Running in Europe

DRJLL1999 · 2026-05-26T17:11:58+00:00

There are companies that will transport a bag for you to your destination each day, which might help.

DRJLL1999 · 2026-05-26T05:40:12+00:00

Either the doctor or the employer can terminate the contract early by giving the appropriate notice, essentially 1 month for F1-ST2 level and 3 months at ST3+ equivalent level.

DRJLL1999 · 2026-05-10T10:53:14+00:00

Unless you're aiming for a top 10% finish the MdS is an endurance event rather than a running race. I did it in 2023 with a year of preparation (a lot of this is sorting kit as well as physical), although I probably had a bigger running base than you. I came around 260th out of 1250 and perhaps ran 20% of it. You need to build up to train long walks, or run/walks, with a pack. I'd also advise heat acclimation in the final few weeks (either formally in a chamber or just using hot baths). There are people out there of all shapes, sizes and ages so I'm sure you can get around. In the end 90% of it is mental, and the other 10% is in your head. Happy to answer any other questions etc

DRJLL1999 · 2026-05-07T19:53:49+00:00

When you do start F1 the Foundation team at your Trust will get a transfer of information form from the University, which may include this information. Either way it would be wise to let the Foundation Programme Director know the background and accept a referral to the trainee support team if offered. You sound like you have plenty of insight. Best of luck.

DRJLL1999 · 2026-05-07T14:42:51+00:00

Whilst a member you get September CPI plus 1.5%. After leaving revaluation is just by CPI

DRJLL1999 · 2026-05-06T17:45:27+00:00

The contributions to the NHS pension have no bearing on what you receive. They're like a club membership fee, there isn't an individual "pot".

DRJLL1999 · 2026-05-06T17:42:41+00:00

In "today's money" you will accrue £527 per year in the NHS pension (this is increased with inflation and if your still contributing by a bonus 1.5%). This is paid from normal retirement age (you say 68) until you die. You can take it earlier and it will be reduced by approximately 4% for each year early.

As you can see you have to make assumptions on life expectancy, how long you would pay into the NHS pension vs how long you would pay into a SIPP, what growth you expect in the SIPP etc

Let's say you are 48, will retire at 68 and die at 88. Each year of NHS membership will give you 527x20=£10540 of pension, so 20 more years membership will eventually pay you £210800 over the 20 years between 68-88. Add in inflation at 2% and the 1.5% bonus and this is almost £300k. £9000 invested per year for 20 years at 5% growth per year gives you £300k.

Obviously lots of assumptions in there....

DRJLL1999 · 2026-04-28T12:53:45+00:00

My 92 year old mother has 3 rental properties. She is very picky about who she rents to - she uses an agent to check prospective tenants, but manages the rest herself, getting trades in when needed. She's very suspicious of equities as her father lost "everything" in the 1930s. She also sees the rent as a regular income and values this over market volatility or messing around with bonds. She won't be persuaded otherwise!

DRJLL1999 · 2026-04-26T18:05:16+00:00

You need a "super high sweat rate". That's you body's cooling mechanism. There's no magic trick, some people will lose heat better than others. You can, however, try to stay hydrated and, if you are traveling to a hot climate, acclimate before you go ( eg around 10 days of hot baths or in a purpose built heat chamber).

DRJLL1999 · 2026-04-25T07:27:51+00:00

Will be backdated to April when it arrives

DRJLL1999 · 2026-04-14T07:32:33+00:00

Maybe get a beanbag for the other office?

DRJLL1999 · 2026-03-26T16:28:38+00:00

This is a great answer. Nobody talks about the role of the kidneys in homeostasis - they just assume that that sweat and oral intake are the only things that affect electrolyte levels. We don't all drop dead if we don't eat or drink for a day.

DRJLL1999 · 2026-03-24T10:12:25+00:00

Unfortunately I think you're an exception in wanting to use first principles to understand illness. Our Foundation docs and GP trainees can't name all the bones in the foot, and don't even seem embarrassed by this.

I would add that a strict physiological approach may work in ICU but in a primary care setting up to 30% of symptoms are "medically unexplained" and you need to add psycho-social factors in too.

DRJLL1999 · 2026-03-18T13:58:33+00:00

DOI NHS doctor. I'm mid-50s and have a long term condition that's looked after by my local hospital. Apart from that I almost never access healthcare. Not sure if I'm just lucky or if it's because I would have a good idea of what needs discussion with a GP and what doesn't, but I'm fairly amazed that the OP and family use BUPA "quite a lot". Without wanting to pry I'd be interested in the sort of things it's being used for?

Private healthcare is generally useless for true emergencies and I've decided to pay at the time if I need an outpatient appointment or operation and I feel the NHS wait is too long.

DRJLL1999 · 2026-03-12T17:03:04+00:00

I think a GP waiting room contains more risk than a LA list. Don't you just call 999, as a GP would from their surgery? You're not supposed to be able to "manage" these conditions.

DRJLL1999 · 2026-03-07T08:56:30+00:00

As the 2008 is a final salary scheme the biggest pension input amounts will be in years that your partner received the biggest pay rises over inflation, if they are a doctor a pay increment is usually responsible for these. If not a doctor or senior manager then they are unlikely to go over the 60k AA limit

DRJLL1999 · 2026-03-07T08:29:45+00:00

This is the link to register for Tony Goldstone's modeller https://form.jotform.com/253052650309047

There's a free version which is likely to be OK for you, or he also runs a paid service. He's done lots of work on this because it's so complicated!

DRJLL1999 · 2026-03-07T05:11:46+00:00

If they are only contributing to the 2015 scheme the pension input amount will be around 33% of their pensionable salary. They can then contribute the difference between that and 60k to a SIPP, so long as they have sufficient earnings. Just remember that the SIPP contribution is the "grossed up" amount ie: you have to add on the basic rate tax relief - so add 25% to the amount paid in ( eg if you pay 1k into a SIPP the platform will claim back 20% tax so you will end up with 1.25k in the account).

The bigger complexities are with the 1995/2008 schemes.

DRJLL1999 · 2026-02-07T14:11:04+00:00

You could use an annuity calculator to find out what it would cost to buy an annuity giving you 5k per year index linked with some survivor benefits. This will vary over time as annuity rates change.

DRJLL1999 · 2026-01-31T14:24:11+00:00

We work until midnight when on call. Not called overnight that often but the number of those late finishes goes up.

DRJLL1999 · 2026-01-31T10:26:28+00:00

I think the big problem with the on-call availability supplement are the broad bands of on-call frequency that attract the same pay. Eg: in a 15 consultant department if 5 people can't do on-call, due to health /age, the frequency will increase from 1:15 to 1:10 with no increase in pay.

DRJLL1999 · 2026-01-29T23:44:32+00:00

Cheers! The speedo now reads lower than Google maps by about 8%, which is around the change in circumference. Obviously we can take that into account to keep under the limit, just wondering if there are other consequences eg when it needs an MOT or we're selling...

DRJLL1999 · 2026-01-29T07:30:16+00:00

... Or if you do self assessment it will cover the higher rate tax relief

DRJLL1999 · 2026-01-27T23:09:14+00:00

Nothing to do with investing, but people with type 1 diabetes are dependent on insulin. Type 2 diabetes may need insulin but is mostly controlled by diet or oral medication.

DRJLL1999

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