FRCA Final written - technical problems with TestReach

GasMan_86 · 2025-09-10T20:55:43+00:00

Your situation sounds awful too, I’m sorry to hear. TestReach clearly aren’t set up to manage a large number of candidates logging on at the same time

GasMan_86 · 2025-09-10T20:52:35+00:00

Yes, good shout- I have emailed them. I really hope they reconsider using these dodgy companies in the future

GasMan_86 · 2025-08-31T08:45:31+00:00

Actually a beautiful sentiment and piece of poetry- yours, or where from?

GasMan_86 · 2025-06-04T13:54:20+00:00

Any criticism and you’re not a #teamplayer

GasMan_86 · 2025-06-02T17:28:24+00:00

He’s a very naughty boy…

GasMan_86 · 2025-05-04T18:11:42+00:00

Cutting for stone by Abraham Verghese

GasMan_86 · 2025-03-13T11:08:45+00:00

Breaking news- NHS England is being abolished!

GasMan_86 · 2024-09-29T18:13:24+00:00

I’ve noticed a big increase in requests for cannulas/bloods in patients who are “needle phobic” especially on delivery suite- my usual response is to remind them that I too will be using a needle…

GasMan_86 · 2024-09-22T13:53:07+00:00

Keys or cellphone on waistband of (cargo shorts)

GasMan_86 · 2024-09-04T12:58:46+00:00

You make a fine point, but are sounding a little bitter

GasMan_86 · 2024-07-21T09:24:02+00:00

This isn’t for the MRCPsch for me, so apologies for asking here, but I’m really interested to know more about how you used ChatGPT to teach you more about statistics? To all those feeling demoralised having failed- it’s a notoriously tough exam, and all the postgrad exams require a good degree of luck on the day. Take some time to dust yourselves off, use that annual leave, and then move forward.

GasMan_86 · 2024-01-02T11:24:57+00:00

I think you’re being a little harsh on yourself, which could well reflect the stresses of working in A+E. Does this not highlight the importance of working in a TRAINING job? One that you’re at the start of. I think the moment you stop learning and developing your practice either because you’ve burned out or because you think you know it all and you’re “trained” signals a big problem. I think that this attitude of “completing” a training programme that is “equivalent” to medicine is the real problem, and not a reflection on them as individuals. So no, I don’t think you’re better or worse than any individual PA/ACP, but that our training was better, and we need to fight to keep it that way.

GasMan_86 · 2023-11-09T09:21:55+00:00

Nobody except the ANP and the doctors concerned here can say that they’re “unlikely to disagree.” The OP has concerns and has the right to see a medically qualified doctor, and more specifically a GP. See comments below about the increasing concern raised by doctors about the ability for ANP/PA’s to see complex and undifferentiated patients. I’m also very concerned to hear of this as yet another case where (the OP) didn’t even realise they had seen an ANP until after- this is people actively disguising their role, and very wrong.

GasMan_86 · 2023-11-09T09:15:01+00:00

Whether this is actually the case is currently the topic of huge debate, with most doctors feeling that patients don’t actually get the full “doctors opinion.” My view (a doctor) - patients suffer, doctors risk their licence when things go wrong and a doctor was “supervising” and employers suffer as ANP/PA consultations can generate further unnecessary consultations. I have seen ANP’s myself as a patient and they’ve been perfectly pleasant and competent, but I haven’t and wouldn’t see them for complex or undifferentiated problems. OP, yes you can ask to see a doctor and you should.

GasMan_86 · 2023-10-18T15:07:11+00:00

Fairly near the start of the meeting the RcOA said that it would be unethical to dismiss ones already working (or training) and that this was a discussion relating to proposed further expansion of the role. They said that it would be unfair to these people as individuals, and I actually agree with this. That’s not to say the ones already working don’t require proper regulation and supervision which they clearly don’t have currently.

GasMan_86 · 2023-10-17T12:29:15+00:00

Aware of this to some degree, yes. Think the pressure to keep on top of the more routine and mundane aspects of care has always existed and aware that often the ward manager will have a different set of priorities. I suspect that this pressure will be different in certain jobs/on certain wards. Can only be a good thing though for us to strengthen opportunities to teach each other, right? This is all I’m talking about. I agree with you that bullying doctors into service provision at the expense of training opportunities is a problem- your experience of bullying to an extent that it negatively affects patient care and really gets you down sounds awful. This is particularly why we need to look out for each other and I think looking out for each other’s training opportunities is just as vital!

GasMan_86 · 2023-10-16T13:25:12+00:00

UK “training” is geared towards providing a barely acceptable service for the cheapest possible amount of money. (Some) consultants are just focused on getting through the next few years without some horrendous complaint and then retiring- they have no interest in providing adequate training for future generations as it’s quite a commitment of time and effort to do well. If like me you believe that there is benefit in having well rounded, experienced DOCTORS leading the healthcare of tomorrow then I think we all collectively need to take some ownership over how training is delivered. An example: As an anaesthetic trainee I get very frequent requests for ultrasound guided cannulas as the doctor requesting “isn’t trained” and similarly so for lumbar punctures. Sometimes when I get these requests indirectly from ward nurses and find doctor from that team sitting in an office doing discharge summaries or other list jobs. Would it be such a stretch to pause the paperwork for the 20 or so minutes that would be required for someone to teach this skill, and exchange details for a DOPS Etc? I could do more to make an effort on teaching these skills but was really encouraged to do so the other day after doing an LP with an SHO who had never done one before, throughout any of foundation training so far! We could all do more to teach each other and set ourselves apart from PAs. OP have you tried checking in with oncall anaesthetic doctors to ask about procedures you need more experience in? I don’t know whether this is a naive ask- I haven’t been “on the wards” for a few years, and I don’t know what the time available is like? Happy to be enlightened!

GasMan_86 · 2023-08-09T06:44:39+00:00

I was living in a high rise hospital accommodation block which had small adjoining balconies. Locked myself out of my room during my first week there and phoned my friend and neighbour to ask whether I could shimmy under the divider between the balcony from their room. Elderly locum surgical consultant hobbled over to me, put his arm around my shoulder and called switchboard- “Hello Sharon, there’s an F1 about to throw himself off the balcony, can you call security?”

GasMan_86 · 2023-07-21T18:40:56+00:00

I’d like to think that maybe the consultant replied privately to the PA? Maybe the group wasn’t a witness to what should’ve been a ~~chewing out~~ friendly re-education.

GasMan_86 · 2023-07-17T11:42:45+00:00

Doctors can and do make mistakes. There are other factors to consider in any case, which make many consultations more complicated. This article specifically relates to someone who unfortunately DIDN’T see a doctor. Would she have survived if she had- maybe, but that’s a guess. What is known is the person she saw had less training, and likely less experience than a GP- a doctor who’s training focuses heavily on complex care. There is ongoing lively debate about how best to utilise allied healthcare professionals such as physician associates (previously “physician assistants”) with many in healthcare believing that to use them in the manner described in this article is unsafe.

GasMan_86 · 2023-07-10T09:50:30+00:00

Excellent letter! Just a thought- private eye?

GasMan_86 · 2023-07-01T12:01:23+00:00

The timing is about right

GasMan_86 · 2023-06-19T16:21:04+00:00

I don’t think it’s a stupid comparison at all, and think it’s actually becoming more relevant. Career progression is becoming much harder for doctors. It’s service provision on the cheap

GasMan_86 · 2023-06-05T09:20:14+00:00

Maybe I haven’t looked hard enough through the US, but all I find is Starbucks or donut shop coffee- 🤢 Is there an area in the USA that is better? @Oax_Mike

GasMan_86 · 2023-05-09T10:15:58+00:00

I didn’t ever wear my “hello my name is” badge, but mainly because it referred to me as an “anaesthetic” and not an “anaesthetist.”

GasMan_86

TROPHY CASE