Careers Support Masterclass video suite
We have created 3 videos focusing on careers support which can be located by clicking the blue boxes at the bottom of this page. The self assessment tools and career exploration tools listed below are excellent resources to aid you in giving careers support to doctors in training you are currently working with. If you feel you know a doctor in training who would benefit from a careers support session with Katie Dallison, please complete a PSW referral form here.
Self Assessment tools
Card Sorts – The Roads to Success pdf contains a medically focused card sort that can be printed out and used. Pages 15-18 with instructions on how to use the cards on the following pages..
An online priorities check list can be found here.
There are many free personality or trait tests online. 16 Personalities is one of the better free MBTI (or Myers Briggs) to consider how trainees like to work with others among other traits.
The two main medically focused tests that match trainees to specialities based on their answers to a series of questions are:
- Sci-59 – there is a fee for using this tool
- BMA Specialty explorer – free to BMA members
Example careers reflection templates from the Medic Portal – while these are written for medical students/pre-entry, the process is the same for reflecting on any medical experience.
Career Exploration tools
The list of websites below are good starting points for exploring specialties and online networking.
Exploring specialities online:
- https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/doctors/roles-doctors - Very basic starting point to find out about clinical specialities. Contains links to many other interesting and more specific websites.
- https://www.aomrc.org.uk/about-us/academy-members/ - List of medical colleges which each may have careers related content
- Careers support from medical school careers – many universities in the UK offer access to their alumni for 2-3 years post-graduation. Some will have additional content on websites (such as alumni videos and case studies) plus events that trainees may be able to attend.
- https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment - Information focusing on recruitment programmes into specialty training
- BMA and BMJ elearning modules and webinars on career planning and choice. Many hospitals have a subscription to these elearning resources or if the trainee is a member they can access them directly.
Exploring portfolio careers:
- https://medicfootprints.org/alternative-careers-for-doctors-the-ultimate-list/ - While medic footprints has a focus on alternative careers, many of the non-clinical careers in their ultimate guide are very common elements of portfolio careers also. Each topic contains good links to other relevant websites.
- https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/doctors/career-opportunities-doctors/alternative-roles-doctors - A more basic list however the downloadable alternative careers for medical students also includes different clinical career options and ideas.
- Networking is key to exploring portfolio careers as there is no one way to develop this. See below for tips.
Networking and talking to people:
- https://www.linkedin.com/home - LinkedIn is a professional networking website used by millions and is growing in the users from the medical field. There is a lot of information on how to set up a profile and doctors can perform an alumni search by going to their old university and highlighting the Alumni tab.
- https://www.sermo.com/ - originally an American online networking site for doctors but expanded now to include rest of the world. Has an interesting range of topic specific discussion forums.
- https://www.doctors.net.uk/ - UK doctors networking site which allows users to ask open questions on a variety of topics.