I wasn’t aiming that at you, I completely agree if I’m honest. For my profession I now have the equivalent of two undergraduate degrees and an additional diploma and for that reason I think I deserve to be on the money I am. But that being said, I know a lot of people who I went to school with that didn’t go to university and still have very well paying jobs - is it annoying? Slightly, but I guess that’s just life these days
I don’t think I’ve seen a single post here claiming that everyone should be paid equally?
It basically means “not a consultant”. The traditional medical culture is one of toxic infantilism which is really hard to convey until you’ve experienced it. The powers that be have renamed us so many times. We used to be called house officer, senior house officer, registrar then consultant. Then the new training pathways came in in the early 2000s and this creeping culture of making us sound as junior as possible. Senior house officer was officially outlawed for fear it gave nursing staff and others a mistaken impression that the doctor was in any way senior. Replaced with core trainee, or junior grade and now they’re suggesting “central doctor”. I wish I could make it make bleeping sense but I can’t. Meanwhile someone can do a degree in sport science, 2 years training to be a physician associate and start on £44k 9-5 no on calls. And people wonder why doctors are mad.
It’s about skills more than education. The university education for nursing, medicine etc is specific skills based programmes Focused at a specific job. I don’t begrudge tradesmen getting a decent wage, I can’t do their job so I need to pay them for their skills and expertise. Nurses and doctors are no different. You can’t easily replace a nurse or a doctor, just like retraining electricians etc takes considerable time and not everyone is up to the job. It’s about skills.
Yep that was basically my point. Skills =/= a degree, necessarily, so I wouldn't agree 'gradate entry jobs should have a higher salary' per se. Then personally in addition to that I also think things like risk, general working conditions, lifestyle/working pattern, physical burden etc should factor into the salary, all of which apply to nurses/doctors, but not exclusively.
Maybe slightly controversial but interested in the answer, if you can get £44k 9-5 for less training then why wouldn’t you? Is it the general work of a doctor being more enjoyable than a physician associate or is it something else? (I’m not in the medical field at all and genuinely curious)
absolutely agree. I think a lot of p
Theres less progression as a PA and they cannot prescribe or order ionising radiation (X-ray, CT etc) but that could change. However as they are permanent staff members departments are keen to train them up when they are less interested in doing so for their doctors who tend to rotate to new jobs every 4-6 months as part of their training. For example, my department has secured funding to train a PA in day case procedures. That’s training opportunities taken away from doctors.
Agree with this, give it a few years , PAs will have more work given to them ( extended practicei think the PA experiment will fail. Nobody wants to do the scut work forever, they will always want training up in other things because the core of their job (ward work) is not going to be enough to sustain a career. But in the meanwhile they are creaming off the good bits about being a more junior doctor and leaving the tit work .
incidentally you have a medical degree you are exempt from training as a PA
) for the same pay & will get fed up and feel stuck in their roles.
I mean tbf they do have a point
Exactly. It’s not the government, it’s the NHS as an employer.
I think the question is whether that makes it illegal if the strike began whilst the mandate was still active.
