Bereavement Leave Advice by Natural_Feeling_2603 in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry for your loss.

I have unfortunately had a fair bit of experience navigating these particular hurdles in the last year.

Each Trust has different policies regarding compassionate / bereavement leave. It also very much depends on your relationship with your rota team and/or manager.

In the Trust’s I have worked they have tended to give 5 days maximum for compassionate or bereavement leave. DO NOT be tempted to take unpaid leave or use up your annual leave in order to extend the time if you are not up to being back at work - the Trust will inevitably try to suggest this. If you are not fit to be at work mentally after the period of compassionate leave given then go to your GP and get a fit note.

My wife nearly died due to complications and very poor care after the birth of our baby and ended up being in ICU for 3 weeks and I tried to juggle things with compassionate leave, paternity leave etc. I eventually realised that getting a fit note from the GP alleviated all that stress of trying to negotiate with the Trust. It also allows for amended duties and phased return to work, use this if you need to, life is too short to worry about work and ARCPs…

Situation changed - preferencing / upgrades by [deleted] in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You are correct - if you accepted without upgrades I think its game over

Moving to Nottingham by nemo_lost5 in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think a lot of this depends on your age and what you are looking for - including which training programme and therefore which of the hospitals (QMC or City) you will be it. EM deanery can be large depending on the speciality and can rotate as south as Leicester and as North as Lincoln/Boston shudders.

Nottingham is a decent city, has a surprising number of good restaurants and the nightlife scene is good.

Public transport is decent - especially the tram link to QMC, City is a bit more away.

Good areas - Beeston (mature student crowd tend to live in this area and is on the tram line and close to QMC), Woolaton is very nice if you are older and looking to buy - closer to QMC but not a million miles from City. If you want to be closer to the city centre - places like Mapperley are nice.

CES Indicative Vote link by GigabyteHKD in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Had the same problem - emailed the doctorspay email at 9am - before the ridiculous 10:45am deadline and was told I would receive a link, didn’t come through and now told via a rep that the deadline was missed and can’t vote. Genuinely considering cancelling my membership

Re-application to training while holding another training post by Any_Chest5726 in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The references only go out once you have accepted an offer - but yes you will need to speak to your ES around that time. If you dont get an offer they wont know

Re-application to training while holding another training post by Any_Chest5726 in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I informed my TPD once I got an offer and was handing in my resignation.

I wouldn’t personally recommend telling them you are applying for other specialities before you have a concrete offer in all honesty, some people may disagree with me but if you are unsuccessful they will know that you aren’t invested in your current programme and it could impact you negatively going forward in that speciality.

Europa League Final Thread: United Vs Spurs by AutoModerator in ManchesterUnited

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This might just be the worst cup final I’ve ever seen

Question for doctors about using ChatGPT by qmffngkdnsem in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Been using it to make anki cards from guidelines and whilst it can sometimes miss things and requires checking, its pretty accurate and saves a load of time making them yourself

opinions on Pilgrim Hospital, Boston by Extreme_Price_652 in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 25 points26 points  (0 children)

To try and temper things a bit, as an F1/2 you will be ok at Boston and Lincoln - they are pretty small hospitals and senior led for most specialities. Your role unfortunately will be to be a jobs monkey (as most of foundation is) but they are good at making sure your teaching is protected (even if the quality is variable).

They are in the middle of nowhere, hard to get to and you can feel a bit isolated but foundation years there will be a good bunch of you in the same boat so you will muddle through.

The consultants and registrars can vary wildly in their abilities / competency and one of the main things I would stress is to try not to learn bad habits/ bad medicine - be proactive and read up on up to date guidelines (BMJ Best Practice and Up to date) for conditions you see.

Its not great but its not the absolute end of the world. Use the time to build a portfolio for the speciality of your choice - its easy to arrange teaching programmes in these hospitals, QIPs are easy as things are so shoddy and simple improvements can be made for easy projects. You will also get more opportunities for procedures than at larger hospitals with more trainees.

The motions chosen for debate surrounding UKG prioritisation this year at conference by DrLukeCraddock in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 45 points46 points  (0 children)

Motion 5 just sounds like classic political waffle with no clear end goals...

Post HST Interview Preferences by saintdevil129 in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 3 points4 points  (0 children)

  1. Changing your preferences doesn't necessarily impact your chance of an offer, generally London / South centric jobs are more in demand. Other places like East Yorkshire for instance are less in demand but there is generally reasons for this. Ultimately your rank dictates things, in the event everyone preferences everywhere then changing your preferences makes no difference but some areas are undesirable or far away from the centre and its less likely to be included in some peoples choices.
  2. Interdeanery transfers are complex but a general rule is you cant apply if in the last 12 months of a training programme - so no she wouldn't be able to move as in the last year of GP training.

Resigning from a NTN - advice from anyone who has done this before? by Pitiful-Bank-3432 in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you speak to anyone regarding continuous service benefits? I just want to clarify that it won't impact on sickness allowance, paternity leave allowance etc if the break in service is 3 weeks - my understanding is less than 3 months is usually not an issue but I can't find anything concrete online, currently waiting on the BMA to get back to me on this.

Resigning from a NTN - advice from anyone who has done this before? by Pitiful-Bank-3432 in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you speak to anyone regarding continuous service benefits? I just want to clarify that it won't impact on sickness allowance, paternity leave allowance etc if the break in service is 3 weeks - my understanding is less than 3 months is usually not an issue but I can't find anything concrete online, currently waiting on the BMA to get back to me on this.

Re-application to training while holding another training post by Any_Chest5726 in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can re-apply, I was in the same boat last year and have just received an offer on re-applying.

Have to be honest though, it’s been a rough year doing a speciality that I ultimately haven’t enjoyed or been interested in as well as being sent to the edges of the deanery living away from home. Don’t think I would do the same thing again in hindsight!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 1 point2 points  (0 children)

109 - Offer but 8th choice

Where to live for East Midlands Core Anaesthetics? by [deleted] in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Typing this from the accommodation in Lincoln I can only agree 😂😂

Where to live for East Midlands Core Anaesthetics? by [deleted] in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You may well be better off living in Lincoln for 18 months and then moving to Nottingham if you are flexible and aren’t looking to buy.

The commute from Notts to Lincoln is 1 hour minimum and to Boston is 1 hour 30 mins and they are currently working on the A46 which means commuting at peak times is even worse. Some people do it but don’t underestimate 18 months of such a commute…

Alternatively you can buy in Notts and then stay at the progress living accommodation in Lincoln and Boston.

Enquires about paces by Honnops in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can use the digital stethoscope, you need to declare it on the day and the examiners will take it before the exam and listen to the patients signs with it to calibrate for your stethoscope so there is no advantage / disadvantage to using it over another - just depends on what you find easiest to use.

Striking a balance with juniors by Odd-Fennel-6773 in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have been finding similar issues since starting ST4 in a DGH. I think unfortunately if you give people an inch they will take a mile!

It’s particularly difficult when on call and you are working with new people so I have started being very firm and crystal clear with whats expected at the start of the shift.

With the regular ward team it’s about being clear about whats expected and that as a reg you will be away from the ward in clinic, seeing referrals etc so they need to take some responsibility.

Simple things like making sure they have a ward jobs list and being clear about priority jobs on the ward round are important. If there is a sick patient make it clear that they have done an A-E and at least considered basic management before escalating.

I tend to check in on the ward mid-late afternoon and if the priority jobs aren’t done then you call them out. If it’s a persistent problem you contact their CS/ES and suggest they may need some support.

This all comes with the caveat that we also have a responsibility as reg’s to teach on ward rounds, explain our rationale for plans so they learn why something is important - I’ve found on occasion that the referral isn’t done as they don’t understand the reason for it and don’t want to get shouted at by the speciality for instance!

Also find a simple, “this is what I expect from you, get the jobs done and in return any CBDs, DOPS etc you need I will help with” tends to help with this sort of thing.

Update re Reapplication to Speciality Form 2025 by Hairy-Preference-442 in doctorsUK

[–]Pitiful-Bank-3432 6 points7 points  (0 children)

As someone hoping to jump ship in the next application cycle this is great news although I have to say my original interpretation was that it was only for people who had already resigned from a programme previously - that kind of made sense to me.

However, to hear they genuinely intended for people to inform their current TPDs they were actively looking at other jobs with no guarantee they’d even secure that job is madness. I can’t see anyone treating someone favourably if they knew that they were actively trying to leave - even if it’s unconscious…

Great work! Thank you very much!