OverseasDiaries Issue 3: Should you apply to the UK for residency?
- Maham Raheel
- Nov 24, 2020
- 4 min read
The prospects of life in the UK are quite lucrative for any person living in Pakistan. Whilst, passing medicine itself can be quite challenging here in Pakistan, foreign licensing exams seem quite daunting. Do not fret, for our series on the what’s and how’s can surely add some sense of direction to your plans.
Professional linguistics and assessment boards or PLAB is a UK based licensing exam for those whose degrees are not recognized in the United Kingdom.
Some benefits include:
Better work-life balance, it is illegal to work shifts longer than 12 hours. Which is stressed upon in the UK, such cannot be seen in Pakistan or anywhere else for that matter. The US is infamous for overworking its residents, so it comes as a breath of fresh air when we no longer have to look towards a dreary future of the mundane hospitals and no silver lining at the end. This has us SOLD.
The country is smaller and well connected, getting to places is easier than the US where one only gets to see family once a year maybe. Just hop onto a train and you’re in France for the weekend. To that, we say c’est parfait (sounds perfect). exploring Scotland has never been easier, and the dramatic mountain scenery in the Isle of Skye has you sorted for a break from the pungent smell of formaldehyde in the hospital.
The UK’s medicine induction system is quite flexible in there being 2 ways than we can enter. One is by giving PLAB, which is the shortest, fastest way of entering the system, the other is by the MRCP/MRCS or FRCS/FRCP, which is equivalent to the FCPS here. The only addition being the compulsory IELTS/OET, which after more inquiry into isn’t necessarily difficult as it is about mastering the art of deciphering patterns of questions.
Burnout culture isn’t as prominent, this lends more time and garners more encouragement for activities outside of medicine. A healthy relationship with work is all we want our future to be about, the hustle shouldn’t be all-consuming.
Pay is enough to live sustainably, even enough to consider buying a house/car, which might not be possible here in Pakistan for a junior doctor (house job), who lives mostly hand to mouth. After years of slaving away, giving one nerve-racking exam after another perhaps having a nice home to come back to at the end of the day isn’t asking for much, I suppose.
Longer paid vacations are encouraged, maternity leave granted something quite improbable in the US. It wouldn’t take us a lot of persuasions to go on a holiday as it is, a paid one who has us walk out the OT the moment the words are uttered.
Providing quality care, a picture-perfect model for a welfare state to all citizens, regardless of ethnicity or religion. Something which stands true to our values instilled in us, but not commonly seen here. The greater good always comes first, privatized hospitals do exist but the quality of care is matchable to the NHS hospitals.
So far, the UK has us enraptured, however on an in-depth analysis, the picture does get distorted and the deterrents do have us give this thought a once over:
Lesser pay compared to your counterparts with similar qualifications in finance, law, and dentistry compared to the number of hours actively spent trying to earn a decent living.
The too-long winding, 6 years of university along with 5 years of post-graduate training which brings a total of 12 years of supervised practice, until one becomes a “consultant”. I think I might’ve aged typing that sentence out NGL :P. So it’s safe to calculate that one will be in their 30s by the time this ordeal ends.
Some people argue this long journey has purposely been set to keep the pay scales low for junior doctors. "Mr. Stark… I don’t feel so good."
If one is interested in a specialization, one has to go around a long winding road of 5 years which has nothing to do with your specific specialization.
“Let’s take the example of a fictional doctor called Laura. Laura got to the end of medical school and she was certain she wanted to be a dermatologist. Laura gets given her F1/F2 rotations and finds out she is doing 4 months in GP, 4 months in Radiology, 4 months in Ophthalmology, 4 months in Elderly Care, 4 months in A&E, and 4 months in Lower GI surgery. She then has to start her Core Medical Training and spends 2-3 years on Geriatrics, Heme/Onc, and Cardiology wards. Almost 5 years of her life will have passed since she graduated as a doctor, and she will have had almost no chance to pursue any training in dermatology at this stage. Only after she has sacrificed these 5 years will she be allowed to become a specialist registrar and then spend 4-5 years training in the only specialty she has been passionate about all along.”
Dr.Osama Sayed - Founder of Liberty Medics
Nothing comes free, no one buys you a sandwich for free, it’s all taxed, very heavily at that. For household utilities, especially for property, one has to pay queen’s tax and other taxes cumulatively. The lump-sum salary hence shrinks down to a meager, yet decent one. A stark comparison can be seen in the counterpart across the Atlantic where the US has a much more handsome way of rewarding its resident doctors. To read more about the USMLE and step experience click here.
Now we can’t go harping on about how great it is, there are loads of mundane admin tasks piled up in addition to caring for 20 plus patients, which reduced the teaching time to a meager 1-2 hours. Cannulation, maintaining an IV line, checking on blood-work are some of the daily tasks on one’s to-do list. It’s not for those geared up for a single specialty, it’s long and exhausting. Some critics even jab fingers at the high understaffing at certain hospitals where doctors have to fulfill the roles of nurses sometimes, to keep the NHS system free for everyone. The NHS has been under fire and scrutiny for this very reason for a long, long time.
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