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Doctor
Doctors treat illness, providing advice and reassurance, and seeing the effects of both ill health and good health from the patient’s point of view. You will examine the symptoms presented by a patient and consider a range of possible diagnoses.
Work activities
As a doctor, you have to examine the symptoms presented by a patient, and consider a range of possible diagnoses. You must test your diagnosis, decide on the best course of treatment and monitor progress. This demands an enquiring mind, the capacity to acquire and maintain advanced medical knowledge and the ability to relate to people as individuals, each with their own unique health needs.
There are more than 60 different specialties that you can choose to work within. Each is unique, but there are many characteristics which they have in common. You will need to work as a part of a multi-disciplinary team in virtually every specialty. Some require particular skills, such as an ability to make decisions in life-threatening situations or confidence with technology. Many require an interest in teaching or research and some require particular manual dexterity.
Specialties broadly fall into one of the following categories:
- Anaesthetics.
- General practice.
- Medicine.
- Obstetrics and gynaecology.
- Ophthalmology.
- Paediatrics.
- Pathology.
- Psychiatry.
- Radiology.
- Surgery (including dental surgery).
Personal qualities and skills
It is as important for doctors to be able to communicate well with patients, carers and colleagues, as it is to sew up a wound or read an X-ray. There is no single set of characteristics that makes a good doctor. Medicine includes a wide range of people, working in very varied roles. As in any strong team, it needs players with different aptitudes that complement each other. You will need:
- A concern for people.
- An enquiring mind.
- An interest in people.
- A rational approach.
- An open mind.
- Imagination.
- Ability to handle pressure.
- Patience.
- Determination.
- Decisiveness.
- Humility.
Pay and opportunities
Doctors in training earn a basic salary, with a supplement if they work more than 40 hours a week and/or work outside 7am-7pm. In foundation training, your basic salary will start at £32,298 per year. When you begin your specialist training, your basic salary will start at £43,923 per year. Once you qualify, specialty doctors earn £52,530 - £82,400 per year, while specialist grade doctors earn £83,945 - £92,275. Consultants can expect to earn between £93,666 and £126,281. Salaried GPs earn £68,975 to £104,085. This information is correct as of April 2023.
Hospital doctors’ working hours can be long and irregular, and include shift, weekend and public holiday work. GPs work around 50 hours a week. Hours are usually divided between morning and afternoon/evening surgery. Some GPs choose to have out-of-hours duties.
Employers include the NHS (the largest single employer of doctors) and private medical companies, the armed forces, government departments, industry, and research and teaching establishments. Opportunities for doctors occur in towns, cities and rural areas throughout the UK. There are opportunities to work in other countries.
Where are vacancies advertised?
Vacancies are advertised on the NHS Jobs website, in professional journals, and on specialist and general job boards.
Entry routes and training
The first step is to attend a medical school, which is attached to a university. This includes work experience placements in a hospital and community setting. During the application process, you will be called for an interview, where you will be asked about your motivation for becoming a doctor.
You would normally follow a five-year degree in medicine. After graduating, you will need to complete a further period of training and progression. The length of this training period will depend on the route you wish to take (for example, consultant or GP).
You can find further information and advice on the website of the British Medical Association (BMA).
Qualifications
For entry to a degree course in medicine, the usual requirement is three A-levels at high grades. Chemistry is usually essential, with at least one other science subject or maths. Of these, many universities ask for biology. Competition for entry to medicine degrees is very strong, so you are likely to need high grades in your A-levels. Most university medical schools ask for at least AAA and some for combinations such as A*AA.
You will also need high grades in five GCSEs, including English, maths and science subjects.
Medical students may apply for student loans to cover maintenance and tuition fees. However, the final years of their study may be covered by the NHS Bursary Scheme.
You will usually need to sit an admission test, as well as applying through UCAS. Examples are:
- UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) is used in the selection procedure for most medical schools. It is not a test of knowledge but is instead designed to make sure you have the appropriate mental abilities, attitudes and professional behaviour to be a doctor. You should ideally take the test before you apply to the school through UCAS. Please see the UKCAT website for more information.
- BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT). You will need to take this if you apply for certain universities in the UK and abroad.
- Graduate Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT UK) if you’re applying for certain four-year graduate-entry medicine courses. For more information, please see the GAMSAT website.
Adult opportunities
Age limits: It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.
If you don’t have the usual academic qualifications needed for a degree in medicine, you might be able to enter the course through:
- An Access to Medicine course.
- A pre-medical or foundation year, if you don’t have science A-levels. Medical schools increasingly welcome applications from graduates. Graduate candidates normally need a first or 2:1 in their degree. Some medical schools require the degree to be in a science-related subject, whilst others do not, so make sure you check with your intended medical school.
- Six-year widening access course. This is designed to encourage more people to study medicine. These are available at a small number of universities. Please check the British Medical Association website for more information.
You can train in a speciality (once qualified as a doctor) on a part-time basis. This can be through the NHS Less Than Full-time Training Programme, through which students cover 50-80% of the normal full-time weekly programme.
Funding is available from the armed forces, usually for the final years of a medicine degree. Some scholarships and hardship funds from medical schools are also available. Several charities and trusts offer financial support.
