How to become a doctor, plus CV tips and interview guide

We track the long journey from qualification to practising as a doctor in the UK. Whether you’re just considering medicine as a career, or are already qualified, experienced and working and simply need some guidance on how to structure your CV – this is the full guide to becoming and finding work as a doctor.

Taking on this role requires the best of the best – there ain't no two ways about it. You must be academically excellent and you must be able to work very hard without respite. If that appeals, then just read on.....

So how exactly do you get qualified for doctor jobs?

Starting the journey to doctor-hood needs a stint at university – the first step you take is your 5-year degree in Medicine. Getting a place on a medical course requires high grades and consistently fantastic academic performance in most, if not all, areas of science and maths.

On the whole, you need 3 A's at A Level with at least Biology and/or Chemistry as well as the other Sciences and Maths plus good GCSEs covering all the sciences, Maths and English Language.

Some state 5 A's at GCSE; others just want a few B's and A's in the subjects specified. Some, like Oxford, want an A* at A Level too. Some universities may consider one B at A Level but this is less usual. Some want at least one other B at AS Level too.

Part of the application process also requires you to take the BMAT or UKCAT; the former is the British Medical Aptitude Test and the latter, the UK Clinical Aptitude Test.

The BMAT consists of one 60-minute test for generic academic skills like problem solving, analysing and inference; a 30-minute multiple choice test on applying school-level scientific knowledge and finally, a 30-minute essay question based on one of four topics.

The UKCAT is entirely multiple-choice but has more sections within its 2 hours. First comes Verbal Reasoning which tests your ability to critically assess written information; next is Quantitative Reasoning which is similar but with numerical data; next is Abstract Reasoning which tests your ability to draw parallels from data; after is Decision Analysis, designed to test your ability to make sound judgements and lastly is the Situational Judgement test which focuses on your understanding of real-world problems, their pertinent characteristics and appropriate behaviours for each.

The UKCAT also comes in UKCATSEN form for those with learning differences or impairments.Once you've passed your BMAT/UKCAT/UKCATSEN and have been accepted by your university of choice, you're ready to go!

Courses are generally 5 years (although 6 years that include Foundation are known too) and will get you all set-up for the next step.

I already have an Undergraduate degree in another subject but I changed my mind – I want to be a doctor now! Well, there is an option open to you.

It's only available to those who have a degree in biological or medical areas, such as Anatomy, Physiotherapy or Chemistry – something where you'll have gotten a good understanding of medically-relevant information pertaining to mammalian cells and organs.

If this sounds like you – and you got a 2:1 or above – then you could be eligible for a 4 year course that gets you to the same Foundation stage as the standard course.

Wait, we're not finished yet..... Following your medical under-graduate degree comes Foundation training where you try out different areas in preparation for specialisation in one of 60 possibilities.

During the first year, you're known as an F1 (previously known as a Pre-Registration House Office job or PRHO job). This is when you try out surgery for a minimum of three months and then spend at least another three months in a medical post.

There are regular work assessments and you'll need to keep track of your experiences with a Learning Portfolio too.

For the second year – your F2 year (previously known as your Senior House Officer job or SHO job)– you'll have another set of four 3-month placements. Generally, this will involve some time in general practice, academic medicine, an area where there are shortages plus something else.

Once you've completed these, that's it! You have the basic clinical and non-clinical understanding needed to become a junior doctor and move into the tracks needed for specialisation and eventual consultant status.

Preparing for becoming a doctor – are you sure you really want to do this? Like any professional job where the quality of lives rest in your hands, you need to make sure you really want to do this and that you are truly committed.

The time for play and posture is over – this is real work and very serious. People live and die by your hands. No, really. And you'll work harder and for longer hours than you ever knew you could.

As doctor-level work is exceptionally serious, you won't be able to get a simple voluntary post assisting doctors in quite the same way as you would for something like a day care centre or charity.

Doctor work is also affected by confidentiality and the strong possibility that it involves personal details the patient won't want to share. Generally, you need to be over 16 too.

However, this doesn't mean it is impossible! You can still definitely consider more general experience at your local hospital, hospice or GP practice – there will undoubtedly be one or more groups led by lovely locals who care about the quality of experience at the hospital.

If you know someone who already works at a hospital or practice, flex that network – it may get you a foot in, even if it's just doing a bit of reception work. Similarly, your work experience doesn't have to be with a doctor – any time spent with nurses or Allied Health Professionals will hold value.

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Get on to the front line

Voluntary or paid work in any care setting will be beneficial too, as would charities that work with vulnerable groups in need of medical attention – you won't be providing them with medical care but you can certainly get a feel for what goes on behind the scenes whilst making sure your bedside manner is well-honed!

Similarly, any work where you come into a great deal of contact with the general public will be good for you. You must be able to be polite, friendly and helpful - no matter the bitterness, rudeness or complexity people present you with. And, more importantly, you need to enjoy it!

Anyone can pretend to temporarily be alright with someone vomiting on their shirt or telling them to ^&£*% off and “£%^*%^* whilst they're at it but as a prospective doctor, this must be like water off a duck's back. It just can't be a big deal or you'll burn out really quickly.

Finally, you can always try local medical schools or Royal Colleges. Some of these run programs for those still at school and college for exactly this reason. Oh, and before we close this section – apply early for work experience placements. Lots and lots and lots of people want to get work experience as a doctor and there aren't many places.

It's also possible that they'll want a DBS (formerly known as a CRB) carried out and this takes at least 3 weeks.

Clarity in your CVMedical CVs are largely similar to standard professional CVs although the content obviously differs. You may find that prospective posts want you to fill out an application form instead of a CV but CVs are still useful - employers do use them and they're great for job sites (like ours!) where they allow interested parties to compile a list of suitable candidates.

We'll get onto the less typical content later – for now, let's start with the basics.CV Nuts and boltsSo, the simplest and most important initial features of a CV are your name and contact details; your current title, post and employer; your previous posts and employers; start and end dates for all; your qualifications and education.

I know it sounds obvious but it's really worthwhile starting at the very beginning. We process a huge amount of CVs and the number of people who don't cover the basics is just staggering. And because of this, we're really going to get down to brass tacks.

Please, please double-check that you have your name, address, phone number and email address at the top. You wouldn't believe how many people don't have these inserted correctly. And whilst we're at it, is your voice-mail message appropriate? Is the email address professional? Bubbles83sexay@bleebloo.blurp just won't cut the mustard. Either use your current work address or a simple generic address that consists of your name. Check all of these things and make sure they are at the start of your CV, nice and easy to find.

It would also be entirely appropriate to include your GMC registration number.

Structuring the categories

Now the simple part is covered, we can move onto how you're going to order this document. After contact details, many people like to have a personal statement about their professional persona and aims. This is a debatable section and not everyone sees it as a positive addition.

After all, your cover letter should tell the recruiter about why you're applying and your hopes for the future. And more over, the 'I'm a hard-working, motivated team player' is a redundant statement.

No-one would write the opposite and frankly, meeting the bare minimum of employability doesn't make you special. For this reason, some argue personal statements are a waste of space. On the other hand, it's also argued that, given how little time people will actually spend looking at your CV, you need a short, punchy paragraph to get your skills across quickly.

The main problem is that people are generally very bad at writing them. So, we're going to leave this one up to you. If you think you've got the skills to write it and the genuine accomplishments to back it up, here are a few tips.

Firstly, avoid stock phrases where possible – it's just a mental short-circuit to boredom. Write sincerely so you don't trot out old hackneyed descriptions. Secondly, make sure any claims you make are tied to genuine achievements. Rather than 'efficient problem-solver', you should say something like 'Used problem-solving skills to create a more efficient work-flow for XYZ'.

Thirdly, it's important that it's clear how your skills will help them – what specific traits do you have that match up with the employer's aims?

Lastly, don't let it go over 200 words – keep it short, sweet and punchy!Oh, and keep it in the first person: “I have worked at.....”, not “Sybil has worked at.....”. Writing in the third-person is bizarre to read.

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Educational achievements

After your personal statement – or contact details, if you've chosen to omit it – comes your qualifications and training. As with job history, this goes in reverse chronological order. It is also appropriate to add any Royal College results here or anything else like membership exams, Advanced Life Support qualifications, prizes and awards.

Some would argue the latter two should be in their own category – it's up to you. If they are especially impressive, then show off a bit and let them stand out!

As you are now entering a professional line of work, you don't need your GCSEs or A Levels there – for medical degrees, they're always the same anyway so it's redundant. Don't waste the space.

Your employment history

Next comes your employment history. As with education, start from the most recent and work backwards. Make sure you include start and end dates, grade, speciality location, employer and if appropriate, your supervisor's name. The bulk of each post will be given up to your responsibilities and skills. Short, demonstrative statements are best here.

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Experiences clinical, educational and organisational

The third section is where you are really going to show off your skills – specifically, your 'hard' skills. The opposite of these are 'soft' skills like teamwork, friendliness, positivity and organisational skills.

These are nice but nothing special to behold as everyone should be able to hold themselves together enough to be nice to each other whilst at work.

Hard skills are what make you a true possibility for a job. Fortunately, as a doctor, you have hard skills in abundance!

So, to add your hard skills, ask yourself: what are the things you can actually do? What techniques do you know, what software are you familiar with and what systems do you know best?

Get specific and list them here.

Conference and course attendance, research and your clinical audit

The next three sections are pretty simple – enter exactly what they state. Include dates, any relevant grades, funding, summaries and for the audit, your topic, results, role and standards.

• Papers, presentations, teaching and management

These next four are, again, pretty straightforward.

Published papers should involve your most recent and can include those that aren't necessarily in PubMed or similar.

Presentations need type, location and level (i.e. local, national or broader) included.

The teaching section will benefit especially from the inclusion of any courses you've designed and delivered but will also do just fine with one-off sessions.

Mention audience and teaching methodology.

Finally, management needs a brief account of your particular responsibilities for things like team management and direction.

• Interests and references– I'm well-rounded and I've the contacts to back it up! Just a line or two to show that you aren't all work and no play. Some people argue that this is a waste of space but perhaps in the terrifically hard-working profession of medicine, it could be seen as a positive addition!

• Lastly, you need two referees – your current supervisor and a former. Include full job details and full contact details.

Now, to refine and polish your details

You should now be at the stage where you have all the basics needed for a CV: you've ensured that your contact details are perfect and you've got all the categories with relevant information.

The next stage is to make it readable and well-written to ensure you don't lose a position over some small, silly error.

There are a few simple strategies you can use to make sure your CV is a joy to behold and the best of these is white space.

Give the reader space to think

White space is the blank space around your nuggets of information. Our brains like white space – it allows us to process and comprehend information much more effectively.

Keep your paragraphs short and simple by cutting out dross and twaddle. Pure, lean information is the focus here.

Similarly, bullet points are great for CVs. Sometimes, they won't be appropriate. For very short bits of information, keep it in a paragraph using commas or semi-colons to separate them out.

However, if each bit of information is a good sentence in itself then bullet points will be very useful for the person reading it.

Is it byzantine, gordion or recondite? Another concern is the register of the language you use. It's unlikely that a medical job-seeker will use informal language to apply so we're not going to worry about that.

But, you must be careful not to over-write. Don't use language that you wouldn't normally – there's just no point.

It won't ring true and you won't be able to keep it up in reality. Avoid pretentious language, make 120% effort to ensure everything is spelt correctly and read and reread to make sure information is presented crisply and sensibly. Get someone else to read it too.

You should also take time to look at how the CV will be presented and delivered itself. Beyond the actual details of the thing, it must be formatted well. Use simple, clear fonts that are common to all computers so that the recruiter can definitely read the thing; keep margins around 1 inch at most and ensure it is saved as a .doc file so it can be opened by nearly all word processing software programmes.

Next, the cover letter!

So, we've got our lovely, shiny CV and you know where to send it.

Now we need to finalise the letter you'll send with it.

Cover letters can seem like a real drag – one may even find them to be a touch repetitive. After all, isn't it all in the CV?

This can be true at times but there's so much more that can be done with a good cover letter. This is your chance to really demonstrate why you should be the candidate chosen above others.

Start with some good paper that's formally laid out. You might not have your personal letter-head but you can still pop your name at the top with your academic acronyms after.

Right-justify your contact details as you would a normal letter and get started.

Why this job? Your first paragraph is for you to tell the employer why you want this specific job over all others. Likely, it will relate to something like your speciality, the type of research they do there or the particular patient cohort.Work out what it is that is particularly appealing and start your letter with it. If relocation is relevant, add in your willingness to do so.

What you've been up to

Next, talk about your qualifications, exams, education and CPD that make you a good fit for the job – maybe you've been specialising for a while or perhaps you've recently engaged with someone or something that really confirmed your desire to work in the area.

You can also talk here about how you hope the job will help you to develop professionally. Mention any training that you hope will be a result of working for the organisation – not demandingly, of course.

What you hope to achieve

After this, specify about what you hope to achieve in this role. This will tie in somewhat to the previous information about future CPD and provides the employer with another chance to imagine how you will develop in tandem with the company.

Why you're a lovely person

Lastly, mention a few of your personal qualities that demonstrate your appropriateness for the role.

Lots of leadership needed? Touch on a concrete example of team-leading or facilitating. Wide-ranging project? Write briefly about a time when you were last needed to juggle a great deal of things and people and got good results.

Finish the letter with your name, phone number and email address once more, inviting the reader to get in contact as needed.

I got the interview!

What now? Congratulations! It's time to prepare for the interview. There's the general advice that everyone needs as well as doctor-specific advice.

Some of the latter will change from post to post – as well as depending on whether you're registrar level, consultant or specialist – but on the whole, we've got the basics.

General interview preparation

• Be careful about your route

Always check your route – always, always, always. Even if it's not far and a route that you take all the time, you can never be sure when there's sudden roadworks or a bus route change. Just make sure.

• Choose your dress

A simple one to manage – business attire. Nothing flashy but no need to be overly bland either. Competent and sensible is the rule of the day. No tattoos on show, no piercings beyond simple earrings for ladies and wedding bands for any gender.

• Check out the history and mission of your prospective employer

An extremely important thing to do. There's nothing worse than being surprised at interview by something you have no idea about. Research how they started, their aims, their leadership, an overview of their development and history and check for any controversy they've been involved in so you can have a politic answer to give should they mention it.

• Staying positive

Not always easy – especially if you really, really need the job. Get your preparation done before the eve of the interview. That way you can relax without rushing around, panicking because you can't find your nice shoes. Have a bath, a drink, a nap, a bit of downtime with the spouse – whatever makes you feel your best.

• Don't let your fingers give you away

If you're an inveterate fiddler, think of a strategy. No nail-biting, no hair-twiddling, no face-touching. It's really distracting.

• Practice with a friend – but not too early on

The day before (or perhaps the day just before that), have a practice with a friend. You don't want to do it too far in advance in case you forget it all or get complacent; nor should you do it so close to the time that you don't have a chance to correct your answers.

Get them to grill you. If you have a search online for your level and speciality, it is quite possible you'll find a list of likely interview questions out there – there's plenty of sites that have compiled those they know.

• Eye contact

If you're not a natural eye-contact maker, think about a strategy for the interview. You don't have to nervously stare them down or anything – just think of how you can meet their eyes at the appropriate juncture.

I too am not a fan of large amounts of eye contact but always think that starting and finishing my answer with looking them in the eyes works well. After all, it's acceptable to look away whilst you're thinking or recalling.

Conversely, if you have no problem with eye contact, check in the mirror that you don't look terrifyingly intense. Relax your eyelids and take a deep breath, if necessary.

• Check for competency tests

Professional posts often have competency tests. Medical posts will often have skill-based tests and stations to complete as well as psychometric tests. Calling ahead to double-checked will prevent any untoward surprise on the day!

You can't exactly 'revise' for a psychometric test but it's always nice to know.Information gathering and summarisingWhen preparing for these interviews, you'll do yourself a huge favour if you get your answers prepared for the day. It's easy to think you'll be fine but, when you're in front of 3 or 4 or even 7 or 8 people with them all waiting to hear you prove yourself, the best of us can falter.

• Details about your course or last placements.

For each of your pertinent prior posts, have a summary of what you did and the most important features thereof. Don't over-prepare and do that pub job at uni in order to talk about customer service - just the main medical posts or placements that are relevant. Ensure you can smoothly relate your experiences to the job specification requirements.

• A bit about why you want this job and no other.This is a very important one and shouldn't be too hard. What is it about this post you like? And if you're only applying because it's the only option available for your specific needs, then jolly well find something you can use during your research on the organisation.

• A personal précis

This is for answering the dreaded 'About you' question. It's so easy here to look panicked or to gabble and neither make sense – surely, you should be confident on who you are and where you want to go, right?

Write a few simple, good sentences about where you're from, what you've been doing, why you've enjoyed it and where you want to move on to. Practice, memorise, impress.

• Future aims

This rather ties into the above but merits a focus of its own. Hopefully, you have a good idea about where you want to go with this role – you will either have a speciality or should have a darn good idea about what you wants yours to be. How do you want this to develop over the coming 5 or 10 years? Are you interested in research, partnership, education and training.....? Again, summarise this simply and make sure it ties in with the post's interests.

• Abilities, skills, experience and knowledge

Categorising your experiences this way is very useful for professional interviews as you simply must demonstrate applied, practical capabilities. Ability relates to concrete application of knowledge and skills; skills are your 'hard' skills – the actual real things you can actually do as opposed to 'soft' skills like 'gets on well with others'; experience is the times you did all these things and knowledge is how well you know the facts and information in the area.

Teaching, papers and good presentations would be good ways of proving knowledge.

A useful method to pinpoint the useful information is the STAR method – Situation, Task, Action, Result. When did it happen; what did you do; how did you do; what was the result?

• Match experience with desired qualities – examples, examples, examples.For professional work like doctor jobs, you simply must be able to prove your claims. You can't just say you can do things – you must be able to explain when you last did them, how brilliant you were and, if you weren't good, what you learnt and how you improved yourself?

• Where do you fall down? Carrying on from the tail-end of that last bullet-point, you must have good answers to talk about your weaknesses. The general method now is to talk about something you're bad at but transition into what you're doing about it and how you've overcome it.

Have an answer here – you don't want to look like you can't discern your weaknesses through lack of self-reflection or arrogance.

• Fluency in other languages

Speaking multiple languages is fantastic for medical work – you never know when you'll get someone new to the country or on holiday. If you're not sure about just how good you are, have a look at the Common European Framework.

This defines language ability from A1 – C3. If you're A1, don't worry about it but anything higher could be a feather in your cap!

• Topical opinions

There are always political and developmental issues in medicine and your speciality – you should have opinions on these. If you don't, read around the past few months and think about what you see as the pertinent issues and possibly solutions.

You may have a phone interviewIt is entirely possibly and, indeed, likely that you'll have a phone interview before a face-to-face. Treat it seriously and make sure you do all of the prep mentioned above too.

Get your answers ready, have your CV and cover letter there and make sure you're comfortable. Dressing smartly and then standing up or sitting at a table does marvels for your attitude too.

Special preparation for doctor interviews

The above two sections cover general and professional-specific interview preparation but there's still more for medical interviews!

These don't cover every possible need but should give you some grounding whether you're applying to a post for registrar work, consultancy or something other. It's also worth noting that there are two types of interview you may have – behaviour-based or structured.

The former involves the more usual types of interview questions: “Tell me about a time when you XYZ”. The idea is that you use specific situations to demonstrate your soft skills.

The Mayo Clinic recommend using the SHARE strategy here – Situation, Hindrances, Action, Result, Evaluation. The latter involves showing specific criteria through purpose-designed questions. It's good in many ways as it makes the process less emotive, subjective and biased – either you know something or you don't.

On the other hand, it can be strongly affected by how you feel on the day. Having a bad day? No job for you! As such, make sure you're at your best for the interview. Of course, you should regardless, but structured interviews will go better if you take care on this front.

• Presentations

These are really quite likely as they are becoming more common these days. You may be told ahead of time so that you get prep time or it may be on the day and you're given plenty of time to research and write a short presentation. Hopefully, if you call ahead, you can check this

• More than one to impress

For medical interviews, multiple interviewers are very likely. Call ahead of time to find out who'll be on the panel. It's also important that you don't assume that everyone will have read your CV so take copies along to ensure everyone has one in front of them.

And make sure that you're properly familiar with it too – you'll be getting a real range of questions from lots of people with lots of different backgrounds and reasons for asking. Know it inside out!

• Station performance

Depending on speciality, you may be asked to perform at several different stations. These could be hypothetical but common situations; actual practical skill demonstration using a dummy (this will be mostly in surgical interviews); motivation and teaching-based questions; clinical governance discussions; teaching-related questions about audits, research, risk management, etc.; performing a critical appraisal of a paper with prep time and a presentation; role play; group discussions on something like ethics or a topical controversy. Again, call ahead and see if you can be told what to expect ahead of time.

• What qualities should someone in your role have?

This will depend greatly on the job you're going for. Prepare and rehearse your answer for this. It will be worth having a look online to see what other people think about the role as well.

• Getting the right amount of preparation

When it comes to these kinds of situations, it's easily to go to extremes. Be careful not to under-prepare through apathy (“There's no point, I won't know what they want and there's too much to learn”) or over-prepare so thoroughly that being asked an unexpected question completely throws you out as you try to shoehorn in an answer for a different question.

• Keep it personal

Similarly, your answers must be human. Over-preparation can lead to answers that are a bit too pat and glib without any personalisation or character showing through. Don't over-script. Let yourself have some creativity on the day.

• Making a pre-interview visit

These aren't just for consultant-level jobs; it's okay to do it if you're lower-level too. Ring ahead and make appointments to meet different key staff. Directors, lead clinicians, the chief executive and matron are all good people to talk to. Ask them about their thoughts on the organisation as it stands and the current issues facing it.

• Find out what formal bodies think.

Depending on where you are applying to, there are a few reports you could read to make sure your answers are topical and appropriate. The trust website is a decent place to start, followed by their last annual report or two (as seems necessary!). Similarly, they will have been inspected by an external body like CQC. Check out their report and the trust's response to see how they handle criticisms and suggestions.

• Understand how to answer different types of questions.

There are three types of questioning that doctors can be faced with; those of fact, those of opinion and those of self-reflection.

For questions of fact, first be sure to clarify why they've been asked.

Next, make sure you answer relates back to your speciality and then demonstrate your working knowledge. For questions of opinion, give the pros and cons of the situation but ultimately, make sure you're displaying careful, pragmatic thought. Lastly, for questions of self-reflection, be sure to show intellectual honesty, dependability, maturity, self awareness and robust personal standards.

• Your thoughts and the standards related therein

You may be asked for your thoughts in several different areas; possibilities include teaching methodology and experiences, research, governance/safe practice and current infrastructure changes re: bodies or systems like NICE, commissioning, MMC, the GMC, Payment by Results or CquiNS. Make sure your answers always relate back to the appropriate standards too.

• The management of problems during treatment and the specific issues involved

It is likely that your knowledge and skills will be tested with possible scenarios relating the above. If you've any areas that elude you occasionally, make sure you have a quick revise.

• Examination goals

Future examinations will also be of interest to the interviewer – have a think about when you plan to take them so they can get a feel for your job-specific CPD.

• Can you take charge?

Managerial ability is an important one to show. You may not need a great deal of knowledge at lower levels but do your best to show you understand HR issues from all perspectives involved.

• Clinical governance understanding

Again, not so crucial for lower-level doctors but one you must demonstrate competency in as you move up. Things like NICE guidelines, NSF, research, audits, risk management..... it all depends on your prospective role. Make sure you've got the basics covered and prepare some considered opinions in case.

• Making judgement calls and opinions on moving forward

If you're at consultant level, expect to be asked for your opinions on how to move forward with something. This may be something to do with staffing issues, research projects or your thoughts on clinical concerns.

You likely already have the knowledge on what you think – just make sure you can deliver it with panache.

Different CPD for medical doctors

Once you have the job, you'll need to think about your CPD options. Continued professional development for medical doctors is mandatory, on-going and wide-ranging although the GMC does not specify a particular number of hours (although you may find your speciality council does). Instead, your appraiser will work with you to find the best options.

Fortunately, you'll have a natural interest anyway within your speciality which will help in making the best choices. There are a wide range of both necessary and elective exams and courses- both clinical and non-clinical. Sufficient reflection on your daily experiences also bolsters CPD.

The main point of CPD is to update and maintain what you learnt at university. If you choose well, it will help you meet future developments and needs too. It should also be based on your practice, following intelligent self-assessment and self-reflection.

Typical career paths for doctors

Following your Foundation period, you are able to apply to go into Speciality Registrar training where you focus on your particular interest (such as paediatrics, rheumatology, haematology or acute care).

Once you've done this, you get your Certification of Completion of Training, registration with your speciality college and may consider registration on the specialist register.

If you want to become a GP, you'll need to do the Speciality Registrar training for 3 years; for hospital specialities that lead to consultancy work, you'll do it for 6 years. Theoretically, you could become a consultant within 7-9 years but experience counts for a great deal with many posts so don't count on this.If you're not interested in becoming a hospital doctor or GP, there are many more possibilities available for doctor jobs.

You may want to return to training and education to help the new crop of doctors; enter a public service like the armed forces; move into medical law or enter the pharmaceutical industry.

Making a start

So, no matter your stage of medical training, we hope you're feeling pretty confident about your next moves in medicine! With your shiny new CV in hand and interview preparation points by the bushel, no doubt you're raring to get started.

Get on over to our job search page now and the very best of British to you!