8 Top Tips for Foundation Doctors
1. Enjoy the Moment
Relax, be confident and enjoy the start of your medical career. You’ve worked hard at medical school, and many of you will have supported colleagues during the COVID19 pandemic. Now it’s time to put that into practice. No one expects you to know everything and there’s plenty of help when you need it.
2. Patients trust you
and will share their private moments with you, when they feel most vulnerable. What they expect and need more than anything is that you listen and try to understand. This really is the greatest privilege of being a doctor.
3. Know what you don't know
This is crucial for every doctor: knowing what you don’t know so that you can look it up, ask for help, and learn for next time. Much of your work will be routine, and the diagnosis and treatment may well be driven by protocols and patient pathways. Understanding the limits of what you know, and developing your skills are probably the key elements of your first year as a doctor.
4. Make friends with the IT
The few hours of pain at the start of your job that it takes to get to grips with EPR, PACS, and the other systems you use will make all the difference. There’s no getting away from having to spend some time in front of a screen, but the more efficient you can be, the more time you can spend doing the interesting stuff
5. Organise and prioritise
There are times when your work may seem overwhelming, with too much to do and feeling like you can’t cope. Stop and take a step back. Prioritise what is most important for the patients and their safety. Planning ahead for ward rounds, discharge letters and MDMs makes life easier and should even your workload. Talk with your colleagues and your team and don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.
6. Nurses usually know best
The way doctors and nurses work together is continually evolving, and in many specialist roles, nurses operate as independent practitioners. You’ll learn to navigate the responsibilities you have as a doctor, especially around assessing sick patients and prescribing, alongside the experience and skills that nurses have. They’ve usually seen scenarios many times before, that you’ll encounter for the first time, so ask for advice to sense check what you’re doing.
7. Learn from referrals
As a Foundation doctor, you’ll spend a lot of their time asking for and chasing specialist opinions on your patients. Whenever you can, try and be there when the Haematologist, Gastroenterologist or Cardiologist comes to see them. If you can, present the history and outline the test results. It’s a great opportunity to learn – aside from that, they’ll appreciate it, and you might be inspired about your own career!
8. MedShr your clinical cases
It’s worth taking a few minutes to share the experiences you’ve had with colleagues and supervisors. MedShr the interesting ECGS, x-rays, scans and clinical stories that you see, and widen your exposure by discussing what other doctors around the country – and beyond – have shared. Taking the best of what Foundation doctors MedShr gives you exposure to a wider range of patients than you could ever see in person.
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