Felicity Howard - Sutton High School - Class of 1994

I left Sutton High School in 1994 and went straight to the University of Wales College of Medicine (now part of Cardiff University.)  I completed a 5-year traditional undergraduate course, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and graduated in 1999.

I did my pre-registration year split between Cardiff and Swansea, followed by 6-month jobs in A&E and general medicine. Several people suggested anaesthetics to me as a career option, so in 2001 I secured a place on a 3-year rotation scheme based in Swansea that gave me the basic exposure and teaching I needed to pass the primary fellowship exam of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, and secure a 5-year Specialist Registrar (SpR) post. I began my SpR training in 2004 and passed the final fellowship exam a year later. I am now halfway through this training and have recently secured a year’s training post in Paediatric Anaesthesia in Great Ormond Street Hospital.

I spend my days assessing patients for their suitability for anaesthesia and surgery, planning and giving anaesthetics in the operating theatre suite, working in the Intensive Care & High Dependency Units, attending pain clinics and covering cardiac arrest and trauma calls throughout the hospital. It is exciting and varied work which I enjoy immensely, although it is very demanding on my time and energy.

Undergraduate training has undergone an overhaul since I did my training, but the integrated courses now on offer (with earlier exposure to clinical work) are well established &, by all accounts, at least as enjoyable as the more traditional course pattern that I followed. It is also worth considering the increasing availability of 4-year graduate entry courses, for example the one in Swansea where I now live, which are highly recommended if you are unsure about entering medicine straight from school, or if you wish to pursue something else first. Entry requirements vary, but a good science based degree is usually acceptable.

Postgraduate medical training has also undergone many changes in the last few years, and is set to change again in the next year with the introduction of the Modernising Medical Careers scheme. Thankfully the horror stories of 120 hours a week on call are now a thing of the past as the European Working Time Directive currently limits the working week to an average of 56 hours.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my medical training, although it is fair to say that it takes a lot of hard work and determination to succeed. If you are considering a medical career yourself, here is my advice:

• Arrange some work experience in a hospital (whether local or a big teaching hospital does not matter) – the school should be able to help you with this.
• Investigate an access to medicine course or similar for 6^th-formers looking to get into medical school
• Consider whether you wish to go straight into medicine from school or would like to explore other avenues first – look at graduate entry course requirements.
• Look around several medical schools, talk to the students and find out their opinions before settling on a particular one
• Arrange a practice interview prior to your first one – it will really help with some of the difficult questions, and help you feel less nervous on the day.
• Keep an open mind about your future career; on my graduation day I told my mum that I would never be an anesthetist or a cardiologist (heart specialist) – so here I am!
• Don’t give up pushing at doors to get what you want; if you have the motivation and desire to succeed then you will do so, even if you take a few knocks along the way.

If you would like to discuss this career further, I am quite happy to be contacted directly by e-mail.