THE ADVICE ZONE

I want to work for a year in Australia to widen my breadth of medical experience before I choose which specialty to apply for. If I defer my application, will I be able to apply and be interviewed for specialty training posts without returning to the UK?

Authors: Sarah Burnett 

Publication date:  04 Aug 2007

I think the simple answer to this is no. Part of the reason for interviewing people, over and above assessing their CV and application forms, is that interpersonal skills are very important in medicine. Although some hospitals may have appropriate telecoms set up for video conferencing, this is by no means the norm. Also, I think the technicians at the Australian end are unlikely to want to support a conference in the middle of the night. I think there are two possible solutions. The first is to come back for a couple of weeks and try to schedule as many interviews as possible during this time. Unfortunately, much of the flexibility has been lost from the system as the panels are quite large, and appointments are made on a regional basis. The second is to line up some locum posts for six months on your return and not hurry into a specialty training job.

COVER: PHOTOS.COM

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Sarah Burnett consultant radiologist London