Career Planning
NHS Medical Careers is a resource for making informed decisions
when planning a career in medicine and related fields.
Register online to start building your personal profile, using
self-assessment exercises and the detailed information about what
options are available. This website will take you through the four
stages of career planning. Comprehensive data on each medical
specialty includes workforce statistics, competition ratios, growth
areas and projections about future opportunities. A bookmarking
tool allows you to save key facts about specialties that interest
you.
The career planning framework used by this website comprises
four stages – self-assessment, career exploration, decision making
and plan implementation.
When this site was first implemented the stages were called
understanding yourself, exploring options, choosing a specialty and
getting into training. The names of the stages have been changed to
more closely reflect career planning materials which are used in
the UK. The content of the four stages remains the same and they
can be used by medical students and doctors who wish to assess or
re-assess their careers as well as specifically helping with
choosing a specialty training programme.
Self-assessment
Stage 1: An honest appraisal of yourself is
the first step towards discovering the specialty that suits
you. These tools will help you understand your interests,
skills and influences and how these can be useful when considering
your future career.
Career
exploration
Stage 2: Good research is an essential step to
choosing your specialty. Career exploration is about knowing where
to look and what to look for. Here you can also learn about
some of the other career options that may be of interest to
you.
Decision
making
Stage 3: Once you have developed a good
understanding of yourself and your career options, you’re in a
great place to start making decisions. Here you will find some ways
to integrate what you’ve learned about specialties with your
self-assessment.
Plan
implementation
Stage 4: Once you are happy with your career
and specialty choices, you’ll want to know how to get into
training. Here you will find advice on
building your CV and portfolio and how to succeed in
interviews and assessment centres.