North West England F1

Hello! First of all congrats on getting North West! I can't speak for Manchester or Lancaster but I got friends who are currently working as FY1s all over Liverpool and in Morecambe so maybe I can be a bit useful.

So most people I know who work in Southport, Aintree, Royal Liverpool, Arrowe Park, Whiston, Warrington and even Chester live in Liverpool. They all just commute to work. But based on personal experience I would definitely suggest having a car rather than relying on trains/buses.

Quite a few people choose to do house sharing in Liverpool. I don't think it would be more difficult to make friends in big cities as there is more people working with you and so I assume the chances of finding someone you click with are higher. I am currently in my last year of medical school too and half of this year I spent in the Royal and the other half in Aintree. Everyone I have asked seem to feel well supported in both of those hospitals and despite lockdown restrictions they seem to have already form friendships and go on walks and whatnot.

In terms of smaller hospitals I spent sometime in Chester as a medical student and all of the FY1s seem to really enjoy it. Although they have no nights as FY1s so dunno how you feel about experiencing your first set of nights as a SHO. In Chester quite a few of the FY1s commuted from Liverpool only some chose to live in chester and if they did they either shared ahouse with other FY1s or lived on site. One of my best friends is currently in Moracambe and she says she feels very well supported in the hospital and is really enjoying it despite lockdown restrictions and it not really being her first choice.

Same here! I unfortunately, flopped with my sjt. got 75 points overall... so I'm a bit worried where i will end up.

Same here! I unfortunately, flopped with my sjt. got 75 points overall... so I'm a bit worried where i will end up.

Hi! Thank you sooo much for the reply, advice and insights! Oh I see; I do have a car so it would be fine for me to commute. Thats great to hear that even in lockdown people still form friendships! I think social aspects are so important for me, as I had a bad experience in the past during placements back in medical school and I just know I'll work better with friendly people.

I've spoken to doctors who worked in Warrington or Whiston and they said that half the people live in Liverpool and Manchester, so socializing can be a bit difficult since not everyone lives in the same city but would you say this is the case? Sounds like with certain places that are close to cities, not all FY1 would live in the same city so would it make it harder to integrate, whereas if it's just Blackpool or remote places like Barrow In furness where people share houses would that be better? I also heard that 3 years ago Arroweparke didn't have the friendliest group of people, so it somehow scared me even though it is silly since it is all dependent on the group.

I didn't realize that not all hospital require to do nights as F1?! I prefer to start nights as F1 as I feel it would probably benefit me longterm but heyho I can't really be too picky with my choices!
I'm glad to hear your friend is enjoying Morecambe, I was initially put off by how far it is from Liverpool and Manchester!

Hope you are pleased with your allocation by the way! xx

Oh my god, I got 75 ish too!!! I looked at the score distribution and the lowest is 73 in this deanery Not sure what to think of that. Would you say this year it's more ocmpetitive than last year or no?

Same here! I unfortunately, flopped with my sjt. got 75 points overall... so I'm a bit worried where i will end up.

Hi I got NW too! Unfortunately I didn't do well on SJT so I don't have much choices and am stressed out with picking the trusts. How are you guys considering each group?

I'm sorry to hear of your bad experience during past placements! I am hoping that during foundation training people will be a bit less competitive/toxic and a bit more friendly/understanding since we are all in it together in a way. But I get exactly what you mean, it's so much better being in a friendly environment both in terms of work efficiency and psychologically.

So I think people who studied in Liverpool and get allocated to Warrington/Whiston tend to stay in Liverpool during foundation, and vice versa if they studied in Manchester. People from other med schools that end up in those hospitals can sort of choose between the two cities based on personal factors - or I knew of a person a few years back who was based in Whiston and lived in Manchester for the first year and then moved to Liverpool for the second year. I do agree that in places like Warrington/Whiston/Chester/Southport people will live all over the place and won't be able to meet up as often as people in more remote places but I suppose the distance between Manchester and Liverpool is short enough that you can meet up with friends/colleagues in either city for a drink or a meal when you are all available. Another thing to think about is how important it is to you to be in a big city like Liverpool/Manchester with quite a few activities going on or in a smaller town where things like going on hikes or meeting up in the local pub are more popular. I am not the biggest fan of Arrowe Park only because it's on the other side of Mersey and I am not the biggest fan of the traffic in the tunnel. That being said a friend of a friend is currently doing FY1 there and she seems to be enjoying herself and even recommending the hospital to other final years.

In terms of nights I think Chester and maybe Macclesfield (though don't quote me on that) only have twilight shifts for FY1s. I shadows an FY1 for her twilight shift once and I think it was between 5pm-12am. I get what you mean about nights though my friend in Chester seems to prefer that she doesn't have to nights but dunno if it will be beneficial in the long term as you've said. Yeah, she was initially put off by the distance to the big cities too - although now she seems to be enjoying the small town vibe of Morecambe and all the walks she gets to go to the lake district being so close to her.

I got North West too which I am so so happy about! I am leaning towards Manchester hospitals at the moment just for a bit of change really but don't know enough about them to be able to make a decision within the next few days!

I'm sorry to hear of your bad experience during past placements! I am hoping that during foundation training people will be a bit less competitive/toxic and a bit more friendly/understanding since we are all in it together in a way. But I get exactly what you mean, it's so much better being in a friendly environment both in terms of work efficiency and psychologically.

So I think people who studied in Liverpool and get allocated to Warrington/Whiston tend to stay in Liverpool during foundation, and vice versa if they studied in Manchester. People from other med schools that end up in those hospitals can sort of choose between the two cities based on personal factors - or I knew of a person a few years back who was based in Whiston and lived in Manchester for the first year and then moved to Liverpool for the second year. I do agree that in places like Warrington/Whiston/Chester/Southport people will live all over the place and won't be able to meet up as often as people in more remote places but I suppose the distance between Manchester and Liverpool is short enough that you can meet up with friends/colleagues in either city for a drink or a meal when you are all available. Another thing to think about is how important it is to you to be in a big city like Liverpool/Manchester with quite a few activities going on or in a smaller town where things like going on hikes or meeting up in the local pub are more popular. I am not the biggest fan of Arrowe Park only because it's on the other side of Mersey and I am not the biggest fan of the traffic in the tunnel. That being said a friend of a friend is currently doing FY1 there and she seems to be enjoying herself and even recommending the hospital to other final years.

In terms of nights I think Chester and maybe Macclesfield (though don't quote me on that) only have twilight shifts for FY1s. I shadows an FY1 for her twilight shift once and I think it was between 5pm-12am. I get what you mean about nights though my friend in Chester seems to prefer that she doesn't have to nights but dunno if it will be beneficial in the long term as you've said. Yeah, she was initially put off by the distance to the big cities too - although now she seems to be enjoying the small town vibe of Morecambe and all the walks she gets to go to the lake district being so close to her.

I got North West too which I am so so happy about! I am leaning towards Manchester hospitals at the moment just for a bit of change really but don't know enough about them to be able to make a decision within the next few days!

has been really helpful for me


Hi, this insight has been super useful for me, thank you! I was wondering if you knew much about the Lancashire teaching hospitals or if you know any F1s there? I think I'd like a teaching hospital > DGH but have nooo idea what it's actually like there, and if F1s are well supported (e.g. protected teaching time, opportunities to teach med students etc). Do you happen to know anything about this?

Btw, congrats on getting NW too!

which Manchester hospitals are you considering atm? Are there any that are generally better, and any you'd recommend to avoid?

Hi guys,

Another quick question, but where can we find a spreadsheet with all the NW England jobs? I can see it on oriel but it would be vv helpful to have it in spreadsheet form!

I know it might be difficult but if it helps at all I know a few people last year who ended up in places they didn't initially want to go to in NW like Blackpool and Morecambe and almost 8 months later they seem to be enjoying themselves and love how supportive their hospitals are especially compared to the bigger ones in the region!