Doctors cast career net wider to fulfil changing aspirations

There are big changes happening in the way doctors make career choices; rather than climbing the career ladder or securing a job for life, many doctors are looking to apply their skills to alternative careers, move overseas or achieve a better work/life balance. 

For example, GPs are increasingly eschewing the opportunity to become a partner in a practice, due to concerns about the financial risks and the ever-increasing work-load, and instead are placing greater value on flexibility of employment, often so that they can devote more time to family and personal life.

It may be that this is partly attributable to a greater number of women in the workplace, who are looking to juggle their career and their family, but often men are also looking for part-time roles.

It is a trend that is also being witnessed in secondary care, where moving up to a consultant's role as quickly as possible is no longer the Holy Grail for many doctors. 

Indeed many doctors are being lured by the promise of a better way of life overseas, while others are looking to apply their skills to a commercial/private organisation in a related field, such as the pharmaceutical industry, or are happy to delay becoming a consultant to spend time in research.

To meet doctors' changing career aspirations and attitudes to work, recruitment services must now offer them a wide range of choices. For example, Doctors.net.uk's online career service, which is visited by more than 30,000 GMC registered doctors monthly, enables recruiters to view CVs and contact doctors about a wealth of relevant posts ranging from working overseas to becoming a medic for the Ministry of Defence to clinical research and pharmaceutical medicine, and private healthcare.

These alternative jobs are offered in addition to a wealth of posts within the NHS, where there are currently recruitment demands in many key areas. These include emergency care, where some hospitals are being forced to search for talent outside the UK, as well as acute medicine, cardiology and dermatology, where mid to senior grade staff are in short supply.

Digital inspiration for pharma on mobile, social media, strategy, best practice, regulations and more