{"id":46478,"date":"2020-01-21T11:45:05","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T10:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=46478"},"modified":"2020-01-27T14:40:31","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T13:40:31","slug":"emma-parish-what-do-i-need-to-do-to-become-a-consultant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/01\/21\/emma-parish-what-do-i-need-to-do-to-become-a-consultant\/","title":{"rendered":"Emma Parish: What do I need to do to become a consultant?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stepping into the role of a new consultant is exciting and comes with waves of doubt and elation. A few weeks into my new role these are my reflections.<\/span><\/p>\n

You will continue to introduce yourself as a registrar <\/span>automatically; on the phone; to families in clinic; on ward rounds; when dictating letters; to your medical director in a meeting. Then you will attempt to explain you are actually the consultant and try to continue to instil confidence, even when it sounds like you don\u2019t know who you are.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Attending patients brings decision fatigue, and handover of the ward shares the same hazy post-nights euphoria you felt at the end of a string of shifts. Your team around you are really talented so let them help you. Learning to delegate and rely on others is essential. It is a tricky balance to support your junior team, but allow them to develop while you are also learning a new role. One of the quick changes I had to make was to stop saying that I personally would come back to every family, and start empowering the team by saying that one of the team would check on things later. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Your team are everything. A supportive group of colleagues is the most helpful thing. It\u2019s the same advice for anyone in a new role<\/span>\u2014<\/span>don\u2019t be frightened to ask for help.<\/span> The first week on call will have lots of new \u201csurprises.\u201d Everyone you know will tell you their first consultant shift nightmare stories before you start. Similar, I imagine, to people\u2019s tendency to share birthing stories with pregnant women. It\u2019s meant to show empathy and you really should take it that way<\/span>\u2014<\/span>people want you to know you\u2019re not alone. I was allocated a \u201cbuddy\u201d for my first shifts who I could use as my go-to person, but the whole team made it clear they were on-hand to chat things through which really helped.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You will miss at least one meeting you didn\u2019t know about, and you may even find yourself missing having a bleep! As a consultant you will likely move away from spending all your time clinically. Spending time in\u00a0 multidisciplinary team meetings, having telephone discussions and following up on results becomes the new norm. You are in control of much more of your time, this can be incredibly liberating, but feels somewhat odd after years of having priorities driven by a bleep.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An amazing thing happens that I didn\u2019t expect<\/span>\u2014<\/span>you actually get more time with patients and their families again. Instead of being so focussed on tasks and job lists when attending you get to spend time speaking to families. They may be more complex discussions, but there is space and time to do what you really started out wanting to do<\/span>\u2014<\/span>listening to and hearing what matters to patients.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

See also<\/strong>: Careers clinic\u2014What do I need to do to become a consultant?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Top tips:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n