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Personal career guidance: case study
Trainee - SHO in Obs/Gynae
All case studies are fictitious but based on CDU experience.
Dr SL was in the third post of an SHO rotation. She had completed part I MRCOG successfully but realised that she had not been enjoying work for over a year, was feeling constantly tired and the last straw was her last appraisal when she was told that the midwives found her unfriendly.
Her consultant said that otherwise he was satisfied with her competence and reported good feedback from patients but she was left wondering whether she had made the wrong specialty choice. This made her feel anxious and worried about the time she may have wasted, what options there were to change specialties and - her worst fear - would another specialty make her feel the same and had she chosen the wrong career? Confused and uncertain, she contacted the CDU.
Dr L's career guidance interview helped her to think again about why she had chosen medicine as a career and identify the aspects of all her jobs that she had enjoyed and been good at. Feeling more confident, she was able to explore the issues related to her last three SHO posts in Obs/Gynae and realised that while she enjoyed seeing patients on the ward and in out-patients, she found labour ward stressful and theatre extremely tiring. After further discussion she realised that she could cope with emergencies provided they did not involve practical procedures and that she had had to work hard to remain confident when working with her hands.
Gradually Dr L realised that the effort to develop and maintain her practical and surgical skills had reduced her job satisfaction and motivation which in turn had made her tired and withdraw from her colleagues. She decided that she may not be suited to a surgical career and wondered about paediatrics or general practice. The CDU helped her arrange a few days work experience in a local GP training practice and she obtained some advice from the paediatric specialty adviser. Eventually she decided to apply for a paediatric SHO post which would also contribute to general practice training if she felt paediatrics did not suit her.
Dr L thrived in paediatrics where she found her obstetric experience was an advantage and she was able to continue enjoying her contact with mothers on the postnatal ward. She felt more energetic, started enjoying her work and had some excellent feedback from the nurses who described her as friendly and approachable. She went on to be successful in her application for a paediatric SHO rotation.
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