Clinical Fellow Scheme – what’s it all about?
FMLM hosted a webinar with four fellows from the current cohort of the National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellow Scheme on 7 December. The session aimed to give all those interested in applying to the scheme insights into what it means to be a clinical fellow.
Participants heard from: Dr Peter Thomson, CT2 General Surgery and Clinical Fellow at Health and Social Care Information Centre; Dr Jemma Batte, ST2 in ACCS (Acute Medicine) and Clinical Fellow at BUPA; Dr John Bainton, ST6 General Adult Psychiatry and Clinical Fellow at the General Medical Council; Dr Kaanthan Jawahar, CT1 Psychiatry and Clinical Fellow at NHS Trust Development Authority.
The fellows talked about their motivations to apply to the scheme, what they’ve gained during the first three months and answered questions from the floor.
“It is just the most fantastic year, definitely the best of my career to date, to be part of a group of 30 trainee doctors across different specialties from across the country. As a group, we’ve been able to approach quite a selection of healthcare leaders. We’ve also visited the Houses of Parliament, met senior civil servants and we’ve had dinner with an MP; I would never have had access to these opportunities to understand how healthcare works in a broader context unless I’d been part of this group.” Dr Jemma Batte
“Working for the TDA, very close to the Department of Health, I got a very good understanding of how the NHS actually works, all the different bodies that contribute to providing care in England, how they interact with each other and what everyone’s remit is and that is something that I had no idea about when I was in clinical training. In all honesty, it is essential we know how our system works; only then will you know what kind of levers you can pull and what buttons you can press to get things done for the benefit of your patients. Any of the posts on this scheme will give you that, a bird’s eye view of the inner workings of health in England.” Dr Kaanthan Jawahar