From today [Wednesday 18 September] “junior doctors” across Northern Ireland will be known as “resident doctors” to better reflect their expertise.  

The change follows a motion passed at BMA’s annual policy making conference this year, where doctors voted in favour of abolishing the term “junior doctor” in favour of “resident doctor” *. It was felt the term ‘junior’ implied doctors at this level may be students, or apprentices and not in fact fully qualified doctors with many years of experience.  

Speaking about the change, Dr Fiona Griffin, chair of BMA’s Northern Ireland resident doctors committee (NIRDC**), said: “I am delighted that this change has finally happened for my cohort of doctors, who make up over a third of all doctors working in Northern Ireland. They, along with their colleagues across the UK, now have a title that better reflects the huge range of skills and responsibilities they have. 

“The term ‘junior’ did not represent us properly – it diminished the work we do and had the potential to confuse patients. ‘Junior’ implies a lack of experience, perhaps even competence, and it fails to instil confidence in patients and their families.”   

Dr Shana Irvine is an ST4 resident doctor in paediatrics based in the Northern Ireland health service. 

“Whilst I may be junior compared to my consultant colleagues, my responsibilities are certainly not,” explained Dr Irvine, who has been working as a doctor for six years in total, four of those as a paediatrician. 

“I am the most senior paediatrician after 5pm covering the paediatric wards, neonatal unit, delivery suite and emergency department. I have led in many resuscitations while waiting for a consultant to arrive. Consultants rely on their junior staff to be competent, safe and reliable especially out of hours.  

“Patients and families need to know their loved ones are being looked after by very capable doctors. I hope this change will instil the public with the knowledge that we are far from junior.” 

Dr Kevin Gervin is an ST7 resident doctor in both emergency medicine and intensive care medicine.  

“At the moment I'm sitting my consultant exams for both specialties, and I still have upwards of another three years training left before I CCT***,” said Dr Gervin, who graduated from medical school in 2013. 

“If I had followed a single specialty path I would have been a consultant three years ago, so I do not consider myself ‘junior’. I think the term is a massive underrepresentation of my level of responsibility.  

“As a registrar I am considered a senior decision maker and I am usually the first point of contact for more junior colleagues, nursing staff and other specialties. While I always work under the supervision of a consultant, particularly at night I am often one of, if not the most, senior doctor in the hospital. I am able to work with a significant degree of independence and at night I will either be responsible for managing the entire ED, including resus or the ICU, including making decisions on admissions and escalations of treatment.” 

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has written to the Northern Ireland resident doctors committee to extend his support for the name change across workplaces. 

“We are heartened the Minister has also assured us that he will be encouraging all health employers in Northern Ireland to adopt the term ‘resident doctor’ from now on,” said Dr Griffin. 

“With an offer agreed with resident doctors in England to end their long-running pay dispute, we now look to him to quickly agree a pay settlement for resident doctors in Northern Ireland as we are now the only area of the UK not to reach a pay deal with resident doctors.”  

Notes to editors

* The term ‘resident doctor’ was chosen as it is already used internationally to refer to doctors in training and does not imply a lack of qualifications. It was also chosen at it avoids confusion with other clinical colleagues within the health service whilst allowing for continued use of terms that differentiate between grades, such as ‘registrar’. 

**Formerly called Northern Ireland junior doctors committee (NIJDC). 

*** Stands for ‘Certificate of Completion of Training’. It confirms a doctor has completed an approved UK training programme and is eligible for entry onto the Specialist Register or GP Register. 

To learn more about the pay deal reached with resident doctors working in England, click here.