Junior doctors in England to be paid for shadowing
Photo by Cabinet OfficeJunior doctors in England will be Paid for a “shadowing” period from July 2012.
NHS trusts across England will now be footing the bill for a minimum of four days “shadowing” of their new posts, in a bid to smooth the transition from undergraduate to Foundation year doctor. Final year medical students have the Junior Doctors Committee at the BMA and the Department of health to thank for the new initiative, due to be in place from July 2012.
Professor Sir Bruce Keogh has written a letter to all final year medical students here.
In it he writes about shadowing:
“This will help you to become familiar with your new working environment and include a handover of your clinical responsibilities. Shadowing will equip you with the local knowledge and skills you need to provide safe, high quality patient care, from your first day as a F1 doctor.”
A Medical Educator Contributor writes:
“This is great news for F1 doctors who were previously undertaking shadowing on an unpaid basis, and the experience will be critical to a less stressful transition from student to doctor.”
The advice applies to England only, with different arrangements being made in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Definitely something that needs to happen in more industries. Too many times someone is dropped into a situation they have no clue about and left to sink. If only our money was going for more constructive uses like this.