS spending down? Or is it merely poor planning, that no-one in charge can work out how to train more junior doctors to qualify for senior positions because there aren't enough senior people available to do the training?

I genuinely don't understand it. That programme was sobering. The situation is clearly dire, certainly at Shrewsbury - but the medics on the programme were emphatic that the situation isn't unique to Shrewsbury.

DS has just been told that his 6 month F3 contract will not be extended after all despite promises that it would be, which stopped him from applying for other opportunities. The clinical lead is so fed up as he really wanted him to stay. Apparently some HR manager has appointed 2 overseas candidates to replace him with no reference to the team. DS is rightly fed up and I think Australia has gone to the top of the list now.
In the meantime, he has learnt a few things about not giving your life up for the NHS and it does you no good to be the one with the brilliant reputation who will always say Yes and works till he drops. He has literally been at work till midnight all week, though his shift should have finished at 5pm, to work on an audit in his "free" time. He needed to learn his true value to them, to be fair.
Glad he is on strike now and will get a rest.

Wanted to check in as DD has just just finished her final year and will be starting F1 soon. I'm gradually picking up how bad things are after F2. I'm really sorry that your son won't be kept @Sluj . He has been treated really badly.

DD is in Wales - not sure if it's better/worse/the same there!

@Sluj - How incredibly demoralising and upsetting for your ds. I feel so angry on his behalf and all the others alongside him ☹
I wish the issues causing the strikes had been more clearly messaged. Reporting talks only about the 35% pay restoration. The general public see tables of how much a doc can earn as they go up the scale and junior docs look greedy and out of touch. There's no mention of the issues getting onto the bloody scale in the first place!

Having said that, @Pepermintea congratulations to your new F1 and welcome to the other side! Despite everything - crazy bureaucracy, long hours, enormous responsibility, stressful dilemmas, some terrible management (and some excellent), strikes and all, ds has thrived on being an F1 and is currently very happy in his job. The positives outweigh the negatives for him and it's lovely to see him and his friends flourishing as junior docs. Good luck!

Thank you, Im angry fir him too but trying to spin the opportunities it will throw up for him. . I have to say F1 and F2 were not without their logistical difficulties but he did enjoy them overall . Post F2 has been the issue really. Who would have thought it?

Sluj that's heartbreaking, especially given your descriptions of the level of dedication that your DS has shown, and the fact that he's been pushed from rented room to rented room.

I don't know anything about going abroad. Does Australia welcome all UK trained F2s? If so, why? Is the stay in Australia time limited? Do years there count in any way towards a training pathway in the UK? (could a young person got to Australia and qualify as a consultant then return to the UK and work here as a consultant?).

Yes, they can go to Australia and train. Many never return, but you could become a consultant. Some specialities are easier to achieve this than others.
Australia seems to like everyone, although some will end up in rural areas to start. They prioritise their own graduates (we are the only country that doesn't) but I know several doctors who are working in Sydney and Melbourne having a great life.

Same in Wales, my F2 medic is currently applying to go to Australia !

Is it more or less a given that a UK trained medical student will get onto a training pathway in Australia? Are there no shortages in the way that there are in the UK? I've googled very superficially and it seems to say that the likelihood is that young doctors will be sent to remote areas at least initially and that it costs a reasonable amount to get the necessary paperwork signed off (£5k?). What is behind this welcome? Are there not enough young Australians wanting to go through medical school? And there was mention that ahead of Covid, Australia was going to cut back on waving UK junior doctors in, so that could be a concern. Perhaps I'm just a die hard cynic but you would have thought that there would be some cons.