'PART TIME' medicine

applemilk1992

People say medicine takes over your life, but is it possible to be, as such, a part time doctor? training schemes are offered part time, requiring people to train for further years, as they train part time, and also, GP's can work part time. Is it possible for more competitive fields, such as surgery, to train part time/work part time? for example... 'Direct red - a surgeons story' - "...training as an Ear, Nose and Throat surgeon; she now works part-time and has written a book about her medical experiences...", and can FY1/2 work part time in some respects, if done for longer?

Basically, can medicine be part time for some? opinions/thoughts?

(I for one know I'd love to do medicine as a career, but I wouldn't want it to take over my life...)

Reply 1

terpineol

14

Once you qualify you could locum pretty much part time without any real problem I'd have thought.

Reply 2

Lady_Kaftan

not true NHS expect you to be progressing in your career. Locums is frowned upon. even being a staff grade causes problems!
you can go part time; theres things such as job share, sharing the role with another parttime dr.

only downside if you go part time during training 6yrs can become 12 yrs!

Reply 3

Helenia

20

Lady_Kaftan

not true NHS expect you to be progressing in your career. Locums is frowned upon. even being a staff grade causes problems!
you can go part time; theres things such as job share, sharing the role with another parttime dr.

only downside if you go part time during training 6yrs can become 12 yrs!

Yeah, but you'll be working for ~40 years, so it's not much in the grand scheme of things, unless you just want to sprint up the ranks to make muchos money ASAP (in which case you shouldn't have done medicine!)

It is becoming more and more possible to work part-time. GP is famous for being flexible with this, but it's becoming more widespread.

Reply 4

Renal

17

I know people who are doing it at both junior and senior levels, fundamentally I have no problem with the concept, but it often appears as if they're not pulling their weight in the team.

Reply 5

Becca-Sarah

19

Along similar lines to the original question; is it true that maternity leave during Foundation years is frowned upon?

Reply 6

Hygeia

14

Becca-Sarah

Along similar lines to the original question; is it true that maternity leave during Foundation years is frowned upon?

I imagine it could be - with the whole MTAS application system - would make it a bit harder to just take a year out and pick up where you left off
but maternity leave during uni doesn't seem a problem here (at least 1-2 per year group)

Reply 7

Renal

17

Becca-Sarah

Along similar lines to the original question; is it true that maternity leave during Foundation years is frowned upon?

I have no idea how you would take 9 months off a one-year job.

Reply 8

Becca-Sarah

19

Renal

I have no idea how you would take 9 months off a one-year job.

Take a year out between F1 and 2?

Reply 9

Renal

17

Becca-Sarah

Take a year out between F1 and 2?

Yes, or between F2 and C/ST. What is suspect though is that because you are on a series of one-year contracts you wouldn't be eligible for the normal maternity pay.

Reply 10

Helenia

20

Renal

I have no idea how you would take 9 months off a one-year job.

You can't. If you miss more than (I think) 4 weeks continuously, you have to repeat the year. There are part-time options, but I wouldn't fancy taking only 4 weeks off for the actual birth! And yes, as you generally won't work for one trust for more than a year at a time it's unlikely you'd be entitled to normal NHS maternity pay.

Reply 11

Renal

17

Helenia

And yes, as you generally won't work for one trust for more than a year at a time it's unlikely you'd be entitled to normal NHS maternity pay.

At what stage in the career are we going to be working for someone long enough to claim normal sick pay, maternity pay and the rest?

Reply 12

belis

17

You qualify for a statutory maternity pay after 6 months in post. You need to work for 12 months 'within NHS' not for a particular trust to qualify for NHS maternity pay. It is a bit like NHS pension-your overall length of service is taken into account, not time spent with a particular trust. At least that how I interpret info provided by our trust.

Entitlement to Statutory Maternity Pay
4.2.1 Not all employees qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (“SMP&#8221 :wink:

. To be eligible for SMP
the employee must:-
i) have been continuously employed within the NHS for at least 26 weeks continuing
into the 15th week before the EWC.
ii) still be pregnant at the 11th week before the expected week of confinement or
have had the baby by that time (see also Section 3).
iii) earn enough money to pay National Insurance contributions.
iv) notify her Manager of her intention to take Maternity Leave by the 15th week
before her expected week of confinement, unless this is not reasonably
practicable.
v) submit a statement (Form MAT B1) from a registered medical practitioner or
practising midwife, not less than 21 days before the commencement of Maternity
Leave, indicating the expected date of confinement.
4.2.2 Payment for employees who meet the above criteria shall be made at the rate of 90%
of average weekly earnings (Earnings-related SMP) for a period of 6 weeks, followed
by 20 weeks at Standard Rate SMP (determined by the Government and reviewed
annually).
4.3 Entitlement to NHS Maternity Pay
4.3.1 To qualify for NHS rates of Maternity Pay, an employee must meet all of the criteria in
4.2 and in addition must:-
i) have completed 12 months' service within the NHS (without a break in service)
by the beginning of the 11th week before the EWC; and
ii) return to work within the NHS for at least 3 months following her Maternity Leave.

4.3.3 Payment for NHS Maternity Pay for employees on Trust terms and conditions of
service and Medical and Dental staff is as follows:
First 8 weeks Full pay
Following 14 weeks Half pay, plus Standard Rate SMP
Following 4 weeks Standard Rate SMP

Reply 13

Helenia

20

belis

You qualify for a statutory maternity pay after 6 months in post. You need to work for 12 months 'within NHS' not for a particular trust to qualify for NHS maternity pay. It is a bit like NHS pension-your overall length of service is taken into account, not time spent with a particular trust. At least that how I interpret info provided by our trust.

Oh, well I hope that's the case. Otherwise it would probably take until after I was old enough to have kids before I was entitled!

Reply 14

belis

17

Helenia

Oh, well I hope that's the case. Otherwise it would probably take until after I was old enough to have kids before I was entitled!

I am in no rush to have children as things stand at the moment but I also hope that this is the case. If student nurses are entaitled to NHS maternity pay then surerly junior doctors should as well. (Although with all the madness that is going on in the NHS I would not be that suprised to be corrected).

Reply 15

wideawake

In theory it is possible to train part time. Can I still do the Foundation Programme if I want to work less than full time?

Doctors with well-founded personal reasons for wishing to work less than full time should discuss this with their postgraduate dean. Reasons for undertaking less than full-time training include: disability or ill-health; caring for an ill/disabled partner, relative or other dependent; or childcare. Doctors must undertake training on at least a half-time basis in order to comply with the requirements of the European Specialist Qualification Order (1995).

http://www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk/pages/foundation-doctors/faqs#answer31

Same goes for specialty training. However, in reality I don't know how easy it is to secure less than full time training. It seems a lot of it is down to available funding to make a position supernumerary and/or someone willing to job share in some capacity.

'PART TIME' medicine

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