About the CDU

The Career Development Unit works across the Oxford Deanery to provide a comprehensive careers service and performance support for all doctors and dentists in primary and secondary care.  The service is available for senior medical students, trainees and all established doctors and dentists at any stage in their career.

The careers service provides local specialty information and career management skills workshops for the Oxford Foundation School. It also provides personal career guidance for those with a career dilemma, including those with health or disability problems.

The CDU provides personal coaching/mentoring for doctors or dentists who self-refer or are referred. The CDU provides guidelines and workshops to help trainers manage performance issues in trainees and also collaborates with trainers to provide help and personal coaching/mentoring for individual trainees in difficulty.

The performance support service is also available to employing Trusts who can decide to purchase the personal coaching/mentoring service to help established doctors and dentists get back on track following local investigation, NCAS or GMC assessment. The CDU is also available as a source of information and advice to employers.

The CDU acts as one point of contact in the Oxford Deanery for all issues regarding careers, performance and health for doctors and dentists.

Who works for the CDU?

The Oxford Deanery Career Development Unit (CDU) consists of a director, Dr John Derry, Deanery career lead Barbara Wallis, a team of CDU coach/mentors and support manager Maggie Childs.

The CDU coach/mentors are senior Deanery consultants and GPs with extensive educational experience who have been trained to:

• provide individual career help
• give advice to trainers and employers
• facilitate workshops on:
  • career management
  • helping the trainee in difficulty
  • helping the established doctor/dentist in difficulty.

Contacting the CDU

• Email cdu@thamesvalley.hee.nhs.uk . Email sent to this address is completely confidential - messages are routed to the CDU administrator and  checked every working day.
  
• If you wish to speak to the CDU Director on the phone, please email a contact phone number and preferred times to call.
  
• Postal address for sending confidential material: 
  The Director
  Career Development Unit
  Health Education Thames Valley
  The Triangle
  Roosevelt Drive
  Oxford
  OX3 7XP.