Ahmed

I am a ST3 trainee registrar in Acute Internal Medicine (AIM), Scarborough Hospital.  I am going to clear some misconceptions people have about working as a trainee medical registrar.  They never have time for their families because they are always on call!  Look at my rota here: https://omarsguidelines.blogspot.com/2019/07/my-st3-post-in-acute-medicine.html Let's look at November, for example: I was on annual leave from the 1st to 6th of November I have every weekend off. I have a total of 7 long shifts ( ie from 0900 to 2100) in November. Total number of days off: 16 Study days: 2 Regular days on the ward: 5 I come home at around 1730 ( I leave the hospital at 1700 almost everyday) and have a good 3 hours on working days. My weekends are mostly free and I spend that time with my family as well. I have driven 3000 miles in 2 months already! ( which shows how much time I have now). The pay is not enough!  The pay of a trainee registrar varies from 3300 to ...

I recently went on a three day trip to my home country, Pakistan from the UK to attend a wedding. I am going to share my experience and some tips in this blog. MY TIMINGS DEPARTURE 1. Slept at 2000 and woke up at 0400 on Thursday. 2. Left the house at 0600 3. Took the 0630 train to York - transferred to another train to get to Manchester airport at 1035. 4. Checked in at around 1100 5. The plane took off at 1400 6. Landed in Doha at 0010 7. Took the plane from Doha at 0205. 8. Reached Lahore at 0735 PK time 9. Got out of the airport at around 0900 PK time on Friday. ARRIVAL 1. Left for the airport from our house at 2300 on Sunday night 2. Arrived at the airport at around 0000 3. Checked in at 0030. 4. Our flight took off for Doha at 0410 5. Arrived at Doha 0615 6. Took off for Manchester at 0800. 7. Arrived in Manchester at 1225 PM on Monday. 8. Cleared immigration and got our luggage by 1330. 9. Took the 1445 train to York 10. Missed the 1647 train from York ...

This blog post is for those international medical graduates who plan to work in the UK on a MTI scheme.  I am going to go through this in the form of frequently asked questions (FAQs).  What is MTI? This stands for medical training initiative. This exists in every specialty now. The reason behind introducing this scheme was to meet the deficiency of specialty doctors in the NHS.  How does this work? These are the steps: 1. Search for the specialty you are interested in on Google - eg, "MTI in medicine UK", "MTI in gynae/obs UK" etc.  2. Read what the requirements are 3. Email the team if you have any queries.  4. Meet the outstanding requirements - ie English language requirements: https://www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/join-the-register/before-you-apply/evidence-of-your-knowledge-of-english/using-your-ielts-certificate https://www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/join-the-register/before-you-apply/evidence-of-your-knowledge-of-englis...

Things have become very easy for IMGs to get into training in the UK.  Read this: https://specialtytraining.hee.nhs.uk/portals/1/Content/Resource%20Bank/Recruitment%20Documents/Medical%20Specialty%20Recruitment%20Applicant%20Handbook%202020%20v%201.0.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3Gfm2TSA8q8Ygm2TRi2W2Lz_fk-_qcbi4M_emSauYVtH0zhf77oOMQWnE Page 11 in particular: "Right to work in the UK From 6 October 2019, all medical practitioners have been added to the Shortage Occupation List in the UK. This means that all medical practitioners are exempt from the Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) and can apply for any specialty in any recruitment round, subject to eligibility. Applicants to Public Health will still be subject to the RLMT. See Annex D for more information on right to work." Anex D on page 50 explains it in more detail: "All medical practitioners are now on the Shortage Occupation List and are therefore exempt from the RLMT. All applicants to Public Health training, from both a med...

The link to the 2020 foundation competency (CREST) form is mentioned here: https://www.oriel.nhs.uk/Web/ResourceBank/Edit/MTA3NA%3D%3D If you are interested in applying for a training post, please see the person specifications here: https://specialtytraining.hee.nhs.uk/Recruitment/Person-specifications I am going to discuss each point and highlight the important parts. The points highlighted in blue are my personal opinions and advice. Please note that this is my personal interpretation based on my experience of 18 months as a non trainee SHO, core medical trainee for 2 years and now trainee registrar ( since August, 2019). Despite this, the information here may not be 100% accurate in which case, you should always talk to your supervisor or the recruitment team.  PAGE 1: This certificate can only be signed by a Consultant or equivalent. For the purposes of this documentation, Consultant includes General Practitioners, Clinical Directors, Medical Superintendents, Academic Profes...