Comments on: A patients’ guide to Modernising Medical Careers and MTAS – Part 1 http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/ Ours IS to reason why... Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:50:20 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Aphra Behn http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-3901 Aphra Behn Sat, 21 Apr 2007 07:19:23 +0000 http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-3901 Has it? I've lost direct touch with it, and there is a lot more information about MMC and MTAS out there than there was when I wrote this. Thanks for reading and commenting . AB Has it? I’ve lost direct touch with it, and there is a lot more information about MMC and MTAS out there than there was when I wrote this.

Thanks for reading and commenting .

AB

]]> By: abubakre http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-3883 abubakre Sat, 21 Apr 2007 01:28:43 +0000 http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-3883 MTAS new system has made it difficult to get information. MTAS new system has made it difficult to get information.

]]> By: Aphra Behn http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-2902 Aphra Behn Thu, 15 Mar 2007 07:27:19 +0000 http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-2902 Louise, the internet ate my updates. I'll try to get some time to make changes based on the comments I've already recieved from you and others later today. A. Louise, the internet ate my updates. I’ll try to get some time to make changes based on the comments I’ve already recieved from you and others later today.

A.

]]> By: Louise http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-2896 Louise Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:28:37 +0000 http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-2896 I agree the whole thing is complex, what happens if a doc from Round 1 misses out on one of his choices because the deanery decide to wait until the second round and then the deanery realise the doc from the first round was their best fit! Too late for the first doc. (This is not to say the second round docs are second-rate just as a best-fit point of view). I think what gets my goat most of all is non-medics saying well we all have to compete for jobs why shouldn't the doctors - if non-medics knew the real situation they would realise that this isn't comparable to any non-medic job situation and your website is a great place for them to come and see that. I was under the impression that another reason for implementing this rigid career path was that before MMC newly qualified doctors could graduate and then spend some years taking jobs (which they had to apply and be accepted to of course!) and getting experience in different specialities before they decided what they wanted to specialise in, the gov't saw this as wasteful time (and not what in fact it was - the bulk of the NHS workforce) and now give doctors just 2 years (F1 and F2, which involves I think 6 rotations) before forcing them to decide on a speciality. I agree the whole thing is complex, what happens if a doc from Round 1 misses out on one of his choices because the deanery decide to wait until the second round and then the deanery realise the doc from the first round was their best fit! Too late for the first doc. (This is not to say the second round docs are second-rate just as a best-fit point of view).

I think what gets my goat most of all is non-medics saying well we all have to compete for jobs why shouldn’t the doctors – if non-medics knew the real situation they would realise that this isn’t comparable to any non-medic job situation and your website is a great place for them to come and see that.

I was under the impression that another reason for implementing this rigid career path was that before MMC newly qualified doctors could graduate and then spend some years taking jobs (which they had to apply and be accepted to of course!) and getting experience in different specialities before they decided what they wanted to specialise in, the gov’t saw this as wasteful time (and not what in fact it was – the bulk of the NHS workforce) and now give doctors just 2 years (F1 and F2, which involves I think 6 rotations) before forcing them to decide on a speciality.

]]> By: Aphra Behn http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-2895 Aphra Behn Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:04:47 +0000 http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-2895 Ye-es. The problem with putting forward simple explanations of anything this complex is that once one starts caveating things, it gets - well - complex. I do take your point though. The Round 1 / Round 2 situation is slippery at the moment and appears to differ from deanery to deanery. Some are comfortable with the robustness of the system because they have used it before and will be filling from Round 1 whenever possible. Others are not comfortable and are only appointing from a percentage of their Round 1 interviewees, on the basis that there may be some golden lads and lasses badly served by MTAS in Round 2. "The slots opening up due to natural fallout" strikes me as a fob-off and is most certainly a case of the government wanting it both ways. There may well be suitable candidates washing around the system for a couple of years locumming or taking trust grade jobs, but that will soon cease to be the case, and then we'll have holes in the service. Again. I will change the wording though, because it is a little bit too absolutist as it stands. Thanks for your comments Louise. Aphra. Ye-es. The problem with putting forward simple explanations of anything this complex is that once one starts caveating things, it gets – well – complex. I do take your point though.

The Round 1 / Round 2 situation is slippery at the moment and appears to differ from deanery to deanery. Some are comfortable with the robustness of the system because they have used it before and will be filling from Round 1 whenever possible. Others are not comfortable and are only appointing from a percentage of their Round 1 interviewees, on the basis that there may be some golden lads and lasses badly served by MTAS in Round 2.

“The slots opening up due to natural fallout” strikes me as a fob-off and is most certainly a case of the government wanting it both ways. There may well be suitable candidates washing around the system for a couple of years locumming or taking trust grade jobs, but that will soon cease to be the case, and then we’ll have holes in the service. Again.

I will change the wording though, because it is a little bit too absolutist as it stands.

Thanks for your comments Louise.

Aphra.

]]> By: Louise http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-2894 Louise Wed, 14 Mar 2007 12:49:58 +0000 http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-2894 Excellent piece and website, however " For those who were not selected by the MTAS process two weeks ago, their chance to continue as specialists has gone for good. They are explicitly prevented from applying again." Is not strictly true, there is a second round later in the year and there will be slots opening up due to natural fall-out in the coming years. Whilst I don't think this is enough if you are to get the non-medical community on your side you have to be absolutely correct about the facts you present. Excellent piece and website, however
” For those who were not selected by the MTAS process two weeks ago, their chance to continue as specialists has gone for good. They are explicitly prevented from applying again.”

Is not strictly true, there is a second round later in the year and there will be slots opening up due to natural fall-out in the coming years. Whilst I don’t think this is enough if you are to get the non-medical community on your side you have to be absolutely correct about the facts you present.

]]> By: Aphra Behn http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-2882 Aphra Behn Tue, 13 Mar 2007 08:46:38 +0000 http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-2882 Potentilla is good peeps, Graham. Thanks for reading and thanks for commenting. Likewise, Sol, thanks for the link. The more we can spread the word <i>from the patients' eye view</i> the better. In the long-run the docs will be all right (or that's my mantra at the moment). In the long-run it's the NHS and therefor us that will suffer. Aphra. Potentilla is good peeps, Graham. Thanks for reading and thanks for commenting. Likewise, Sol, thanks for the link. The more we can spread the word from the patients’ eye view the better. In the long-run the docs will be all right (or that’s my mantra at the moment). In the long-run it’s the NHS and therefor us that will suffer.

Aphra.

]]> By: On falling scales. « Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things. http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-2870 On falling scales. « Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things. Mon, 12 Mar 2007 07:39:19 +0000 http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-2870 [...] the health service, to take one example, hadn’t resulted in what can only be described as an unmitigated disaster for the specialist junior doctors currently attempting to dedicate their lives to service of medicine and [...] [...] the health service, to take one example, hadn’t resulted in what can only be described as an unmitigated disaster for the specialist junior doctors currently attempting to dedicate their lives to service of medicine and [...]

]]> By: Graham Johnson http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-2862 Graham Johnson Sun, 11 Mar 2007 23:14:58 +0000 http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-2862 Like many replying, I'm a Junior Doc too. Excellent explanation! Potentilla is absolutely spot-on too! Like many replying, I’m a Junior Doc too. Excellent explanation! Potentilla is absolutely spot-on too!

]]> By: You think you have it bad. « TheYellowDuckPond http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-2856 You think you have it bad. « TheYellowDuckPond Sun, 11 Mar 2007 11:59:27 +0000 http://aphrabehn.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/a-patients-guide-to-modernising-medical-careers-and-mtas-part-1/#comment-2856 [...] entry-level positions. Aphra Benn explains why we don’t have it that bad at all in Germany in A Patients’ Guide To Modernising Medical Careers Part I and Part II. Money quote: Doctors are not allowed to apply to local hospitals or to specific NHS [...] [...] entry-level positions. Aphra Benn explains why we don’t have it that bad at all in Germany in A Patients’ Guide To Modernising Medical Careers Part I and Part II. Money quote: Doctors are not allowed to apply to local hospitals or to specific NHS [...]

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