Sally Carter

Most junior doctors are confident of achieving career goals, finds BMA study

Most junior doctors are confident that they will be able to work in the specialty they want, reach their desired grade, and live where they want to, show the results of a small cohort study by the BMA.1 The study surveyed 431 doctors who graduated from a UK medical school in 2006 as part of a 10 year longitudinal study, 229 of whom responded (response rate 53%). Six years after graduation, 66% of the respondents were in specialty training, 15% were working as GPs, and 7% were working or travelling abroad. The doctors were asked how confident they …

Senior doctors’ non-clinical work may suffer because of revalidation, says academy

Most hospital doctors believe that revalidation will take substantial time over and above their time for appraisal, and as a result some input into non-clinical activities may be lost, says a report of a survey by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. However, no strong evidence was found that the direct care of patients would be compromised in the short term by the requirements of the revalidation process, the academy reports. Its survey, which was done in 2011 to explore how revalidation would affect the responsibilities of hospital doctors, contains the views of more than 2600 doctors working in the NHS (80% of whom were consultants and 20% staff and associate specialist (SAS) doctors) in …

The director of the National Clinical Assessment Service

Alastair Scotland is director of the National Clinical Assessment Service (NCAS), providing advice, support, and assessment services to doctors

An adventurous neurosurgeon

Henry Marsh is a neurosurgeon at St George’s Hospital, London

Consulting the future

An NHS Employers report has reignited the debate around subconsultants. Sally Carter talks to Ian Wilson, of the BMA’s Consultants and Specialists Committee, and Simon Pleydell, of the NHS Employers Medical Workforce Forum, about how they see the future of the consultant role

The founder of SurfAid International

Dave Jenkinss surfing trip to the Indonesian Mentawai Islands would be the start of a non-governmental organisation, SurfAid International.