The Student Room Group

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Reply 60
British Bulldog
That's my ambition too.

I didn't say that's my ambition. I just don't understand why Fluffy making it all seem doom and gloom for future medics. You're not tied to the NHS for life, you could go private, leave the country and work abroad, the money is there if you really want it.
Apparently, most doctors work in the private sector as well as the NHS.

Private doctor fees are shocking, my Mum went private for some really simple procedure which lasted all of half an hour (she went private because she had free BUPA from work), the anaesthetist got paid £800 for those 30 minutes! The surgeon's initial consultation got him £675, and the procedure itself got him over £1000! :eek:
Reply 62
people say it like it's easy jsut to go private, unless you have tried yourself you will know how tough it is... tons of docs these days, competition, like anything is rising.

Like Revd. Mike said, i also know a few doc's who are actually doing this too... it's like a good side earner :p:
Reply 63
smirf83
No, I mean if money is someone's main motivator, what's to stop them from doing their foundation training (at a low pay), then all their further specialty training until they get to the point where they are in a position to turn their back on the NHS, go private and rake in the cash??


Nothing, but that os my point - uyou can't just go in to private pracitice, you have to go through the usual foundation and ST training... And competition for private practice actually means that it isn't easy to get in to, especially if you also want the 'prestige' of working in a teaching hospital, as you can bet your bottom dollar most consultants are after a top up*. With reduced training times, most people will NEVER make true consultant under the new MMC pathways, but will be sidelined in to a 'junior consultant' grade, and bottle necks will probably grow. No consultancy, no private work...



* actually that is a little unfair, I know several consultants who refuse to sell their souls to private practice, as they went in to medicine to help everyone and because they beleive in the NHS. Will be interesting to see how that pans out in the future!
Reply 64
Fluffy

* actually that is a little unfair, I know several consultants who refuse to sell their souls to private practice, as they went in to medicine to help everyone and because they beleive in the NHS. Will be interesting to see how that pans out in the future!


feel sorry for the 'good guys' after privatisation comes along
Reply 65
The-Godfather
feel sorry for the 'good guys' after privatisation comes along


Who said the NHS is being privatised?
Reply 66
Fluffy
Nothing, but that os my point - uyou can't just go in to private pracitice, you have to go through the usual foundation and ST training... And competition for private practice actually means that it isn't easy to get in to, especially if you also want the 'prestige' of working in a teaching hospital, as you can bet your bottom dollar most consultants are after a top up*. With reduced training times, most people will NEVER make true consultant under the new MMC pathways, but will be sidelined in to a 'junior consultant' grade, and bottle necks will probably grow. No consultancy, no private work...



* actually that is a little unfair, I know several consultants who refuse to sell their souls to private practice, as they went in to medicine to help everyone and because they beleive in the NHS. Will be interesting to see how that pans out in the future!


Does that mean which medical school you attended would be make a difference to your applications for private posts? Because it looks like I'm all set to go to Peninsula. Will that disadvantage me?
Reply 67
British Bulldog
Does that mean which medical school you attended would be make a difference to your applications for private posts? Because it looks like I'm all set to go to Peninsula. Will that disadvantage me?


I don't know. On the one hand, by the time you've reached consultant level, you'll have so much experience and skills etc... I'm not sure they'd care where you studied 10/15 years ago.

On the other hand, private practice is all about reputation and prestige. So to Joe Public, they'll probably believe an Oxbridge degree makes someone a better doctor. Therefore, private practices might want a line-up of doctors who went to traditional/recognisable med schools.

The fact that in the NHS, all are considered equal is just another reason why it's so great
Reply 68
Well my ambitions were to go into private practice. Do you I think ought to reconsider those ambitions? Would it be absolutely imposssible for me to go into private practice without having atteneded one of the older medical schools?
Reply 69
British Bulldog
Well my ambitions were to go into private practice. Do you I think ought to reconsider those ambitions? Would it be absolutely imposssible for me to go into private practice without having atteneded one of the older medical schools?


I doubt that it's impossible, especially if you're thinking of general practice.

In any case, why not just focus on becoming a doctor and training in your specialty for now. Then when you've done that, you can find out either way whether you can get into private practice.

Unless, you desperately don't want to run the risk of being in the NHS for the rest of your professional life. In which case, you might want to consider a career change now....
Reply 70
Well I worked hard to get onto this degree and I stand by what I said in my interviews that I was totally passionate for studying this degree. Like you said let me focus on studying for this degree first. I'm sure there a medics out there who change their career aspirations upon graduation or even slightly later.

I gues sI should just enoy university for now. But the prospect of being on the NHS for life is not an exciting one I must admit.

General Practice doesn't interest me. I'm more interested in Plastic or Neuro surgery.
Go look at some private doctors business cards british bulldog...i havent seen one yet that says the name of their medical school. Usually just where they got their FRCS/ FRCP/ FRCOG from (London/Edinburgh).

Neuro surgery


Nice long on call hours there :wink:
Reply 72
f_debelder
Go look at some private doctors business cards british bulldog...i havent seen one yet that says the name of their medical school. Usually just where they got their FRCS/ FRCP/ FRCOG from (London/Edinburgh).



Nice long on call hours there :wink:


So is the general opinion then that my medical school would not make a difference to my prospects?

And neurosurgery was only an "idea" :wink:

LOL
for god's sake, none of you know what you're talking about. at the start of this thread you demonstrated that you have no understanding of how you even train as a doctor.... when you apply for your first job they can't even see where you graduated. also, it was said that to joe public it would look like you were a better doc if you came from one place rather than another, however, whoever would be interviewing you would hopefully understand that the idea of that is balls.... also, private practice is a completely bloddsucking profession, you lose all the satisfaction. all you do is help the rich and leave the underprivilaged to rot. access to healthcare is a basic human right, when i opened this thread i was gonna offer some advice as to your application but having read that i hope you realise that you and medicine are not well suited....
Reply 74
bright star
when i opened this thread i was gonna offer some advice as to your application but having read that i hope you realise that you and medicine are not well suited....


me?...yeh i kinda know med isn't for me...

When did you open this thread? lol
Reply 75
bright star
also, it was said that to joe public it would look like you were a better doc if you came from one place rather than another, however, whoever would be interviewing you would hopefully understand that the idea of that is balls....


The person interviewing you would want to hire doctors who are not only good, but who the public will recognise as being good. Rightly or wrongly, Oxbridge and certain other institutions' degrees are considered by most of the public to be better than those gained elsewhere. Therefore, a private practice might want to hire doctors with degrees from more well-known universities to attract in more patients/customers.

Whether or not the employer knows that all medical degrees are as good as another, their clients probably don't and as I have already said, reputation is very important when you are operating in a competitive market.
The-Godfather
me?...yeh i kinda know med isn't for me...

When did you open this thread? lol


I think she meant when she opened the thread, not started it. So if you know med isnt really right for you, why are you even pondering about it. Medicine requires commitment and passion, not a salarydrive.
how would the client know where the doctor graduated.... that's right, they wouldn't..... not unless you told them.
Reply 78
bright star
how would the client know where the doctor graduated.... that's right, they wouldn't..... not unless you told them.


You look them up on the GMC register (online) - the only medics you can't tell which uni you went to at the moment are the London ones, although I guess Gimpers are about to buck that trend...
Reply 79
bright star
how would the client know where the doctor graduated.... that's right, they wouldn't..... not unless you told them.


Oh dear.... :frown: Look, if you have a private practice, on your website/leaflets or in your surgery, you will almost certainly have short biographies of the doctors who work there. In these write-ups, there will be lots of details explaining who the doctor is, their qualifications (where and when they got these qualifications) and their experience.

Also, what if potential patients ask where the doctor studied?

There are plenty of docs who want to get into private medicine so any employer is going to be able to pick and choose between applicants. Given how standardised post graduate training is, it's possible that an employer might use where the applicant studied as a discriminating factor (especially as regards what has been said about public perception)