The new UK medical careers system: room for global health?

May 27, 2005 by Rebecca Hope

I'll be one of the first UK doctors going into the all new 'modern' medical careers system. I feel like I've got my head round the F1 F2 programme thanks to Gaz's article and some nice articles by Rhona Macdonald in the BMJ, but the specialist training thing seems a bit more complicated.

Looking on the BMA website's explanation of it all (http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/shapeofspclsttraining) didn't make things much clearer. It seems like there is now a specialist fast track route, whereby you decide during your F2 years (2 meagre years fresh from medical school) your career path and bingo: a consultant in just ten years.

The broad based programme seems rather less hectic. You choose an area like acute medicine, mother and child health etc and then slowly specialise down. What I'm not sure about (and what is not so clear in the explanations) is where this leaves people who would prefer a more varied career path.

I think we already specialise early on just by going into medicine, once you make that decision at the tender age of 16/17. I ended up taking a year away from medical school, just to explore other interests. I hope the new fast track system gives space for doctors to occasionally move off the beaten track, and gives recognition to time spent working in international health.

I would welcome hearing what other people think of the new system, particularly how it compares to what happens currently in the UK.

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