Working in medical education: 5 pros and 5 cons
This page is written mainly for doctors (and medical students) – who are thinking of applying to an Academic Foundation Programme (AFP) for F1 and F2, or a career in medical education.
5 Pros – why should I work in medical education?
1. Flexible training hours
Most trainees will have flexible training programmes to allow them to reach their academic and clinical goals. It also means a balance between teaching, research, and clinical work.
2. Protected time to focus on academia
If you can secure a post on a formal training programme such as the Academic Foundation Programme (AFP) or Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) then this will mean up to 50% of your time could be allocated specifically to academia. This will allow for protected time for you to focus on your research or educational commitments without it affecting your clinical work.
3. Multiple ways of getting on to the pathway
Although getting onto a formal training programme is advantageous, it is not the only way of specialising in medical education. Alternative pathways include applying for research fellow posts available at a local level and involvement in the Trainee Emergency Research Network (TERN).
4. Collaboration with other experts
Exposure to academia will mean networking with professionals from various specialties. This will mean opportunities for integrated research and access to cutting edge technology, information, and resources not available to other professionals yet.
5. Rewarding
As a doctor in academia, you will no doubt be benefiting the lives of many people. You can conduct research that improves the knowledge base within medicine, you can teach the future generation of doctors and pass on your expertise, and you will still have time for direct clinical work with patients if you wish to do so.
5 Cons – why would you not want to work in medical education?
1. Highly competitive
Although acceptance onto formal training programmes such as the AFP and ACF are not compulsory to get into medical education, if you choose to take this path it can be highly competitive, especially when working towards a PhD in your chosen area of research.
2. Less exposure to clinical work
This means two things. Firstly, if you love clinical work, you will have less time for this, especially on a formal training programme. Secondly, you are still required to complete your foundation training competencies and will have less time (4 months less) to do this if you enrol onto the AFP.
3. Pressure
You may face pressure to publish research and secure grant funding which can be overwhelming and take away from clinical responsibilities. Furthermore, academic doctors may face pressure to conform to the expectations of their institution or research sponsors, limiting their freedom to pursue certain research topics.
4. Potentially less pay
As an academic doctor you may spend extra time completing research or other academic commitments outside of work time especially if you are not on a formal training pathway. Therefore, since you will potentially not be paid for this work, it would be a deduction in pay for your time.
5. There is not a clear career pathway
It can be beneficial to have multiple pathways outside of formal training programmes into medical education. However, this may mean you have to be quite proactive in looking for opportunities in your local hospitals or professional network in order to progress in this field.
Summary
We have described working in medical education including research and academia, and its pros and cons. We hope you have learnt something.
This article was written by Hafsar Ba, University of Warwick Medical School
Last Reviewed on 11 March 2024