@Dr I,
When you say a 'career in the HMO', what exactly did you have in mind?

Any person wanting a career in that sector, should either be thinking of a role in health management, in which case they should be thinking of getting an MBA or something along those lines for the 'paper' qualification and the exposure it provides, or they may be more ambitious and think of actually becoming a service-provider to the HMO's i.e. set up a specialist clinic or hospital under the HMO umbrella. The ultimate would be to be part-owner of a HMO!

The future of healthcare in Nigeria is most likely to be a variant of the Health Insurance thing with the HMO's and the NHIS calling the shots. The Ministry of Health would probably oversee a parastatal that will liaise with the NHIS to articulate guidelines of practice and safeguards.

When those involved with the whole NHIS thing become serious, a proper health system will begin to evolve. And once that happens, the HMO's will become increasingly more inclined to work with people who have finsihed their residencies. The lot of those that haven't finished residency will not change much under any system unfortunately!

So you have to be clear what role you want to actually play and at what level, when the whole thing becomes more structured. I would advice exploring getting your residency under your belt, if you can. It opens up a lot of opportunities. If you can't then try to get skills relevant to your future ambition. Explore qualilifications in Health management, which should put you in a better stead to land a job as a manager of an HMO.

Good day

[b][/b]fsb! I dey feel you jare! B/cos person read medicine for Nigeria No mean se e go sign contract wit poverty!!
And the doctors sef no dey open their mouth talk, they just dey vex for inside and on top medical student head!

@eben 28,

I think you can do part of the USMLE papers as a student, at least the paper 1.

Here is a link to a forum that some people, i know, have found very useful. You can post the questions you have regarding the USMLE there http://www.usmleworld.com/Forum/default.aspx

I hope you find it relevant to your needs at this moment.

All the best

PS: You don't get answers if you dont ask questions, so never be afraid to ask questions, no matter how 'silly' they may seem. That's my experience anyway, and in my time i have asked lots of 'silly' questions, believe me!

Sorry una I wan ask one question o! E don dey resemble se for this world, na for naija na im medicine be" humanitarian job", When in the history of human existance wey hungry people start dey carry out humanitarian services? Besides I believe this should be a profession where clear-headed and settled people should offer the best services they can and be happy doing so. I've seen where docs esp. in the gov't settings attend to patients with frustration, as if the patients went there to beg for treatment. It's very bad!
I know it's not the doctors' fault, he too is a human being, but of all issues, inadequate basic salary combined with the hideous and stressful job? Haba!
"Humanitarian Job"- with no improvement, not to talk of making any medical breakthrough or advancement. Someone with the dreams and zeal of making any medical advance in this country will b/4 he knows it, find himself spending more time trying out other fields where he will be getting better returns b/cos what he gets from his primary field (if he is not into private practice & that even entails having your own hospital) can barely take care of his welfare.
I think the main problem we have is that the association of medical practitioners in the country can't even come out and make their demands striaghtforward. In advanced countries if situation like this occurred they would hit the nail on the head - Our salary is rubbish- Period!
But my people, - "Our working condition is not favourable" Various State governments are building even up to 200 bed hospitals- in a country where at least 70 per cent of the graduating students plan on writing USMLE.
Make I dey go abeg. Na God go save this country.

Dav.e

I can empathise with your frustration. Honestly.

Our health delivery  (lack of ) 'system' is pathetic. Unfortunately, the way things are currently on ground cannot in any way sustain an increase in the salaries, without there being a clear structure in the system. Doctors in Nigeria are underpaid, humiliated, frustrated etc etc. To make matters worse, when you complain, some misguided individual will throw up the 'humanitarian' card, as if any one will go and spend 6-8 years in the first instance just to become a charity worker!

Our agitation should be for there to be a proper system in place. Once that is in place, economics will drive up the incomes of health practitioners. Without a system in place, the government is burdened with paying salaries ad infinitum. With a functional system in place other potential funders will definitely start to factor into the picture. That's my belief. Until then, guys should build up their CV's by going for further training and acquiring more skills and expanding their horizons.

When i finished my house job and was confronted with the reality of our plight as Doctors in Nigeria, my first 'missionary' journey to change my destiny was a trip i made to the Gambia. I didn't want to settle with the pervading stench of mediocrity that i was finding around me at the time. When that journey failed, i set up a health related NGO in Nigeria to do the things that i want to do, before finally leaving for the UK to live with respect and dignity.

We (Doctors) are highly skilled individuals in every country of the world and in every language. Every where i go except for Nigeria, Doctors working in the profession can afford a decent lifestyle. They can afford the peace of mind to carry out their duties with a sence of responsibility with the understanding that that 'responsibility' has earned them the privilege to a life much better than the average person.

So your frustration and that of so many leaving medical school every year in Nigeria-who gradually lose their self esteem and pride bit by bit with the humiliation they are subjected to by the way things are-is valid. But much as one would want to blame the visionlessness of government for our impoverishment, it is clear that those from among us who do make demands on the government on our behalf have also lost their way.

The way i see it is that, if the boat is sinking, leave it. You are of better value alive than dying with a sinking boat.

@ben
Thanks. I was just about to write my final exams, 2 weeks b/4 the ASUU strike began. Once I finish my Housemanship I'll just have to further outside the country cos I just can't stand this place.

Good luck in your final exams and in your career!

The future should be bright.

Hi. Thinking of coming to the UK immediately after service. Please could u explain briefly the different types of jobs that might be available. What does 'trust grade' mean.
Would I be able to get a FY1 or FY2 job?
And how will the EWTD affect salaries? On average like how much would an average doctor be able to save?
Is it possible to get a locum job as the first appointment?

Thanks nairalanders,

@ bongabiz,
I am assuming that you have either passed your PLAB exams or your are currently in the process of doing so. Am i right?

Okay, let me try to answer your questions;

1. Please could u explain briefly the different types of jobs that might be available.

You may be able to get the following types of jobs:
Trust Grade jobs, Foundation Years (1-2), Core Training (1-3), Staff Grade jobs.

Trust grade jobs are non-training jobs that are created to cover the clinical-service needs that are left open by those that are in training due to their having to take time out to 'train'. With the EWTD thing that you mentioned, there's probably going to be a lot more Trust Grade jobs available in the NHS. These jobs are usually done by people who are just entering the system, who have minimal NHS experience and are trying to get into training posts.

Foundation Year (FY) jobs-These are the equivalent of our house jobs in Nigeria. They are training posts that rotate every 4 months for a total of 2 years, hence FY1 and FY2. If you're just finishing your housemanship (and the NYSC thing) then it would be advised for you to try for the FY jobs. You may be able to get into training much more quicker, as the 2 years will allow you to acquire the 'competencies' that you need to compete for the Core Training posts.

Core Training (CT) Post-this is the 'residency' equivalent. Here you spend 3 years doing your basic specialist training. Ideally the individual would have used the FY jobs to identify which specialty that they are most interested in, so would have developed the 'competencies' relevant to that specialty. People coming from overseas can still get shortlisted for CT posts now and then, especially outside of London (which is very competetive) and in Specialities such as Psychiatry that people don't seem so enthusiastic about. In most of the training schemes in London there were unfilled CT1 posts in Psychiatry for this August.

Staff Grade jobs are open to those who have a bit of NHS training experience, so you probably will not be targeting them!   


2. What does 'trust grade' mean.

See above

3. Would I be able to get a FY1 or FY2 job?

Yes, if you've passed your PLAB exams and have gotten your registration with the General Medical Council

4. And how will the EWTD affect salaries?

I am not quite sure, but it's most likely that the salaries will drop for those Trusts that have not been EWTD-compliant. Doctors salaries here are made up of the basic and the 'banded' salary. The banded salary is a percentage of your basic, which is determined by how much oncalls you do on your rota. When i was in training, my banding was between 40-50% of the basic. Our Trust was EWTD-compliant.

Mind you all this EWTD thing only affects those in training.

5. On average like how much would an average doctor be able to save?

It's a difficult question to answer. There's nothing really like an 'average' Doctor, if one must be honest. But if i attempted to answer that question, i'd say that given you would earn anything from £2,400-£3,200 after tax, you could spend anything from £350-£1200 on rent, depending on where you live (London vs out of London, bedsit vs flat vs house etc). You should also remember to throw in your feeding, transport, obligations to people at home etc. At the end of the day, if you are single you may be able to 'save' anything from £200-£1,500 monthly! It's a vague answer  i know!

6. Is it possible to get a locum job as the first appointment?

Yes.

Here is a link to another very useful site for Doctors that has discussion forums for PLAB, USMLE, exams in Australia etc.

http://www.aippg.net/forum/

@Beneli:
Thanks for the comprehensive response!
I like Psychiatry and am considering it, but please, apart from Psychiatry which other specialties would be possible/likely to enter?

@ bongabiz

There's General Practice, which takes 3 years in all for training. It's becoming increasingly fashionable, so much more competitive. However, a lot of overseas Doctors are still able to get in.

There's also A&E medicine. Unfortunately, there's very little progression here as you'll probably end up just doing middle grade locums.
You will however get enough 'training' to do professional exams, like the MRCP etc, but not enough to end up as a Consultant.

Psychitary is comparatively easy to get in but becomes increasingly competitive to progress into higher specialist training after your CT3.

What a lot of people are considering is an alternative route to becoming a Consultant after they've secured their Membership with the Royal Colleges. This is the so called Article 14 route where you have to arrange for your own training and acquire the relevant skills and 'competencies' outside of a formal training arrangement, which you would then present to the Postgraduate Medical Education Training Board (PMETB) for consideration.

I don't know how this is working out in the other specialties but in Psychiatry there seems to be a lot of opportunties of getting the Certificate of Completeion of Specialist Training (CCST) via Article 14, as opposed to the CCT (Certificate of Completeion of Training) via the normal training route, which both allows you to get Consultant posts.

I hope this helps.

@mikkyfara,
This is a serious forum and not for spammers and those looking for uninformed people to defraud.

This is just the problems with Nigerians. Like i said am not in Nigeria my brother,so there is nothing am going to defraud in you. Better still keep your mouth and focus on your ability to give your patient good service. I am a nursing student here in Ontario ( Centennial College on HP Campus ) . So get a life, and be matured. Is not everybody you open mouth and spit on them. Please lets give ourselves little respect. If you want me to educate you more, i will. Give me your number. okay! Mr Look warm

@mikkyfara,
I would advise that you focus on your studies for now. YOU cannot help anybody to get a job in Canada.

Canada is not some developing country where people get jobs based on who they know. Well not always, anyway.

There is a point based system that health professionals can use to get into Canada (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/index.asp), following which, if they are succesful, they can start applying for jobs. Doctors would need to pass the Canadian Medical exams BEFORE they can work there as professionals. But even passing the exams is not a guarantee as the Canadian Health system is very protective of their own and hardly accepts foriegners. You would know that if you're in Canada.

If you really want to be of help to anybody, why not give the information that you have here. If you are not a spammer or a fraudster then forgive me for taking you to be one, given that people who leave email contacts, without giving any information usually have quite a lot to hide.

Someone in Nigeria is telling me of what am pretty sure about. Anyway i think you're really hungry and that is why you're showing m your provocative attitude, best of luck, My records speak for me. OK! Again get a life, If i happen to be a white man now, you will definitely had believed me all this while and that is why the white will continue to rule us forever, Base on what you said about getting or passing the school of health , It is not every province that does that, ok make more about your research dude, Am there anyway

For peace sake, mikkyfara, look at my profile before you conclude where i am at and whether i am 'hungry' or not!

The fact remains that you've very little to offer and it appears that you're getting carried away by your being 'there anyway'. There are procedures for immigrating properly. If you don't follow them you can get stuck wherever you go and end up looking for people to defraud in order to 'keep face'. Stick with your 'nursing' studies, my friend otherwise you won't be employable. The standars are very high in Canada and people who use phrases like 'Mr look warm' as you did a few posts earlier, certainly have a lot more work to do in order to remain competitive out there.

By the way you probably didn't notice that this forum is for Doctors and not for 'nursing' students, so it appears you're out of your depths here and have apparently lost your way.

Anyways, all the best in your nursing career and try to stay out of fraud. Crime doesn't pay!

PS: I wonder why the evidence from all the posts you've made so far on NL seem to point towards the fact that you are a spammer. I really wonder.

@mikkyfara, pls dont be confrontational. ben is only trying to state the obvious.
you actually sound like a scammer or else why wldnt you just make your information open.why wld you want to have private information with anyone.
also as you can see,ben is our moderator and has been very helpful to us.pls dont ever insult him again.we are very protective of our own.
you can take your tricks elsewhere ok?

@ben,thanks a lot for what you are doing in this thread. youve really been an inspiration.
also,i just completed my nysc,i am currently working in a private hospital and earning peanuts.i really want to get out of this country but i dont even know where to start from.
a friend of mine suggested i should go into cochrane reviews and i wld benefit tremendously,he got involved 3yrs ago ,this year he got a scholarship to do his mph in southafrica.he has been sponsored to different countries for workshops and seminars.however, i dont even know how to get involved as i require some basic training.
sincerely i wldnt want to do my residency in naigeria as i think its a waste of my time unless its in public health.but why do a full residency in public health when i can do a masters?

i cant think of coming to the uk because ive heard so many scary things of getting there and being stuck,moreover i have friends that have been there for years now and have passed all their exams and yet cant get a placement for their residency.so theyve been doing locum jobs which they say pays ok.however i still feel its better than nigeria where one neither sees the money nor the job satisfaction.
how does the HSMP thing work?what are the schorlarship opportunities in the uk?i dont mind doing an mph and then going further to a masters whilst working in an ngo.
someone else asked me to try australia,says his friend went there and is doing so well.apparently all one needs to do is to pass their liscensing exam ie the part one and you wld be given a job immediately with working visa as they are in dire need of doctors. i dont know how true that is and from what ben said,its possible the job opportunities are locum and not training positions.
apparently my best bet is the us and the carribeans.i learnt the us is getting tough,how easy is it to get a visa and working visa at that to these places?what wld one do for survival whilst one is looking for a job?

I have decided to try to get a better job,and save up some money for my mph, whilst i continue to apply for visa lottery to be able to get genuine papers to live and work in the us.
meanwhile ive applied to a school in grenada looking for recently graduated medical doctors from all over the world to lecture kind of like to give tutorials to their medical students whilst preparing for usmle at 4000 us dollars a month.i pray im called for that.
here in nigeria though,i applied for a job at a hmo and attended an interview on monday where the job description was spelt out to me. apparently i am supposed to work on operations of the hmo in the state ie i wld be in charge of some states and endeavour that the hmo functions optimally ie the health care providers and the clients are happy.secondly and more importantly i wld get more clients to get health insurance coverage to the tune of 400million in one year.however i do it they dont care.oops that was scary.
My renumeration for one year wld be 5million with a car and driver.very tempting but where wld i get 400mil naira from?
i need this job to be able to save up for my masters but if i dont deliver esp on the second duty,i wld be kicked out in 6months.
what do i do really?

@dr I,
I am actually not the moderator here, but i appreciate your gestures in coming to my 'defence'. I only indulged the gentleman in question to keep this forum going. Usually i don't have time for time wasters.

You have raised a lot of issues and i must confess that i don't really know where to start to offer advise. However it is clear that your approach is right. You get up and try to change things for yourself.

For information on scholarships to do MpH and other health related postgraduate course in the UK, you can go to the British Council and ask. I know that there's the British Chevening Scholarship available but it's very competitive. Some other embassies offer scholarships like the Netherlands etc, so you can start calling around and find out what is available.

If you can get to Grenada on the right visa that would be good, if the intention is to be able to save to do the USMLE and progress in your career. If you can't get to any of those places, you can still try to pass your primaries here and be moving forward, career wise while making alternative plans. You never know what might happen.

You can be occasionally checking this site http://unjobs.org/themes/public-health for relevant jobs and see what their person specifications are. With that in mind, you can build your CV to fit the kind of relevant jobs that are on offer.

Here's some other useful links for working in Australia and New Zealand, which i had posted before.

http://www.imrmedical.com/australiasalaries.htm
http://www.imrmedical.com/NZsalaries.htm

After my first 'missionary' journey to the Gambia, which was not well planned, it took me about 6 years to get my acts together and to proceed in a more organised way to actualising my dreams. I have a friend currently doing his residency in Boston, who it's taken about 10 years. He started his residency in Nigeria, managed to eventually get a chance to go for his MpH in Harvard before starting his residency this year!

Some might not understand the restlessness that propels us. But if you've got it, believe me, you won't be pacified until you are where you need to be.

God speed.

Dr I,
Why not ask your friend how s/he became involved with the Cochraine thing you mentioned?

One way to put a foot in the door of going for International seminars, workshops, courses etc is to find health-related NGO's in Nigeria to start volunteering with. They usually have a lot of information. Volunteering for Charity Organisations is a big deal in acquiring skills. At one time, the Voluntary Sector Organisations (NGO's) used to meet at the British Council office in Lagos once a month under the umbrella of HURINET. HURINET, stands for Human Rights Information Network. You can find out if they still meet or what they have now metamorphosed into.

The voluntary sector has a lot of very useful information on scholarships, international seminars and workshops etc. The usefulness of these would be to acquire some relevant competencies, not to use the opportunity of going on a seminar abroad to stay back. If you did that, you'll get stuck. Try exploring what the Voluntary sector (Nigerian and foriegn) have to offer that is relevant to your ambitions.

dr I:

i cant think of coming to the uk because ive heard so many scary things of getting there and being stuck,moreover i have friends that have been there for years now and have passed all their exams and yet cant get a placement for their residency.so theyve been doing locum jobs which they say pays ok.however i still feel its better than nigeria where one neither sees the money nor the job satisfaction.

Getting a 'placement for residency' in the UK, can be a very difficult task if you want to do things like Surgery, as i have stated before. However, it is still done. The problem a lot of us Doctors from Nigeria have had include the following:

1. We don't have the experience of writing good CV's, so we don't even get shortlisted for the jobs in the first place.
2. We have poor interview skills, due to inadequate practice, poor proficiency in communication, inadequate experience to draw from etc.

The locums pay reasonably well. At Trust grade level (see my response to bongabiz), you can ask for £25-40 per hour, depending on whether you've been employed directly by the hospital or by locum agencies as a limited company (preferable) versus being employed as an individual (where you pay up to 40% tax). Staff Grade can ask for £40-60 per hour. All that is before tax, of course, but the money is still very reasonable.

Those who are not able to get into training use the opportunity from their earnings to pay and prepare for the USMLE. Others save money to do Masters in other things and target jobs with the Voluntary Sector or just set up business in Nigeria.

I will try to find the time to write about preparing your CV's and how to prepare for interviews. I can't promise exactly how soon that will be though.

Thanks a lot Beneli.I am very sure that would help a lot.You are right in saying that we doctors dont know how to prepare for interviews or write a proper cv,its not really our fault you know, we are not really in the coporate environment and especially in nigeria, we are not invited for any interviews as most jobs are based on who one knows as opposed to who is the best.this includes residency placements.its sad to find out that those of us with primaries were not taken after the upth interviews and some people without primaries were given placements.can you beat that?
Thats naija for you.
Pls could you give me an idea of how the health insurance thing works in the civilised societies?also cld it work properly here? the NHIS is a total disaster.from what i know at the hospital i work for,they are given the cheapest drugs,you can imagine they are still given CQ at this day and age.Artesunate is completely out of the question for them,meanwhile thats the who recommended drug.

pls what is the difference between a specialist physician, a general practitioner and a family physician as seen in the Canadian skilled occupation list?

@Ben,im sorry i asked a question about the health insurance and how it works in yhe uk. Ive just read your comprehensive write up on it earlier on.
your suggestions make so much sense. The so called 5 star hospitals would only be like the typical government thing that wld phase out after some time out of lack of maintenance.
methinks the solution to our health problems is the involvement of the private sector in health insurance,however as it goes right now, i am not really sure if i would say thats a good solution.where i work for example, we have lots of insured patients who get health services according to their premiums.
its kind of frustrating cos the doctors are limited to the dictates of these health insurance companies even when we know it might not necesssarily be the best. sincerely,NHIS just seems to be the worst of them all.do you know that pple under NHIS cant see a specialist?terrible aint it?

@Dr I,
I will still find time to discuss the CV thing and how to prepare for Medical interviews. But let me answer the questions that are more straight forward.

dr I:

pls what is the difference between a specialist physician, a general practitioner and a family physician as seen in the Canadian skilled occupation list?

A specialist Physician is a Physician who is specialised in something. e.g. a Cardiologist, a Gastroenterologist and yes, a Psychiatrist!

A General Practitioner is the same thing as a Family Physician. Some call them Primary Care Physicians because they are the first port of call for people who have health problems. If the problems require more specialised input, the GP or Family Physician refer them on to the relevant specialists in secondary or tertiary care. After medical school, a Doctor still needs to train to become a General Practioner or Family Physician. In the UK, US and in Canada it's at least 3 more years of training!

dr I:

Pls could you give me an idea of how the health insurance thing works in the civilised societies?also cld it work properly here? the NHIS is a total disaster.from what i know at the hospital i work for,they are given the cheapest drugs,you can imagine they are still given CQ at this day and age.Artesunate is completely out of the question for them,meanwhile thats the who recommended drug.

In the UK, Health is funded through the taxes that we pay. So you can see it as a form of public health insurance. Everybody, who is legal, has access to healthcare because of the taxes paid by the working population. The healthy and rich therefore subsidise the vulnerable and poor. In the US, i understand that it's quite different. Though i have an idea of how their system works, I would prefer that somebody who actually works there came in and gave us the details.

The problem with the NHIS in Nigeria, as i have stated in so many words, is that there is no proper regulation and safeguards in place for it to do what it was supposed to do. The Ministry of Health should be setting up a regulatory body that sets standards and ensures that they are kept. 

Hand in hand with the development of the NHIS should also be the development of a proper channel for unsatisfied service-users to sue their service providers! This is the practice in the US and is currently evolving in the UK. The good thing about it, is that it actually keeps the service-providers conscious of the promises they make to their customers. This would also introduce the concept of indemnity for Doctors into the system, thereby attracting the development of medical defence organisations, medico-legal services etc. This would also push for Doctors to want to be abreast of the recent developments in clinical practice as you wouldn't want any lawyer questioning you about the evidence you have for a medication or investigation you ordered!

My conviction is that the NHIS is a veritable tool for our health care delivery system to evolve. But the Ministry of Health, HMO's and other service-providers, and all the other stake-holders MUST come together to discuss the strategies and opportunities that it offers and then go ahead to make it work.

Ok, let's get this CV thing out of the way.

I will start with a little anecdote. After i passed my PLAB i wanted to work in London, so i had to try to get my 'clinical attachment' done in a Hospital in London. In those days it was the fad for hospitals to offer positions to Overseas Doctors (OD) to shadow trainees for a period of time, during which the OD would hamiliarise him/her self with the expected level of skills required for junior Doctors in the specialty they are interested in. Someone told me of a Nigerian locum consultant working in the Hospital that i was interested in and after i met him, he asked me to bring a copy of my CV for him to look at.

When i did produce my CV for him to peruse, he dismissed it as essentially 'rubbish'! He was a lot more diplomatic to actually use the word 'rubbish', but that was implied!.

What was wrong with my CV that it was considered rubbish, you may ask?

My CV was so bland that i can't even remember what it had written on it! The CV should not be so 'forgetful'. It's a marketing tool at the end of the day, so it's important to market yourself for the job through it. However some of the things i took away from his perusal are the following:

1. The first thing that i should have thought of (silly me) was that i should have tailored my CV to suit the post i was looking for!
It's easy for somebody writing a CV to get carried away with the 'impressive' skills that they think they have. The question is however 'are your skills relevant to the job you are looking for?'. There is no point writing about how many hysterectomies or emergency Caesarean sections you've done, if you're applying for a job in Psychiatry!

2. We shouldn't save the best for (the) last page! Here is one place where the best you have to offer should feature on the first page. if possible. Recruiters hardly have time to go through the voluminoius CV's stacked on their desks. Most just look at the first page and make their decision based on that alone! Usually those tasked with selecting CV's for interviews are not that skilled professionally. They are usually given a list of tick-box items to use for the selections. And if some of those things are not reflected on the first page, then your CV is dumped with the loser's pile. In the bin!

3. That brings me to the issue of how big (how many pages) a CV should be. There are no hard and fast rules. Most people don't have time to look at more than 4 A4 pages. And that's if your CV is impressive and wasn't dumped in the bin at the initial selection stage! I usually keep mine at about 4 pages at the moment by constantly editing out unecessary 'skills' as i become increasingly more specialised.

Usually the first page of my CV contains my biodata (name, sex, date of birth, immigration status and that sort of thing), my (relevant) qualifications, a summary of relevant jobs that i have done and for how long and a summary of other relevant skills that i may have. Note my use of the adjective 'relevant'. The job you are applying for determines which things you incude.

The next pages i would use to elaborates on the skills i have. Usually i would be emphasising those ones that are relevant to the job in question. After that, i would be hinting at other skills and experiences, which i have acquired. Here there's usually a lot of interest in your involvement in Research and Clinical Audits, publications, presentations at conferences, administrative and managerial skills, Teaching experience.

If you do get shortlisted and have been invited for an interview, you should be ready to defend your CV!

First though you should attend an interview looking like a professional. For Doctors a good suit, tie and an overall good grooming always works. There's a saying that your fate at any interview is usually decided within the first 5 minutes! So don't forget to brush your teeth! And don't go in smelling of sweat. A good deodarant is a good idea! First impression as they say, is usually the most lasting!

Some interviewers would start by asking you to take them through interesting things in your CV that you think are relevant to the post you have applied for! Woe betide you if you didn't read your own CV! Some people forget what they've got in the CV's. I no lie!

The question about your suitability can be phrased differently. They may ask you to say the things about you that makes you most suitable for the job you have applied for.

Then there could be questions about your personality. What are your strengths and weaknesses is one way of asking the question. Another is for you to talk about an experience that has affected you most in life. It could be a general question or it could be specific to your clinical experiences. Some may ask you to talk about a clinical mistake you've made that you have learnt from etc.

Then there may be specific questions relating to the job. You may be given a clinical scenario and asked how you would deal with it. Or you could be asked about any significant changes in the speciality you are interested in over the last few years. Or you could b asked to talk about a relevant scientific journal that you've read recently that you think is interesting.

The thing about getting through interviews is that you should try to remain confident. I don't mean being cocky and all that. Just confident and courteous. If you are unable to answer any question, you should find a nice way to say so. Like 'that's a rather difficult question, which i am not quite sure how to answer'. Or something less verbose.

Here is a link that you may find useful http://www.tfpl.com/recruitment/candidates/cvinterviews.cfm

I hope that's been helpful.

The post on CV etc's is refusing to open! Moderator help!!

I have had to post the unedited version twice. See below.

I have posted the same post 4 times and it's refusing to reflect here!

deleted-no longer relevant