The window for applications to higher specialty training has now been open for a week. Maybe you’ve already applied for a job in Acute Medicine. If you have, congratulations! You’ve made an inspired choice.
Maybe you’ve made an account on Oriel and are weighing up your options. Maybe you haven’t even looked yet because you can’t make your mind up. Maybe you’re not planning to open the website until an hour before the deadline.
Today I’m going to give you five reasons why you should log in RIGHT NOW and apply for ST4 Acute Medicine starting in October 2024.
Reason 1: a work-life balance that works (for life!)
People are often surprised when I tell them that my work-life balance on AMU is great, but it’s true. Shift work means there’s always something coming on to relieve me and most of the time, I’m able to escape on time.
As someone who’s taken a lot of time out for childcare – and who now works less-than-full-time – I’ve always found my acute medicine supervisors to be enormously supportive of my need to have a life outside the hospital.
Looking to the future, consultant jobs are increasingly designed with sustainability in mind. No one can post-take five days a week for forty years! The sessional nature of the job means it’s easy to mix with other, less taxing non-clinical roles. The consultants I know are happy with plenty of other things going on outside work. That’s something to aspire to.
Reason 2: our national Acute Medicine family
I’ve probably said this before, but one of the best things about Acute Medicine is the people. And while it can sometimes feel lonely when you’re the only AIM trainee rotating through Cardiology or Intensive Care, events like SAM prove that you’re in good company. You’re one of hundreds of people passionate about changing the way we manage acute illness.
It’s really nice to feel like you’re part of something bigger than yourself. The society is a particularly welcoming group and one that is very keen to support the next generation of acute physicians. Going to the conferences reminds me that applying to ST4 isn’t just about joining a specific department or hospital, it’s about joining something much bigger.
Reason 3: the autonomy to practise genuinely innovative Medicine
News drugs, new procedures, new technologies… Medicine has changed an awful lot in the last 100 years. But all too often, we keep doing things the way we’ve always done them, because… well because that’s the way we’ve always done them! Following the consultant on a long morning ward round. Maybe we’ll discharge a few people. Maybe we won’t. Just like always.
Acute Medicine is about challenging that. Does this patient need to stay in for this treatment, or could we provide it in SDEC? Does the patient need to be admitted for monitoring, or could we manage them virtually? Do we really need to keep someone another night just because their CRP is 101?
If you like finding new ways to do things – finding new ways to practise compassionate, pragmatic medicine – then this is absolutely the specialty for you.
Reason 4: a career you can personalise to suit you
You might think Acute Medicine training sounds generic, all ward rounds and AEC clinics with none of the spice a specialty might bring to your career.
You’d be wrong, of course.
One of the best things about Acute Medicine is the time and space given to special skills. My special skill is Education – I spend (approximately) one day week tutoring on the PgCert in Medical Education at the RCP. Academic Med Ed adds a lovely counterbalance to my clinical work and sets me up nicely for the non-clinical roles I’d like to pick up as a consultant.
But that’s just me. I have friends who work as Chief Registrars who will be Clinical Directors in ten years. I’ve got friends doing fellowships in Obstetric Medicine who will spend their Thursdays seeing patients on Obstetric HDU once they CCT. And I’ve got friends gaining advanced echo skills so they can carve out time to run ultrasound courses once they become consultants.
Everyone needs a little something different to keep consultant life interesting. But with acute med you don’t need to wait – you can start building the career you want right away!
Reason 5: a seller’s job market means you’re in high demand
I know plenty of registrars in other specialties jumping through seemingly endless hoops to get the consultant job of their dreams, Research, PhDs, post-CCT fellowships… it sounds like a real drag if all you want to do is settle into a permanent job.
By contrast, Acute Medicine registrars are very fortunate. With the NHS under ever increasing pressure, the demand for front door physicians remains high, and many trusts struggle to recruit the number of AMU consultants they’d ideally like to have on the books.
This is good news for senior AIM trainees, who have their pick of jobs in their region. They may even find themselves being headhunted and chased after as they enter their final 18 months of training. It’s all very flattering…
Consultancy might seem a long way away now, but four years from now when you’re looking for a “forever” job, you’ll be grateful to find yourself spoiled for choice, with no real fear of unemployment. That’s a big tick for Acute Medicine
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I hope that’s given you something to think about. If you’ve still not made your mind up, get in touch with us. We’d be more than happy to chat it over 1:1.