Senior House Officer In Medicine Research Articles

Ethics of the ordinary: a class response

In a previous issue of the BJGP , Papanikitas and Toon use a fictional narrative to illustrate the ethical components of an ordinary consultation.1 We discussed the narrative as a class as well as the questions posed by the authors, and would like to showcase our discussion as a way to decrypt some of the moral decisions and value judgements in this case. As a set of signposts to the ethical principles we have used Gillies’ InnovAIT paper.2 This paper sets out key ethical frameworks in relation to RCGP curriculum statement 3.3 on ethics and values-based medicine.3 The class consisted of five qualified GPs, one senior house officer in medicine, one bioinformatics graduate, and one researcher for a think-tank. The class were all taking part in an optional MSc module in ethics law and professionalism as part of an MSc degree in primary healthcare or a Master of Public Health degree at King’s College London. We conducted the discussion by Chatham House Rule, so all authors contributed, but no one voice is identified here. The class facilitator was Andrew Papanikitas, one of the authors of the previous BJGP narrative. We are all too aware that our discussion is not comprehensive and would welcome correspondence, either with us directly (via the corresponding author) or in the pages of this Journal. The scenario is one where the last patient on a Friday afternoon asks for a private referral to a clinic for consideration of bariatric surgery. We note that the patient would not qualify for an NHS referral, and that the GP in the scenario is in a hurry to get to a social engagement. The authors ask how the doctor reconciles his ‘legitimate’ (class emphasis) plans for an evening out with the needs of his patient. In discussion …

Edulji (Eddy) Sethna

Dr Eddy Sethna was born on 3 December 1925 in Bombay, India. He won two scholarships which entirely funded his medical school training and he qualified with MB BS from Bombay in 1951. Having completed house jobs in Bombay, he became a senior house officer in medicine at the Bury and Rossendale Group

I am an overseas graduate working as a senior house officer in medicine. What rights do I have in terms of claiming family accommodation from my employer when they don't have any available?

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The Grampian senior house officer scheme in medicine - the early years and now

A rotational scheme for Senior House Officers in medicine is described. Although it was introduced more than 30 years ago its effectiveness is such that it has remained the basis of training. Details of the original scheme are given together with the underpinning principles. The modifications leading to the current scheme are noted.

Senior house officers and their training. I. Personal characteristics and professional circumstances.

To assess the experience and perceptions of training of senior house officers in medicine a population survey of senior house officer training was conducted on senior house officers, registrars, senior registrars, and consultants in six medical specialties in South East Thames region by interview and postal questionnaire. The overall response rate was 72%, varying from 62% to 83% according to status and from 61% to 80% according to specialty. Although most of the 226 senior house officer respondents were aged 28 or under (168/225), had been qualified for four years or less (168/225) and were British (176/223), a quarter were older and had been qualified for five years or more; in all, 17 other nationalities were represented. Twenty two were aged over 33, and 17 had been qualified for more than 10 years. Thirty five senior house officers worked more than the mode of the distribution of duty rotas (one in three). Among postgraduate qualifications achieved or pursued, those related to general practice were highly represented (164 examinations); 111 senior house officers intended becoming general practitioners, 63 non-teaching hospital consultants, and 34 university or NHS teaching staff. Analysis of career progression showed that an appreciable number (31/221) had had more than three senior house officer posts. The findings indicate that the main implications for training and education are time for study, careers advice, and revision of educational programmes.