All your Q&As answered here! Study EM dishes the dirt on life as an ED doctor and making it:
So how do I become an Emergency Consultant?
You will be asked to apply for specialty training in the December of your F2 year with interviews being held from late January to late spring. Try to have evidence of your interest in emergency medicine before this point. It is worthwhile looking up the selection criteria 🙁http://specialtytraining.hee.nhs.uk/portals/1/Content/Person%20Specifications/Emergency%20Medicine/Emergency%20Medicine%20ACCS%20CT1.pdf) for the previous year and filling in any CV blanks sooner rather than later. If you do not feel you are ready to start specialty training then there is always the option of taking what is affectionately being referred to as an ‘F3’ year. Taking a year out gives you time to experience other areas of medicine either at home or abroad. You might even get the opportunity to try something different and exciting, which might not be an option later in life when children limit your options. It is no longer frowned upon to take time out as long as you can prove that you spent that year bettering yourself as a doctor (FYI, more experience = better doctor)
Currently emergency medicine training consists of a 6 year run-through programme; 3 years of core training (Acute Care Common Stem [ACCS]) and 3 years of Higher Specialty Training (HST).
CT1 – 6 months emergency medicine and 6 months acute medicine
CT2 – 6/9 months anaesthetics and 3/6 months intensive care
You are required to pass you FRCEM Primary exam (previously known as the MCEM Part A) before you can progress to CT3.
CT3 – A&E with a focus on paediatrics and trauma – ideally this year will be split between a Children Emergency Department (CED) and an Emergency Department in a Major Trauma Centre/Trauma Unit. However, not all regions are able to provide this. As such you might spend some time in paediatrics and/or orthopaedics.
You are required to pass your FRCEM Intermediate exam (previously known as the MCEM Parts B &C) prior to progressing to ST4.
ST4-6 – More A&E and paediatric emergency medicine. You also need to become proficient in emergency ultrasound and get to grips with management and other qualities required to run an Emergency Department. It is during this time that you can take time out to dual qualify in specialties such as intensive care and paediatric emergency medicine.
Before you are awarded the illustrious Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) you need to pass the FRCEM Final exam. Once you have served your time, passed the required exams and convince someone to give you consultant job then you have finally done it and then the real hard work starts!
