Three days a week are clinical and are generally spent running clinics and attending the MDT. I currently work LTFT at 80% in a Community Mental Health Team and work Monday to Thursday. Since completing the exams I have undertaken revision sessions to help fellow CT colleagues and would recommend this as a great way to consolidate your knowledge and build a teaching portfolio. By the time the final CASC exam came around we were ready for any challenge that could be thrown at us. For CASC I had a study-buddy at the same level and we practised scenarios until we were sick to death of them! Roping in various long-suffering SpR colleagues as our ‘challenging’ patients. I started revision for each exam 3 months prior and used revision and question banks such as SPMM and MRCPsych Mentor. Having said that I had a major bonus in having done a Psychology degree, which established a firm base in theory, research and statistics. I was very lucky to pass all of the MRCPsych exams first time and found them relatively hassle free. How have you found the exams so far? How did you revise for them? I still regret being unable to take that path, but feel ultimately that I am most naturally adapted to the path I have chosen. You could say, therefore, that Psychiatry would always be my default career path, but I truly found a passion in anaesthetics. However, during this time I developed a real interest in Psychiatry and it was this that originally prompted me to apply to medical school and re-train. I had a natural interest in Psychiatry due to obtaining a Psychology degree prior to starting medical school and working in a forensic post as an Assistant Clinical Psychologist. I found it immensely easy to communicate with patients that my colleagues would struggle to engage and found that I could empathise with and contain those who were in profound distress. However, it was also apparent, both in my firms at medical school and my FY2 post, that I thrived in this environment. What brought you to your decision / Any deciding factors?Īs previously mentioned, my health was a major deciding factor in choosing my speciality. I started tailoring my CV and applied solely to Psychiatry for CT, as I knew it was the only discipline I had a serious interest in pursuing. I had a natural affinity for the nature of the work and had been praised throughout FY for excellent communication skills. The staff I met convinced me that Psychiatry had a good work life balance and that training is flexible to individual needs. I really enjoyed my time in Psychiatry at medical school and did another firm during FY2 which reassured me that there is a way to have a medical career without being in the cut-and-thrust environment of an acute medical or surgical team. I’d also be lying if I didn’t admit that the thought of the Physics based exams wasn’t terrifying the life out of me! I felt at this point that anaesthetics, though I still loved the discipline, would be a tough career choice for me and I was forced to reconsider. I suffered with chronic fatigue and the day job became increasingly difficult, not to mention the on-calls. I realised that the treatments had left me with chronic health problems and that I would have to seriously consider my further choice of career. Sadly, during my FY1 year, I had a recurrence of the cancer that I had fought in my second year of medical school and I was forced to take time out. I found this beneficial not only for developing specialist skills, but also for mastering the basics of any medical career: airway management, fluids and being able to cannulate anything that moves! I qualified at Barts and The London and was very lucky to have an inspirational team of anaesthetists on my doorstep at The Royal London Hospital. What stage did you decide on your speciality & what other specialities were you considering?Īt medical school I adored anaesthetics and spent as much time as I could during my placements gaining anaesthetic experience. I am in the South London & The Maudsley Training Programme, which provides placements within the South East region of London. I am currently an ST4 in General Adult Psychiatry working LTFT at 80%.
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