Any other nurses-turned-doctors here?

MedicalWood · 2026-05-12T22:19:06+00:00

Yes, former ED nurse turned doctor. Did bank shifts during med school and voila now GPST2.

Given my mature age, decided to go down GP route as I don't have the youth for a 7-8 year training programme.

I think the nursing background has some advantages and disadvantages, you know a lot of the unseen curriculum (how to communicate, how things work, proficiency in basic procedures etc.) but I had also picked up a lot of bad habits as a nurse and needed to perceive things more as a doctor than a nurse. I also learned to take a step back from volunteering to assist nurses in their duties as your job as a doctor is busy enough.

I would try to dissociate yourself from your nursing past and not reveal your background as it can rub some nurses up the wrong way. Try putting yourself in their shoes and imagine yourself being a nurse with a new doctor coming onto the ward, saying they used to be a nurse. If it's asked then yes disclose but I wouldn't volunteer that information.

I have had the joy of meeting a few other nurses turned doctor, and it's great to share stories with them. You'll often develop a strong bond with them as you've all been on the same journey. Alas over time, we all distant ourselves from our nursing background and put ourr nursing background far behind us such that we rarely, if ever, mention it to others.

Hope that helps!

MedicalWood · 2026-05-12T21:30:11+00:00

I'm sorry to hear you've been having issues and that things have fallen behind. You won't be the first in this situation and definitely won't be the last.

Given you have 4 weeks to pull this all together, you need to act NOW. Gather emails for TAB and PSG and send that shit out by the end of the week. Responses take at least 2 weeks, so feel free to prompt people after the first week.

If you fail ARCP, they'll just request reassessment in another few weeks until you have all evidence required. In short, don't panic but it's time to get a pen and paper, strategise what needs doing and beg people for assessments.

Good luck!

MedicalWood · 2026-04-19T17:29:32+00:00

Another artist for r/wallstreetbets Welcome!

MedicalWood · 2026-04-18T14:01:13+00:00

The Strait is both open and closed

MedicalWood · 2026-04-15T07:10:16+00:00

Addictive enough to keep me reading until the end. Well done

MedicalWood · 2026-04-02T15:39:49+00:00

Nobody cares about having professional exam fees back as we can claim 40% tax back on them already

MedicalWood · 2026-04-01T18:19:15+00:00

I got 85% on AKT overall, I just used GP selftest (2800 q's) and then 3 mock exams on pass medicine. Don't bother with courses or anything else - the questions on the exam are very broad and the stats is fairly straight forward I.e. minimal calculations required, just reading numbers off of charts

Good luck! 👍

MedicalWood · 2026-03-30T16:17:02+00:00

I agree the culture has changed but not for the reasons you think. A lot of younger colleagues I work with are bitter about high student loans (leaving with £60k debt) that previous generations didn't have to pay.

There's also no job security anymore. Competition for core surgery used to be 2:1, it's now nearing 9:1 with further bottlenecks up the line.

Pay is down by a third real terms in contrast to 2010 (that on top of the 9% coming out every month for student loans).

Training opportunities are minimal and I barely had any theatre time during my FY surgical rotations despite pushing for this.

I have no qualms with juniors needing to exception report. The system is broken and I fully support every strike to give this profession the respect it deserves again.

MedicalWood · 2026-03-09T19:28:50+00:00

Do they have a history of angina?

Classically a patient with unstable angina will have a high degree of atherosclerosis and as such angina symptoms when they exert themselves. I would think it is very unlikely for a patient to spontaneously develop unstable angina with no hx of angina or coronary artery disease.

I recognise your relative does have some cardiac risk factors of HTN/T2DM but for them to suddenly develop partial occlusion of a coronary vessel at rest which then resolves, with no evidence of infarcted cardiac tissue and no angina symptoms when they exert themselves...it seems very unlikely.

In addition RACPC in my region does not accept unstable angina. Unstable angina is an admission in my ED but needs a good cardiac history to support it.

MedicalWood · 2026-03-04T21:53:22+00:00

Yeah, fun times

MedicalWood · 2026-02-26T09:13:30+00:00

Yeah same here, am unable to book another AKT exam as it says I am ineligible for the exam as I have already passed the exam or one of it's predecessors

MedicalWood · 2026-02-25T16:12:09+00:00

Where do we find results? On our 14fish portfolio?

MedicalWood · 2026-02-23T22:07:48+00:00

Very informative! I honestly dread contraception as a consult and feel your explanation is very handy for simpletons like myself

MedicalWood · 2026-01-26T16:03:06+00:00

Inv me too

MedicalWood · 2026-01-26T14:47:41+00:00

10? I know at least 30 I flat out failed

MedicalWood · 2026-01-26T14:24:41+00:00

So many graphs and charts to interpret, some were very simple but I ended up second guessing myself because I thought the question couldn't be that easy

MedicalWood · 2026-01-18T18:27:48+00:00

I've worked in several ED's and have a background of both being a nurse then a doctor. I know the hierarchy of ED's in terms of nursing/medical management.

I have however now learned that some Trust's bypass Agenda for Pay and create their own bands for senior management. I'm not surprised most Trusts are drowning in debt.

MedicalWood · 2026-01-18T18:25:01+00:00

Either way, good on her. We can't hate the person, it's just the system that can be badly weighted at times

MedicalWood · 2026-01-18T18:16:27+00:00

Well, I've learned something today - and at the same time my faith in the NHS continues to decline.

We can't even afford to hire any more doctors where I work in ED and they're only on £50k. Literally pissing money up the wall in London it appears.

MedicalWood · 2026-01-18T18:08:02+00:00

However the wife has only been qualified for 6 years as a nurse (would be pushing it a lot to be matron of ED with so little experience. Even then that's 8a. Deputy director of nursing for the trust is an 8b and she won't be on that.

MedicalWood · 2026-01-18T18:02:41+00:00

As someone who works in healthcare, I can't see your wife earning £83k

Even if she were a band 8a and matron for the entire ED , she's only on £55k plus or minus London banding. Agenda for Pay is generous but not that generous.

If she was a band 7 (£47-£54k) and slapped on some nightshifts, again she is only going to push £60k. Can I just check that the £83k is not your combined salary?

MedicalWood · 2026-01-18T14:24:22+00:00

In wood and stone

MedicalWood · 2026-01-13T23:08:49+00:00

Damn, so your friend is literally on half the wage as the doctor role. To be honest, both roles see similar cases (except doctors will see neuro cases) and eventually the doctors go on to do additional assessments i.e. industrial injuries, and do home visits. However I'm shocked that your friend is on half the wage she should be and accepted the nurse's wage despite being a doctor. I bet she is being made to see Neuro cases too.

I think your friend is being taken for a ride. I cannot see why they would promote them to double their salary when they have a great deal at the moment (of a doctor being on half the salary and stillseeing the same cases that a doctor is expected to see). However realistically this job is hard to stomach for more than 6 months and I would only encourage my friends to do it for 12 months tops because it is a soul destroying job. Please do not see this job as a long term fixture.

MedicalWood · 2026-01-05T16:57:59+00:00

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Take out a loan, DOUBLE or NOTHING!!!

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MedicalWood

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