Courses & Conferences to Attend
When I was a medical student I joined lots of the different medical specialty clubs. I was a part of the gastro society as well as the Global health society. Looking back, you get very little study leave in FY years (it gets better in IMT but in FY you hardly get any) and so I wish I’d done more of this as a student.
I really enjoyed going to a medical trainees conference, as I learnt lots that interested me in this massive speciality and met more motivated people! This cemented my decision to apply for IMT!
My Takeaway would be that even if you are not sure about the specialty going on a related course (I went on a career in radiology course that my hospital was offering). Although it wasn’t for me – I would never have realised if I had not taken the lead to go on this course.
One final tip I can give is, I know the money can be a limiting factor, but if you find a course that will help your career, you should view it as investing in your education. If you go on a conference that turns into a future PhD, or if you go on a course that gets you the dream job you want to, then it is worth every penny – but it is hard to view it like that before you attend. Often many hospitals have dedicated pots of money for Fellows to attend courses and conferences. These are not widely advertised but usually the training program director or the manager responsible for the rotor. Will know how to access this. It may involve filling in a few forms but if that gives you a free course it is definitely worth it.
Relevant to this, for my IMT Interview prep I attended the Optimise Interviews Application Form Workshop and Course. In addition, I attended a leadership course, providing me with knowledge and skills to become a better leader.
How to Maximise Your Portfolio
If you know what you need for your application, then you can treat it like a checklist. By December I had been asking many different consultants whether they had a QI project. I could get involved in and was able to start this in January and then present our findings in June. So I had this all sorted and ticked off in foundation year one. Conducting a QIP on a psychiatry rotation won me an award at a local meeting and the skills from this were transferrable for IMT. It just helped that I prepared early, I would not have been able to take off all these boxes before it came time for submitting my application. The IMT application form window opens in November (the application for workshop course by Optimise Interviews is in October) and so you really need to have as much as possible finished off by then so you can start focusing on interview practice. This is it possible to do if you do not start working early, although they have some good tips that I would not have thought of.
Making the Most of Your Day Job
I got involved in teaching very early on during my foundation programme, helping the foundation programme coordinators with a patient safety teaching, this allowed me to fulfil some aspects of the IMT application but also worthwhile reflecting on patient incidents. Teaching is something anyone can get involved in and to organise a program for others whether it is at your ward or generally it all adds up.
Making the Most of Internal Medicine Training Placements
Get involved early on and don’t be afraid to push yourself. During my AMU block, I liked to clerk patients and immediately seek feedback from the consultant during the PTWR, this gave me confidence in my ability to diagnose, examine and come to a plan. In addition, I pushed myself during foundation to improve clinical and communication skills. I volunteered early for practical procedures including chest drains and ascitic drains and this showed the senior doctors that I was seeking opportunities and keen to improve .
What About Non-Internal Medicine Training Placements?
Take your annual leave!
Find interesting elements in that speciality- doing an audit on AF in GP or physical health monitoring for patients on antipsychotics!
Go to departmental teachings
If it is a quiet block, use that time for exams or courses that could be useful for the future.
Top 3 Tips for Getting Into Internal Medicine Training
- Don’t be too hard on yourself.
FY is designed to help you pick your specialty and so don’t feel like you need to have it all figured out.
- Doing an FY3
The extra time to really think about your application and interview can be really helpful.
- Attend a specialty conference
Try and attend atleast one specialty conference if you can.
