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Latest posts

Finding the time for competency assessments

Posted on 10 May 2013 by Anna Khoo

My boss looks tired. He’s had a cough for the past week and his temper is short. I don’t like to bother him but I shelve my scruples and ask: ‘Would it be all right if we did some assessments?’ I feel guilty as he sighs: ‘Do you mind if we do them next week?’

Tags: competency-based assessments, junior doctors
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Great expectations

Posted on 19 December 2012 by Anne-Marie Curtis

I am disappointed to see that I am merely as expected.

Tags: performance, appraisal, junior doctors
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Time to care

Posted on 26 November 2012 by Alexander Gates

I recently had one of those rare but very welcome letters of praise from a patient. It meant a lot, as you can sometimes feel isolated being a junior doctor in a primary care setting

Tags: extra sessions, junior doctors, general practice
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The art of being influential

Posted on 22 November 2012 by Anne-Marie Curtis

I keep going on self-improvement courses. In fact, I’ve been on so many now that I am probably almost perfect.

Tags: juniors, self-management, work-life balance
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In a mess over break time

Posted on 21 November 2012 by BMA regional services

Regional services intervened when the juniors at one hospital had their two on-call rooms and obstetrics mess taken away.

Tags: juniors, working conditions
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Fear is not a factor in training decisions

Posted on 16 October 2012 by Emma Casely
Before I went to medical school as a graduate I spent a year working for a consultant immunologist as a research assistant.
Tags: junior doctors, specialist training, careers, modernising medical careers
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Mother care

Posted on 28 September 2012 by Zara Ford

I've asked to see a female GP. It's not because I doubt the competence of the male partners, but because I am presenting with what I presume is lactational mastitis.

Tags: Primary care, medical education and training, child healthcare, maternity services, women's health, general practice, obs and gynae
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Brief encounters

Posted on 19 September 2012 by Susannah George

‘How many of these will you have to do today?’ she asks.

‘Four,’ I reply.

‘All day?’

‘No, this afternoon I’m going to do a ward round at another hospital.’

‘You see so many patients,’ she mused.

I was excising her mole. It was a 45-minute slot in a morning list, a small part of my working week, a routine procedure. Yet for her it was a much bigger part of her life.

Tags: General practice, junior doctors, specialist training
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Beginning to feel a little more useful

Posted on 13 August 2012 by Lauren Sperry

Two down and one to go... I’ve got a feeling tonight is going to be another busy one.

Tags: foundation doctors, junior doctors
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Help was there, and I needed it

Posted on 10 August 2012 by Lauren Sperry

I arrived early to organise myself but as soon as I walked in I was asked to certify someone’s death. Having never done this before, I asked the FY2 to come with me to make sure I was doing everything right.

Tags: foundation doctors, junior doctors
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