Sorry, Silly Question ....

[lolabanola]

this may be a silly question but can anyone please tell me what a registrar is? Had an appointment last week about my low lying placenta, thought I had seen the consultant (who I was told that I would be seeing), just found out that it was actually the registrar who said that I would have to have a c - section and I have not seen a consultant ... he gave me the date for the operation 4 days over my due date! Is a registrar a doctor?

Yes. There's a sliding scale of qualifications and experience. I'm not sure who sits where exactly in the pecking order, but its something like house doctor bottom, then registrar then consultant, singled out by not being known as Dr, but Mr, Mrs Miss etc. You then have consultant surgeons etc. A house doctor is normally someone fairly recently qualified who's gaining experience and a registrar is someone with more experience. they could have been one for years as I don't think there's an automatic promotion type thing iyswim.

You can ask to see a consultant. Scheduling a C section past yor due date is a little odd! Often a consultant will run a clinic but the clinic will be staffed with more junior doctors who can refer to the consultant if required. With your cs is worth querying as I went to a consultant clinic, saw a registrar and he thought I was 35 weeks when I was actually 23 (and it wasn't because I was huge for date he was just a total muppet).

A registrar is very highly qualified doctor and will mostly do the work of the consultant. They will work with a consultant and the consultant is available to them for advice.

The House Officer and senior house officers are doctors but a registrar is higher, and I would be happy to see a registrar.

The latest advice is to have a CS as close as possible to your due date as possible.

hi, i agree witih Elsa - C-sections are normally carried out a week/or a few days before your due date, not after, since it's important to do the operation before you start having contractions - ie before you go into labour/early labour. so i would definitely query this. a registrar is not a very experienced doctor.

sotough- a registrar is a very experienced doctor!

Although a registrar is an experienced doctor, I would query this - get your GP or MW to contact the actual consultant.

Booking a very much needed ELCS after your EDD is very risky as odds are you'll go into labour before then, so would need an EMCS.

FWIW, it is normal to see the registrar, not the consultant, though.

The hierarchy of doctors now goes:

Foundation Year 1 (FY1) - doctors in their first year after qualifying, and in the first year of their 2-year basic training

Foundation Year 2 (FY2) - 2nd year of training

Specialty Trainee (ST) - graded 1-8; these doctors are on training programmes in their chosen specialty, with the number after the ST indicating what year of the training programme they are in (ST1-3 usually like the old school "Senior House Officers" and ST4-8 are like "Registrars".

The old system is still in place for some trainees (like me!) so you will still come across Specialist Registrars, or SpRs - we are all experienced doctors training to become consultants over a 5 year period.

There are other non-training grades, like Staff Grade, Associate Specialist etc (usually v experienced) and also GP trainees doing their obstetric experience (GP VTS).

You don't automatically become a "Mr" or "Mrs" on becoming a consultant, you achieve that when you pass your exams in a surgical specialty - though many Obs and Gyn docs choose to practice under "Dr" just as medical specialists/paediatricians/other specialists do. So you might see a Mr or Miss/Mrs who are actually a Registrar.