Welcome to the 2nd part of a 7-part career guide for junior doctors written by Dr Abhijit Pal (PGY2) with Dr Emma McCahon (Clinical Director of Critical Care Program at Children’s Hospital, Westmead, and Clinical Lead of LEAP, a leadership program for junior doctors run by HETI).
This will make it a lot easier to write your CV! The CV doesn’t write itself. There is some anxiety around being called a resume builder. There are some prevocational doctors for whom the resume is their primary goal in life and they will ruthlessly put their hand up for the case report, that clinical audit and generally appear psychopathic in their pursuit of that plastic surgery spot. On the other extreme is the junior doctor who turns up to work and goes home. Try and find a happy medium between the two where you can expose yourself to the hospital system and become involved in more than just the individual doctor-patient interaction.
Being a doctor is about more than just being able to diagnose and treat illness. If you look at the attributes that each of the colleges is looking for, you’ll quickly realize this as well. For example, the RACP has a Professional Qualities Curriculum: RACP qualities.
- Plan ahead, because these courses frequently book out. Unfortunately, many do cost money.
- Critical care – BASIC, ALS2
- Trauma – ATLS/EMST
- Master’s courses – Epidemiology, Public Health, Ophthalmology, Surgery
- Diploma in Child Health, Graduate Diploma in Surgical Sciences
- Teaching on the Run