Doctors' Bleak Job Prospects
From Mmc
Doctors' Bleak Job Prospects
Updated: 12:53, Tuesday April 24, 2007
The NHS could lose thousands of doctors overseas due to the chaos in medical training, the British Medical Association is warning. More than half of doctors surveyed by the BMA say they are likely to leave the UK if they don't secure a job through the Government's training programme. Rejected doctors are set to head overseas Rejected doctors are set to head overseas
Only a few believe they will ever get into long-term training if their current applications are unsuccessful.
Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has apologised to junior doctors for the "terrible anxiety" caused over the introduction of the computerised system to select candidates for specialist training.
More than 200 junior doctors joined a demonstration in central London.
Jamie Wilson, who has ten years of medical training and wants to specialise in psychiatry, told Sky News he's found the failed recruitment system so demoralising that he's preparing to change career altogether.
"I've applied for a job in medical journalism and I'm setting up a charity. I'm just ideologically opposed to this conveyor belt system. It's no longer about quality training and the best possible patient care," he said.
Claire Cooke has also decided to abandon the NHS and is heading to New Zealand to continue her career.
"I feel pushed into it. I'll train in surgery for 5 years over there and then hopefully try and come back. I would have considered spending time there anyway, but nothing like this long," she said.
Last week, a leaked document showed that the review group set up to examine flaws in the system were considering voluntary work overseas for disappointed doctors.
The BMA estimates that 34,250 doctors are chasing 18,500 UK posts, due to start in August.
It has now requested an "urgent meeting" with Ms Hewitt following the results of its survey.
