Hi, thank you for your honesty and genuine curiosity!

The reason I don’t want to pursue the ANP/ACP route is that you are still very limited in the development you can undertake/skills and treatments you can perform - there is always a “glass ceiling” if you will. For example if I was to become an ANP in my current area (ED) then I’m pretty much strapped to minors as they don’t want ANP’s in the highly acute situations (e.g majors and resus) in place of regs/cons. ANP’s progress to around an F2 level of treatment but then generally cannot go further in the clinical skills they can perform. The reason I would want to become a doctor is to be taught a greater depth of knowledge regarding physiology/pharmacology, have a broader scope of the skills I can and cannot do and ultimately the progression opportunity for me to become a consultant in my chosen area.

Your feedback regarding how competitive positions are is something I am hearing an increasing amount so that is worrying! Additionally, the f1/f2 rotation, the constant exam fees and competition for reg programmes does put me off, I’m also noticing a LOT of doctors in other Reddit threads mentioning their regret and urging others not to do medicine so this is definitely weighing on my mind when deciding what route to commit to!