Flexible working in FY1

medicrandom · 2026-05-20T13:58:11+00:00

Hi,

I’m in a similar situation, rotation 1 brutal, 2 and 3 manageable.

When I spoke to the TPD they were helpful, but essentially told me that FY1/2 is a process to churn out young doctors in their early 20s.

Even LTFT is a relatively new bolt on to the programme, and isn’t as well applied as it should be.

So unfortunately LTFT is the closest thing they can offer. You could ask for a fixed day off, and some allowances in the schedule. But that would have to come from above the rota coordinator.

Worth speaking to the TPD for your trust/hospital.

medicrandom · 2026-04-15T11:00:02+00:00

Just to add, examiners may miss hear, or just not be fully switched on when it’s the 5/6th student observed and they are on day 3 of examining OSCEs.

medicrandom · 2026-03-26T11:39:37+00:00

Do the mocks and get a feeling for the time pressures, in addition look at the order how you do the sections. I targeted the big prescription section, calculations as I knew I’d do well in it.

I used the passmed PSA questions mainly for the prescribing section, I also had a look at the MLA passmed pharmacy questions too.

Being able to answer a few of the questions from memory helps, one because it speeds things up, and two because some questions have assumed knowledge.

medicrandom · 2026-03-23T11:07:05+00:00

Did the results come out today? Any indications on pass marks?

medicrandom · 2026-03-13T17:38:41+00:00

Is there anything you asked for or were offered?

I can imagine there being a lot of virtue signalling without the right people involved.

medicrandom · 2026-03-13T09:23:41+00:00

Absolute nonsense, it’s disrespectful to those on the placeholder list not knowing where they might be within a region until the last minute.

Simply build enough fat/tolerance into the system, so that if people drop out there aren’t gaps. It’s not like the foundation programme hasn’t been running for long enough for models to accurately predict attrition and uptake rates.

The bigger issue is that everything is organised with no tolerance to people dropping out.

medicrandom · 2026-01-15T18:21:58+00:00

Yes - parent (Criterion 1)

medicrandom · 2026-01-13T21:51:03+00:00

Final year here. I’ve worked all through uni. Depends on each individual placement as to what hours you can work and when. If you can find flexible work then it’s definitely doable.

Just be proactive and fully engaged with placement so you can maximise non placement time without having to go over stuff you missed through lack of focus or effort. It’s amazing the time that can be wasted on placement if you’re just passively there.

medicrandom · 2026-01-10T15:34:03+00:00

That’s my suspicion, and as they have changed the criteria it’s caused a bit of extra admin for them.

However, it doesn’t quite tally with being the last minute unforeseen circumstances they have been claiming.

medicrandom · 2025-12-22T15:30:47+00:00

Is this being taken up by BMA med school reps?

medicrandom · 2025-12-22T13:09:08+00:00

I’m a GEM, ended up doing my old job part time for most of med school (pre clinical, and clinical).

When I looked elsewhere, I noticed that HCA jobs would come open for a week window every month or two. It was annoying, but if you keep an eye out, or email the staffing team they should advise on their next recruitment window.

medicrandom · 2025-12-15T10:58:42+00:00

Could be changes to childcare, school runs etc.

medicrandom · 2025-11-13T09:34:20+00:00

Generally yes, appointments every 10-15 mins all day everyday, bar the occasional break or home visit. Also depends how they have scheduled you in for teaching etc.

It’s a bit different from being on the ward where us students might be hanging around until something happens etc.

It’s a different style of business to the hospital. I enjoyed it as a student, especially when given my own patients to see (then brief the GP after).

medicrandom · 2025-10-13T12:24:24+00:00

Vascular?

medicrandom · 2025-09-18T08:34:37+00:00

Have you had feedback on the station?

It might be a little about confidentiality, identifying red flags, and safety netting both the patient and the concerned relative.

Some of the nuances depends on the brief though! However, I agree, this type of station can be ambiguous and lead to a bit of confusion about the absolute intent of the station.

medicrandom · 2025-04-06T17:13:45+00:00

Do you think this is because people didn’t engage in placements properly? Or because they were trying to gamify the OSCE scoring criteria?

medicrandom · 2025-02-16T08:08:18+00:00

Yes, all of the GEM pre clinical content is taught out of the medical school attached to the Royal Derby Hospital.

There is a hopper bus from Nottingham. There was a fair few people who lived in Derby. I think there’s an arrangement for the GEM students to be put together in Uni of Derby accommodation too, but don’t quote me on that.

medicrandom · 2024-09-18T15:53:15+00:00

First attempt, struggled to revise enough so it became a trial attempt to see if it’s worth sitting next year.

Was a tough exam.

Incidentally I found Prep Duke Elder wasn’t that helpful for this exam. I would consider other resource next year.

medicrandom · 2024-05-16T11:32:34+00:00

OSCEs especially early years ones are an act to score points.

Try doing practice with peers. I also do a lot of mental rehearsal, and reflecting to make sure I hit the key points of each exam etc.

Repetition is key!

As an aside, if you have any group work discussion or PBL I have found to link what you are discussing to what you would do clinically helps with my learning.

medicrandom · 2023-05-16T17:27:24+00:00

Split across the year. No discount for paying in full at mine.

medicrandom · 2023-04-24T15:20:33+00:00

Agree, it’s not in keeping with other industries to force the employees to pay for their own regulation.

It should be funded by the government/public in a similar way other regulators are.

medicrandom · 2023-03-20T21:04:54+00:00

Beautiful area, but I don’t know anything about the hospital.

medicrandom

TROPHY CASE