Physician assistants

[Muffin2]

well Dr Noodle, that is exactly the point. there are unemployed doctors out there who would snap up an anaesthetist training post, but instead they are giving them to PA's.
its totally baffling the lack of logic in the idea.

[BabyDoc06]

Originally Posted by Muffin2

there are unemployed doctors out there...

...... who?

...... where?

[DamianUK]

I know of about a dozen people with no ST1/3 training post for next year and i only know people from around here.

Not next year but the year after it looks like there will be for the first time ever more medical students graduating than there are jobs.

[heed]

the whole idea of needing extra help in anaesthetics is a bit of a misnomer - anaesthetists have their trainees to help them with the clinical things, and there are dedicated and well trained ODPs and anaesthetic nurses who assist the anaesthetist with their duties - so why create some half baked midway point who is incapable of independant practice?

as it stands, there are many in the profession who seem to be against the idea of anaesthetic PAs as an IDEA - BUT - when it comes to the point that these same people are being first of all deprived of training opportunities by these PAs, and then at the same time expected to supervise these demi-docs, then you will get people expressing their displeasure on a much more one-to-one basis i would have thought.....

[BabyDoc06]

ok so no training posts (which is appalling) but are they in fixed term contract posts?

[Gizmo says -]

well it'll probably all change by the time you grow up, Babbydoc.

[BabyDoc06]

well lets hope it changes for the better by next year then... cos then i'll be a "grown up"

[yazoo]

Originally Posted by BabyDoc06

ok so no training posts (which is appalling) but are they in fixed term contract posts?

I know a few chasing ST1 and 3 posts without jobs starting in August too. That is no job at all, as yet. They may get non-training posts, still - I hope. Or maybe even a few ST posts still to be allocated. Most of these people are decent drs, little wrong with their CVs. I would, however, say that these are people who limited their applications for career or family reasons (i.e. played a high risk strategy of only appyling for their ideal jobs or jobs in just one region). I did that too, but I guess I was lucky!

I also know several people completing specialist and GP training with no jobs lined up and they are therefore chasing locums (more people than relevant posts).

[DamianUK]

Hell there are many GP trainees without a permanent post this year.

GP got popular very quickly!

[James]

The scary thing about GP is the massive increase trainees over the past 5 years and the fact that there are no jobs for them.

The government has hit GP's hard over the previous few years with pay cuts and increasing hours. The result is that many practices are now making no money and are seriously cutting back on staff. Just look at BMJcareers for how few jobs are being advertised at the moment.

They have also massively increased the number of VTS trainees over the past 5 years and are producing huge numbers of newly qaulified GPs with no jobs to go to. Post-VTS unemployment is significant at the moment with thousands of GP's getting by on short term locum contracts.

...the cynical among us may see this as a government ploy to force these newly qualified GPs into their private sector run polyclinics (at significantly reduced pay). This will then bankrupt the local GP practices (the Walmart aproach); and nuLabour will end up with fully privatized general practice.