Is FY1 as bad as people say? Tips to cope?
Hello! So in final year at the moment and I've heard horror stories about the way FY1/FY2's are treated. How bad is it? Why is it so bad? Is it better or worse than being a student?
Feel like I'm not very good at dealing with people being mean for no reason/might be slightly insecure as a person so a bit worried about whether I'm resilient enough. I've been dealing okay with things at medical school but it would be good to know what makes it foundation so hard and if there's anything I can do now to prepare for FY1/make things easier?
I'm small, BME female so from what I've been told/have read online will probs not be the nurses favourite lol. Have had good feedback on placement about my medical knowledge, being organised/conscientious, good with patients etc but I do worry about the potential pressures of FY1 and how I'll cope in a healthy-ish way.
Feel like I'm not very good at dealing with people being mean for no reason/might be slightly insecure as a person so a bit worried about whether I'm resilient enough. I've been dealing okay with things at medical school but it would be good to know what makes it foundation so hard and if there's anything I can do now to prepare for FY1/make things easier?
I'm small, BME female so from what I've been told/have read online will probs not be the nurses favourite lol. Have had good feedback on placement about my medical knowledge, being organised/conscientious, good with patients etc but I do worry about the potential pressures of FY1 and how I'll cope in a healthy-ish way.
Original post by Anonymous
Hello! So in final year at the moment and I've heard horror stories about the way FY1/FY2's are treated. How bad is it? Why is it so bad? Is it better or worse than being a student?
Feel like I'm not very good at dealing with people being mean for no reason/might be slightly insecure as a person so a bit worried about whether I'm resilient enough. I've been dealing okay with things at medical school but it would be good to know what makes it foundation so hard and if there's anything I can do now to prepare for FY1/make things easier?
I'm small, BME female so from what I've been told/have read online will probs not be the nurses favourite lol. Have had good feedback on placement about my medical knowledge, being organised/conscientious, good with patients etc but I do worry about the potential pressures of FY1 and how I'll cope in a healthy-ish way.
Feel like I'm not very good at dealing with people being mean for no reason/might be slightly insecure as a person so a bit worried about whether I'm resilient enough. I've been dealing okay with things at medical school but it would be good to know what makes it foundation so hard and if there's anything I can do now to prepare for FY1/make things easier?
I'm small, BME female so from what I've been told/have read online will probs not be the nurses favourite lol. Have had good feedback on placement about my medical knowledge, being organised/conscientious, good with patients etc but I do worry about the potential pressures of FY1 and how I'll cope in a healthy-ish way.
Certainly FY1 was the least enjoyable year of my career so far. No one was particularly mean, it's just a year with a higher proportion of rubbish jobs and this is true for many (?most) people.
Why is it - or can it be - bad?
Because FY1s are brand new and expect things to work differently to how they actually do. For as long as there have been new doctors, this trope has existed. As the saying goes, the **** rolls downhill in medicine and obviously everyone has to start at the bottom of that hill.
FY1s have a higher relative proportion of admin jobs compared with doctors higher up. NHS admin defies the normal rules of logic which you will have become accustomed to over the past 23+ years so adjusting to this takes a while.
In between the admin jobs you have to take care of acutely unwell people and try to learn how to do this in a very different way to medical school. Eventually you will become more comfortable with the uncertainty of it all, but at first it might seem like things aren't making sense and no one is getting better in the way that they should be. Sooner or later you will appreciate to what is actually achievable/reversible and what isn't.
There is just a lot of being new and junior in an unfamiliar workplace which you have to deal with in any profession I'd imagine. This feeling will eventually pass, but it isn't made any easier by switching jobs and hospitals frequently and not really having a stable team.
The Foundation Programme is full of idiotic hoops to jump and you're too new/inexperienced to figure out how to do this efficiently = more time spent on this than necessary.
Essentially it boils down to lack of experience and not knowing how to separate what's important and significant from what's not - both medically and non-medically. Learning to say "no" (politely) takes a while.
Nice things: getting paid, having responsibility after years of being a student, might be in a hospital with a good social life/mess.
Conclusion:
It's actually mostly okay and it's just a year. Things improve a lot after FY1 (in my experience anyway). You'll get through it and it'll be something you can still moan about years later
In the meantime get yourself a copy of the House of God (or at least read the rules).
Hello!
I’m currently an FY1 so I’m hoping this post might help out. Firstly, I will happily admit that the first rotation of FY1 was tough. There is a lot to do and it takes time to get used to the tasks expected of you.
1. When you start, everything takes 4x as long as it does for an experienced doctor. Prescribing feels like a monumental task. You won’t really know what to write on a referral form. EDLs take forever. Cannulas, ABGs and bloods aren’t quite second nature. This will take time, but you will get faster and life will get easier.
2. Don’t stress about people being mean. In my experience, people were pretty nice to us as new FY1s. Other doctors are very understanding and nurses are super helpful with knowing systems and lending a hand if you get stuck. I’ve only really had people be rude to me over phone call referrals and tbh you get over it pretty quickly.
3. I would say that it’s initially difficult to get to grips with difficult conversations with family and patients dying. I think it’s important to realise that some patients will die despite everything we do, and to have good coping strategies for this. It’s something I’ve really struggled with.
4. I think the main problem with FY1 is the variability in what you’re expected to do. In some hours you’re effectively a glorified scribe, and in the next hour you’re the only doctor on a ward with two or three very unwell patients. As a rule, when you’re called to a sick patient, go and see the patient, do an A-E, start putting simple things in place (e.g. fluids, antibiotics etc for a hypotensive septic patient) and call your registrar.
Tl,dr:
Better than being a med student because you get paid, you actually feel part of the team, you see more interesting things and you get to learn more (e.g. get more hands on with lumbar punctures, chest drains, NG tubes etc)
Worse than being a med student because your time is no longer your own, you’re actually responsible for making sure things get done and your social life goes out the window (a bit)
I feel like I’ve really settled in now and am getting to the point where I’m quite enjoying my FY1 job. It’s difficult but it does get better - hope this helps!
I’m currently an FY1 so I’m hoping this post might help out. Firstly, I will happily admit that the first rotation of FY1 was tough. There is a lot to do and it takes time to get used to the tasks expected of you.
1. When you start, everything takes 4x as long as it does for an experienced doctor. Prescribing feels like a monumental task. You won’t really know what to write on a referral form. EDLs take forever. Cannulas, ABGs and bloods aren’t quite second nature. This will take time, but you will get faster and life will get easier.
2. Don’t stress about people being mean. In my experience, people were pretty nice to us as new FY1s. Other doctors are very understanding and nurses are super helpful with knowing systems and lending a hand if you get stuck. I’ve only really had people be rude to me over phone call referrals and tbh you get over it pretty quickly.
3. I would say that it’s initially difficult to get to grips with difficult conversations with family and patients dying. I think it’s important to realise that some patients will die despite everything we do, and to have good coping strategies for this. It’s something I’ve really struggled with.
4. I think the main problem with FY1 is the variability in what you’re expected to do. In some hours you’re effectively a glorified scribe, and in the next hour you’re the only doctor on a ward with two or three very unwell patients. As a rule, when you’re called to a sick patient, go and see the patient, do an A-E, start putting simple things in place (e.g. fluids, antibiotics etc for a hypotensive septic patient) and call your registrar.
Tl,dr:
Better than being a med student because you get paid, you actually feel part of the team, you see more interesting things and you get to learn more (e.g. get more hands on with lumbar punctures, chest drains, NG tubes etc)
Worse than being a med student because your time is no longer your own, you’re actually responsible for making sure things get done and your social life goes out the window (a bit)
I feel like I’ve really settled in now and am getting to the point where I’m quite enjoying my FY1 job. It’s difficult but it does get better - hope this helps!
Just to re balance things it was probably the favourite year of my career so far along with ct1. Felt like medical school was worth it, earning a salary, met loads of new friends, challenging but rewarding, lots of fear but learnt lots including skills I still have today, enjoyed the responsibility
Wait till you're a consultant...
FY1s have a higher relative proportion of admin jobs compared with doctors higher up
Wait till you're a consultant...
Original post by fishfacesimpson
Wait till you're a consultant...
Consultants get admin time factored into their job plan. It isn't misleadingly classified as "training", let alone as part of their first ever medical job.
Original post by Democracy
Consultants get admin time factored into their job plan. It isn't misleadingly classified as "training", let alone as part of their first ever medical job.
My point is admin work is not exclusive to being an f1 and is a big part of being a doctor. I spend hours dictating and correcting letters, doing feedback on results, writing prescriptions, answering gp queries, reviewing discharge letters etc. Most consultants don't get anywhere near enough admin time especially those who take on other roles such as teaching, supervision or management. Job plans are squeezed to the maximum and many people work way beyond the 10pa or whatever it is they're paid for. Let's not even think about GPs who drown in paperwork
I'm not saying "it's OK we do it so will you" is the attitude, more that it's part of life and a) we've all got to get used to it and b) it won't go away until serious changes to IT infrastructure. Till then don't let it ruin your years as an fy/sho and learn the skills to get good at it (which includes clinical knowledge, not just typing). And if you work somewhere where there isn't support to get admin done eg an office and computer, help from pharmacists etc then push for it
I wish hospitals focused more energy and money hiring secretarial staff and offered some of this to junior doctors. Unfortunately In most places they're stretched to cover consultant work as it is and they're low down on the priority list of where to spend money
Edit. And actually admin time for consultants is often unofficially buried in SPA time
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by Anonymous
Hello! So in final year at the moment and I've heard horror stories about the way FY1/FY2's are treated. How bad is it? Why is it so bad? Is it better or worse than being a student?
Feel like I'm not very good at dealing with people being mean for no reason/might be slightly insecure as a person so a bit worried about whether I'm resilient enough. I've been dealing okay with things at medical school but it would be good to know what makes it foundation so hard and if there's anything I can do now to prepare for FY1/make things easier?
I'm small, BME female so from what I've been told/have read online will probs not be the nurses favourite lol. Have had good feedback on placement about my medical knowledge, being organised/conscientious, good with patients etc but I do worry about the potential pressures of FY1 and how I'll cope in a healthy-ish way.
Feel like I'm not very good at dealing with people being mean for no reason/might be slightly insecure as a person so a bit worried about whether I'm resilient enough. I've been dealing okay with things at medical school but it would be good to know what makes it foundation so hard and if there's anything I can do now to prepare for FY1/make things easier?
I'm small, BME female so from what I've been told/have read online will probs not be the nurses favourite lol. Have had good feedback on placement about my medical knowledge, being organised/conscientious, good with patients etc but I do worry about the potential pressures of FY1 and how I'll cope in a healthy-ish way.
My daughter's an FY1... exactly how @CoffeeShakes describes.
With the qualities you describe you'll be fine, even if it doesn't feel that way at the outset.
I found it nice in some ways. I was happy to be able to be in some way useful in many ways, even if it was just requesting an x-ray! I went in with low expectations, and it was better than I thought.
The worst part was the commute honestly. And switching your sleep up for nights (nights themselves not too bad though).
The worst part was the commute honestly. And switching your sleep up for nights (nights themselves not too bad though).
Original post by nexttime
I found it nice in some ways. I was happy to be able to be in some way useful in many ways, even if it was just requesting an x-ray! I went in with low expectations, and it was better than I thought.
The worst part was the commute honestly. And switching your sleep up for nights (nights themselves not too bad though).
The worst part was the commute honestly. And switching your sleep up for nights (nights themselves not too bad though).
This is why I've been more keen on being in a hospital in the city! I've heard DGH's can have nice vibes but I'm not sure if it's worth 40 minute commutes back and forth!
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply guys, really appreciate it and am feeling a lot more hopeful!
Original post by Anonymous
This is why I've been more keen on being in a hospital in the city! I've heard DGH's can have nice vibes but I'm not sure if it's worth 40 minute commutes back and forth!
You don't have to live in the central city, and 40 minutes seems very optimistic! My train commute was just 25 mins, but door to door was 1h-1h20. Even just walking across some hospital sites can take like 15 minutes daily!
With 8am start I had to leave the house at 06:40 every day, wouldn't get back until 7pm frequently. Sucked!
(edited 3 years ago)
So I won’t deny that it’s a stressful job at times - but again it’s so variable, some days you’ll be super busy and others you’ll have literally nothing to do but prepare discharges for patients who are nowhere near going home, just for something to keep your mind busy!
I struggled at times whilst a student, often felt like I didn’t fit in the team etc because of short placements or that I was bothering people. I definitely cope much better as an FY than I did as a student. My mum often says to me that I must be doing a good job because I don’t phone her in tears!
Basically - yeah it’s hard, but everyone’s in it together, plus you get paid.
Also re commute - I worked at a DGH an hour away, and had to leave at the same time as I would driving to the tertiary hospital 20 mins away by the time you factored in parking and trekking to the ward.
I struggled at times whilst a student, often felt like I didn’t fit in the team etc because of short placements or that I was bothering people. I definitely cope much better as an FY than I did as a student. My mum often says to me that I must be doing a good job because I don’t phone her in tears!
Basically - yeah it’s hard, but everyone’s in it together, plus you get paid.
Also re commute - I worked at a DGH an hour away, and had to leave at the same time as I would driving to the tertiary hospital 20 mins away by the time you factored in parking and trekking to the ward.
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