What would an Average IMG-UK Doctor Do?

 I had an opportunity to speak with a few doctors, some had just recently graduated and were just trying to find their way. The thing which most new graduates need to understand is to apply for jobs they are interested in or they have some degree of knowledge about (This is I know different from what most of you guys have been advised). I will explain further. For example, if I start applying for gynae or peads jobs, I will eventually make a mess of things as it isn't something I know much about, to be honest. I think some doctors who join the NHS who are unhappy initially work in specialties they don't like or are working in bad departments. So the most important thing is to apply to jobs that you are interested in or have a bit of understanding about. This is important as it would help you deal with all problems relating to that specialty. The thing that I think is important is if someone is hiring you, and with a lot of senior doctors with 1-5 years of experience (sometimes ...

 I was moving with a family, so I understand that there are 100s of things we want to focus on. Things like what city we should move to? where we should live? if you have older children, which schools and colleges? among other things.  These are my advice which everyone who is moving to the UK should remember especially from middle eastern countries. These are all my opinion, of course, please look at your individual circumstances. Remember there is no 1 size fits all solution. Things to bring to the UK 1. Clothes Make sure you have some warm clothes for the beginning as it really gets very cold in the UK. Some people have advised that the clothes are cheaper in the UK. In my opinion, it is honestly the same. Clothes from brands like Mark and Spencer are fine, If you're moving more towards the north, you can also buy thermals for the younger children. 2. Cookware I highly recommend getting your routine cookware, you will be moving into a new country & with the COVID and qu...

 Recently a lot of people are asking about IELTS and how to prepare them. Recently a lot of people have been moving towards OET for their GMC. I for one did OET because everyone was doing it and it was just easier. But when I did the OET and got my GMC, I didn't move to the UK right away as most people normally do. I stayed back a year. Unfortunately, nowadays people cant to do OET anymore due to the low number of seats. I had to do IELTS because for UKVI, as my OET had expired and the seats were limited I got 8 in Listening, 7 in Reading,  7 in writing, 8.5 in Speaking and overall IELTS score was 7.5 How did I do that? Honestly, practice & more practice.  So how I would advise how to prepare? The first question that we all need to ask ourselves is how good is our baseline in English. I have good spoken English. However, I am not a fan of writing, it sounds weird but it is true. I am not a fan of writing hence the low score of 7 in writing. In reading in fairness ...

After working a big chunk of my career in the Middle East. I was very used to working in an environment where I could take independent decisions on my own and worked in a very supportive department. Not all departments in the Middle East are like that.   I started working in my first trust. I decided to move from the trust, although it had a fantastic HR. In a few months’ time, I decided I wanted to leave the place and move on to my current trust. It was a big decision for me as I am not the type of person who changes jobs very often. I was very anxious when I took the decision. Luckily, the decision turned out to be correct, In my new trust, I realized, how amazing NHS is. I agree nothing is perfect, there will always be a few things that would be overwhelming and disappointing however my experience has generally been very good. I am in a very supportive department, they understood I am new so it will take me time to understand the system. I remained cautious, with my deci...

For 1 year I have been in the UK, and every time I think about writing this topic, I keep wondering where do I begin? Which point do I emphasize?  So what is a SAS doctor anyway? SAS doctor is a Non-Trainee doctor who is working on a particular subspecialty. He can be an SHO grade/Trust Grade, Registrar Grade, or Associate Specialist. If he/she is at SHO level, they are called Trust Grade If Someone is at Registrar level, they are called Speciality Doctor If Someone is at the Associate Specialist level, it can be a title of Associate Specialist or Locum Consultant (provided the trust is willing to promote him/her). Does this mean he is a non-trainee doctor? Yes, it means he is not in a standardized training program, however, it is by no means a disadvantage, if you know what you want; you can do what a trainee is doing. Explain more? So a trainee has access to E-portfolio and collects evidence of his training, you can do the same. If you can do a procedure, keep a record of it and ...

 So, you have done Part 1 and Part 2.  Let me start off by saying you are a real-life superhero. I mean it, It isn't easy to pass these exams which you have done. Now comes the toughest exam of them all which is clinical. Probably the most horrifying of the exam. Why is horrifying? This exam is dynamic and you could be asked virtually any question. So a quick recap the Irish MRCP exam consists of 5 short cases and 2 long cases Short cases for 10 minutes while the long case is 25 minutes. How is it different from UK Paces? In UK Paces, you can fail one station and still pass the overall exam. This is not the case, if you failed to pick up clinical signs in any station be it the short case or long case, you won't pass. So the rule is, you need to pass every single station. This isn't easy. So I started my preparation early, I took a course from Dr. Imran Baber, I wasn't attending the course physically but instead, he did online classes for me. It really helped me with my ...

Congratulations on Passing Part 1,  Let me tell you, there are a lot of people who have given multiple attempts at this exam, and very few pass it.  So you are someone who has done something impossible, This is especially noteworthy for people who are in the non-training posts as they have to struggle to get where they are.  Now comes the Journey for part 2 As in my previous blog post, Part 2 isn't something different from Part 1  RCPI  made the part 2 exam focus on clinical rather than basic.  So how do i prepare for part 2? Honestly, the preparation is not much different but I would definitely advise you to do more question banks than in part one. I would say if you have the budget to subscribe to all 3 question banks that is  Onexamination Pastest and  Passmedicine Then by all means do them, I had to struggle a bit for part 2, I had failed by a very narrow margin in my attempts until I realized I just needed to do more questions. And I did, I k...

  How did I prepare for MRCP Part 1 Ireland? Well funny enough, Since I was a new grad, I was too confident in my abilities and said, I’ll just do questions from the question banks and would pass. Honestly, I didn’t even do one complete read. I went for the exam in Dubai, So full of myself. Even after the exam I was feeling a bit confident. What happened was the expected. I failed my exam  & boy was I devastated. I spent months depressed about it The second attempt I gave in Jeddah and I passed. So what I did differently? 1. I studied, back then there was this book got SudaMedica which was published in 2013. It was a really good book and sort of made things simpler. This was largely replaced by Khalid Maghrabi MRCP book. I think at least one complete read cover to cover is absolutely necessary. Question banks, here comes the tough part. There are so many question banks and what to choose from. The other thing is it cost-effective? Well to be honest I suggest ...

  For those of you, who don’t know, I did my MRCP-Ireland while I was in Saudi Arabia. It isn’t an easy exam to pass and for me it was not different. I really struggled for it and completed it in 2018. What is MRCP-Ireland? MRCP is a Royal of Physician of Ireland exam which is their medicine exam equivalent to their BST training in Ireland. You cant be consultant just by this exam but you cant be a consultant without having passed this exam. How is it different than MRCP-UK? Good question, it has a lot of similarities and differences with the Irish Exam. So MRCP-UK is the exam which is recognized in the UK for almost everything. You can go into training with this exam. This is not necessarily true for the MRCP-Ireland. Both consist of three parts.   The First part of MRCP Ireland consist of a written computer based BCQ with 100 questions and you need roughly between 50-55 % marks to the pass it. It is based on Clinical and few bits of basic sciences. Second part ...

  It all started with a decision. In everyone’s life be it someone who is in a medical field or any other there comes a time where that decision could change the outcome of your life. If you take that decision it would change the very course of where your life will head. For some it is their personal life choice, for some, it's their professional choice, and for some, it's both. It is important we understand what our decisions will mean and what will be its long-term outcome. I have come across this question, and someone asked me. Why do you want to move to the UK? And I answered I want to be better than who I am now? 1 year in the UK have I really achieved what I set out to? I am not sure. So, starting off, I am Farhan, I lived my early life in Saudi, lived in Karachi Pakistan for 6 years after completing my internship. I moved back to Saudi. I worked for 2 years in a private hospital and worked for 5 years in King Abdulaziz Medical City in Haematology. I still descr...