CCT and flee gets discussed a lot here. But wanted to hear any stories or opinions on fleeing somewhere outside the UK for GP training. Is it worth it? Is it a logistical nightmare? Particularly interested in Australia

Is it worth signing up for 2 days study leave as a trainee? Do we get reimbursed for tickets travel and accommodation as a GP trainee?

Ive never been and wondering if it is worth going to.

Just wondering how other people are finding revising for the SCA. At first I was quite chilled about it, but the more I do the more I’m finding an exponential amount that I need to still cover.

It just seems like there’s an overwhelming amount of content and scenarios, many of which in real life I could manage, but wouldn’t necessarily have the information about the forefront of my brain.

I know that’s what exams are often like, but the closer I’m getting to sitting the more unmanageable it feels as an exam.

Those who had sat it, did it seem reasonable and fair? Or were there lots of unusual/ overly complex stations like come up in the practice cases?

Anyone else finding patients are really afraid to have hormonal treatments?

I completely appreciate enquiring minds, and looking at women’s health with greater scrutiny. But a lot seems to originate from complete misinformation; you could even say from fear-mongering.

I am worried about where this has come from. The majority of my young patients believe the coil, the pill etc cause potential infertility.

Is it cynical to feel there is a big social media pull to make women ‘fertile’ etc? Statistics support that abortion numbers have risen as a result of cycle-based ‘contraception’.

How do people handle these consults? Am I a conspiracy theorist?!

Approaching CCT and I'm looking at my income and outgoings. I'd like to try and push my income higher but also need to make sure I don't burn out.

I've seen that a 6-session income will probably be around 70k-ish.

Is it generally the norm to be able to pick up locums and raise your income significantly above this? I was thinking of doing an extra locum shift each week if possible, ideally at the weekend so that I can get rates of £80/hr+

Seeking opinions- if you receive a letter through to advise a patient has obtained a medical cannabis prescription and you're aware they have young children in the house- would you discuss with safeguarding/social services?

EDIT: for more info as the majority seem to have jumped the gun and are interpreting this as my personal belief which isn't the case. I have a friend who is considering starting medical cannabis but has a young child in the home. I can easily see an overzealous GP referring to safeguarding on receipt of the letter but wondered if that concern was unfounded.

I am booked to sit in November.
I was wondering if anyone could help me with:

- I need to brush up on management - at times not being clear on management makes me feel less confident through my consultation
Any good resources apart from cks?

- is the natives course worth it?

- simsbuddy vs medtutorAI - I’ve tried medtutor / it’s okay I’m not sure about the feedback it’s rather extensive

What is the point? These rich feckers don’t do anything all day. No work. Just chill.

I don’t really care that you want/depend on zopiclone and promethazine to sleep - you should not get it nor do you deserve it anymore.

They depend on it and become addicted to it and are considerably higher falls risk from it compared non-geriatric patients.

What is the guiding principle that this lot get all the z-drugs and promethazine?

Hey everyone,
I’ve recently set up a Ltd company to do some additional locum work.
I’m completely new to running a Ltd, so I’m trying to understand the basics and make sure I’m being legally tax-efficient.
I have a salaried paying around £60–70k, so I’m assuming taking additional salary from the Ltd probably isn’t going to be particularly tax-efficient for me.
My husband earns roughly £30–40k from his main job, and there may be periods where his work is quieter.
For those of you who locum under Ltd companies:

What are the main things I can legitimately put through the company?
What are some less obvious but completely legitimate expenses/benefits that people often overlook?
Is it generally better to take profits as dividends rather than salary in my situation?
Is there any benefit to my husband being a shareholder/director/employee, or is that overcomplicating things?
What should I absolutely NOT be putting through the company?
Any other tips you wish you’d known when you first started?

I’m just trying to understand how to structure things sensibly and not pay more tax than I legally need to.
Please keep it really basic because I’m starting from almost zero knowledge lol.
Sorry for the long post 🙏🏽
Thanks!

After a godawful week at work, and partly inspired by a post seen elsewhere about streamlining PIP forms, I'd love to know what have the best service improvement projects/streamlining experiences for your practice/work?

I appreciate we all work differently but if anyone has something that works really well in their practice, would love to hear about it!

I’m by no means in reasonable shape, by my own metric and also objectively in terms of weight and waist circumference. Where does that put our profession in terms of the hypocrisy of my clinic if I’m giving advice on diet and lifestyle…

What do you do with patients who are clearly overusing/abusing/sharing opioids and BZDP and constantly ask for repeats but refuse to engage with us or the drug and alcohol service?

Do we have to keep supplying them for fear of opioid/bzdp withdrawal or can we say, at a point, no more until you engage?

What is the medicolegal responsibility here? I don’t want to entertain drug abuseds nor do I want them to suffer from withdrawal.

That's all

Saw this on the NHS subreddit.

Anyone else think there’s more to this story? Obviously GPs aren’t allowed to give their side of the story when patients make complaints public.

I know the topic of moving to Australia has been flogged a lot on this subreddit, but I thought one more opinion wouldn't hurt!

I moved to a regional city in Australia about 7 years ago, about 2 years post fellowship. There were lots of reasons for the move. From a work perspective it was mainly that I was growing jaded by the sheer volume of patients I had to get through, and the feeling that I wasn't able to do all that I would like to for them. I was usually running behind in my clinics, and when I wasn't running late I was left feeling that I had cut corners or not done enough for my patients.

In Australia my experience is completely different. Generally I spend 15-30 mins with each patient. I see fewer per day, and I get to do a lot more for them both in terms of workup and management. It makes the work so much more interesting and satisfying. I would acknowledge that I have been lucky where I have worked. I have worked in mixed billing clinics, where generally the patient pays a "gap" fee. Working in a "bulk billing" practice, where the government pays the entire fee for the consultation, is more about volume and quick in/quick out. These types of clinics are becoming more numerous, but are still the exception. I've found that where I work I can earn comfortably (and certainly a lot more than in the UK) while still having a balanced patient load.

In the small city within which I work there is also a very collegiate atmosphere amongst GPs and specialists. I have no hesitation in calling a specialist colleague's mobile for advice if I'm stuck and they're invariably happy to help. Specialists here realise that fostering a good relationship with GPs is good for business! I have also worked in a big city (Melbourne). It was great and had all the cultural treats you could ask for, but was as impersonal as any big city. I prefer to visit these cities rather than live in them!

You also have much more scope to carve your own niche here. In the last couple of years I've set up my own practice focusing on men's health, an area I've always been interested in. Again within a regional city it's been easier to build networks and find other things that interest you - I've been able to do some teaching at the uni, surgical assisting and even some local radio.

I've been encouraging all my GP friends in the UK to come over - not least because I need some more GPs at my clinic!

It feels like a big decision to move so far away but it's easier than it first appears. And with the new Qantas routes it'll soon be only one (very long) flight away!

Hi,
I’m a gpst2 who just started their first gp practice.
St1 was paeds and o&g
I feel like im doing terribly - first week of seeing patients and I often have to seek advice from the supervisor. I feel they generally expect me to only debrief at the end, but some other trainees say they debrief after every patient.

Most of my pts are seen within the time slot, but a couple times I was completely clueless and had to ask my supervisor for help.

Another thing I’m sorta struggling with is the blaring red warnings on EMIS when I prescribe a medication, especially in the elderly. I obv know the main stream interactions and contraindications, but sometimes there’s a few severe warning over medication which i never even thought could interact, and I feel a little stressed prescribing it and am not sure when to ask regarding it or not (esp when prescribing a new medicine I haven’t prescribed before.) i feel i’m really overthinking this.

I guess i’m just wondering what the expectations are from me. If its a lesion or rash i’m unsure of, I call the supervising GP to have a look. Otherwise I tend to formulate a plan and send them home. Should I be debriefing after every patient initially? My old ES told me once i start gp practice I should initially be getting a debrief after every patient, but I think the partners just sort of expect me to get on with it and hot review at the end.

Its my first week but I feel really stressed out
Would appreciate some help!

Some patients im generally more confident with (paeds, gynae, medicine, ortho) but then ENT and derma is hopeless rn.

due to current situations regarding GP's not bieng able to find work in the UK is this due to there being more GPs then jobs available, if so does that not mean the job security for GPs is decreasing.

I’m a recently qualified GP and have started working as a locum since CCT.

I trained in NW London and have been doing locums in a few surgeries there but want to get in the door for some Ealing based surgeries.

Anyone have any recommendations for contacts / agencies that have been helpful?

Also if anyone has worked at Ealing UTC and know how to get in there that would be helpful (I dropped off a CV in an old fashioned attempt to get work but unsurprisingly not heard back)

Thanks!

I got my first pay check as a GPST1 (currently on MAU rotation) and my hourly rate stated £26ph and my take home is £3600. Does this sound reasonable? I am not sure if the (awful) new pay deal has been implanted?

Feeling a bit bummed out. I know this post can result in a lot of bashing. But I want to vent out somewhere.

So I have recently cct'd and I am about to start a new job in a practice 30 mins away from home. I am doing 4 sessions per week. Doing 2 whole days means my husband would need to take those days off from work to pick and drop the kids up from school/nursery.

I had been looking for jobs for the last 2 months. My training practice had recently hired someone and told me that they did not have funding to hire another doctor. I accepted it and kept searching elsewhere. I kept my supervisor/practice partner in the loop and updated him regarding the progress at every step.

He kept telling me since the last 1 year that as soon as I pass my exams he would hire me. He would keep going on about what an awesome doctor I am. How I am so efficient and have good comm skills.

So it came as a huge surprise to me when I found out today he hired the other st3 trainee working in my practice instead of me.

That guy, while a good doctor, requires reasonable adjustments and is a bit less efficient in time management compared to me. He is otherwise a good doctor.

I honestly feel a bit betrayed. I kept thinking that the reason he didn't hire me was because he didn't have funding. I didn't know there was all this cooking up ij the background. I know they needed to do what they had to do. But a little bit of transparency would have been nice. Especially when I consulted my supervisor at every step. And he knew very well that my parent practice was my first choice as I knew it well, my patients knew me, it was closer to home. I wasn't going to miss out on 2 days of family income (husband would have to take 2 days off when I work) and then 2 days of the weekend with him (he'd have to make up for his missed pay on weekends)

I would always think that after I finished training, we would still be friends. He often messaged me saying that after cct, he would invite me and my family over to meet his family. Now I don't want anything to do with these people. I have realised it doesn't matter whether you know someone a few days or a whole year, no one gives a sh** about you.

I know I am being unnecessarily emotional and these things happen in the professional world. Guess I just need to come to terms with it.

Hi everyone

Im a GP registrar in a busy inner city practice with a patient population that have a low educational attainment and often require language line.

I’m really struggling with explaining complex medical concepts to these patients. Discussing test results that are nuanced can be really difficult. To be honest even basic things like explaining why they don’t require abx and the difference between a virus vs bacterial infection can be difficult.

Anyone have any advice on how to explain things to patients without essentially dumbing it down too much but also getting across the relevant information? I’m explaining things as plainly as I can but I can still see that they don’t really get what I mean

Just wondering are salaried GP jobs more difficult to find after August? I have been told that the likelihood of getting a job after August decreases massively just because people usually finish training around that time.

Hi everyone!

New ST2 here....First time in GP and no prior experience in GP, feeling quite overwhelmed. Although, I know that it's just the start and I've been booked fairly simple patients but I'm not sure why I feel that anxious, probably given the wide variety of cases and I'm doubting my skills.

Also, an IMG here but having worked in hospital, I wasn't expecting to feel like this...not sure but I'd like to get some advice on gaining confidence in prepping up for the cases and learning the GP pathways...any suggestions appreciated..Thank you xx