Medicine Route: Switching from GP to Surgical Training

I don't really understand the point you're making. If your decision to become a surgeon (which is a decision for you as an individual) results in your partner eventually ending the relationship, that is not your fault for not discussing it sufficiently beforehand - it just means you had an unsupportive partner.

"Some men are perhaps not as supportive of women becoming surgeons when they realise how much dedication of time and energy it needs"

This is 100% the guy's problem.

Also, something that nobody has mentioned so far: do you have a man? Doesn't he have an opinion about this? Some men are perhaps not as supportive of women becoming surgeons when they realise how much dedication of time and energy it needs, particularly if they aren't also doctors. Have you discussed this with your man?

...what if OP is gay? Or committed to single parenthood, and has a realistic plan for making that work?
I also don't see why you're assuming OP wouldn't talk to their partner - they weren't asking for relationship advice, just about how NHS career pathways work. You seem to have assumed OP isn't going to tell their partner that they want to have kids and be a surgeon, for no reason?

Thanks for your advice! I’m just a little scared by that option, if I’m being completely honest. From what I hear, surgical training is hostile and competitive enough as it is, so I can’t begin to imagine how belittling they’d be to someone who’s doing LTFT. I’ve already been told I’ve not got a strong enough personality to be a surgeon, so I can’t imagine how I’d feel having already been put at a disadvantaged position to my colleagues.

Hi, so I posted this back when I was still in medical school. I graduated last year and I’m working as an FY1 equivalent doctor now, so I still haven’t reached the stage of having to make that decision yet!

I think my mindset regarding the children side of things still hasn’t changed (I want to be as young of a mum as possible & whenever I do have them, I want to be there looking after them 24:7 for the first few years of their life), but I have begun to consider the kind of work-life balance I want as well after facing the realities of treatment of JDs in the NHS. I just don’t think I want to suffer through the turmoil that surgical training puts their trainees through anymore. My priorities have changed in that sense.

So my plan now, once I finish my foundation years, is to take FY3, FY4, etc. years buying myself some time to properly decide on a speciality I love but also one that allows me the lifestyle I want too.

I’d love to hear what you decide to do though, as it could help me in the future when I reach that point in my career! :-)

So I'm in a related predicament which might or might not help.. I started medicine late as a humanities grad, I was always torn between GP and Surgery, finished F2 2023 aged 36 and married with 2 kids under 1 now. I decided on balance to go for GP training as it seemed the sensible pathway and if I loved it great, CCT 3 years work/life flexibility and good money to support my family.. if I hated it, I would switch to surgery. Well I've completed my first GP placement now in ST1 (didn't do one in F2) and I certainly didn't hate it, I could see myself being a good GP but I don't think it quite satisfies my career goals/ambition side of me, but it would give me a good family life and higher income.. I could apply this year for CST and resign GP next year end of ST2 IF I got in, but that would likely mean I couldn't return to GP training if it didn't work out and would mean sacrificing a lot of precious time with my family. Part of me thinks I should complete GP so I have a stable career banked and can do GP locum to subsidise CST pay. But I will be 40 by the time I CCT GP so being optimistic I could CCT in surgery by 48/49 I guess that's not too old but is a BIG decision to make. My wife is supportive but the uncertainty isn't helpful when planning houses and schools etc. in hindsight, I think I should've gone for CST first and if it didn't work out then at least I knew I'd tried surgery and could switch to GP without getting FOMO. That would be my advice to you if you like surgery. I wouldn't get too bogged down in the junior doctor worklife BS, working life generally improves the further up the ranks you go, just grind it out it, foundation doesn't last as long as it can feel sometimes 😜

Is it possible for you to work in a private hospital with more flexibility and more pay right after graduation?

Is it unheard of to do GP training, work as a GP for a couple of years, and then retrain in medicine or surgery when you’re older (40ish)?
The question stems from the battle I’m having between wanting to be there to raise my kids when they’re young (which GPs have the flexibility to do), whilst struggling to give up my lifelong dream of becoming a surgeon (who definitely don’t have the time to raise a family during the early stages of core surgical training). It should be noted that I am a female by the way, and every female surgeon I meet tells me they only had kids in their mid-late 30s. I’m in my final year of medical school, so I’ve had to start thinking realistically about what I really want from life, and there’s two things I’m sure of: I want to do surgery (maybe medicine). But I also want to be a young mum (late 20s to early 30s) & be there to raise my kids for the first few years of their life.

My advice if people are uncertain about careers is to try the more time consuming and rota-intense one first. Do not underestimate how much more difficult that gets as you get older!

And wrt private hospitals, some do hire RMOs to look after pts out of hours, They are generally mid-reg level Drs, as they are first point of call for any poorly patient through the night. They are not great jobs, not generally well paid and have zero career progression.