Making Sense of Your Medical Career: Your Strategic Guide to Success (Hodder Arnold Publication)

209 Pages·2005·3.85 MB·English

by  Riaz Agha

MAKING SENSE OF YOUR MEDICAL CAREER
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MAKING SENSE OF
YOUR MEDICAL
CAREER
YOUR STRATEGIC GUIDE TO SUCCESS
Riaz Agha BSc(Hons)
Final-year medical student, Guy’s, King’s and
St Thomas’ School of Medicine, London, UK;
Founder and Managing Editor,
International Journal of Surgery
Editorial Advisors
Sir Graeme Catto MD,FRCP,FRSE
Pro Vice-Chancellor for Medicine, University of London;
Vice-Principal, King’s College London, UK
Sir Barry JacksonMS,FRCS,FRCP
Past President of the Royal Society of Medicine in London;
Past President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, UK
Hodder Arnold
AMEMBER OF THE HODDER HEADLINE GROUP
LONDON
First published in Great Britain in 2005 by
Hodder Education, a member of the Hodder Headline Group,
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http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk
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Oxford University Press Inc.,
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Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
©2005 Riaz Agha
All rights reserved. Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law,
this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form,
or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the
case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences
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London W1T 4LP.
Whilst the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and
accurate at the date of going to press, neither the author[s] nor the publisher
can accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions
that may be made. In particular (but without limiting the generality of the
preceding disclaimer), every effort has been made to check drug dosages;
however, it is still possible that errors have been missed. Furthermore,
dosage schedules are constantly being revised and new side-effects
recognized. For these reasons the reader is strongly urged to consult the
drug companies’ printed instructions before administering any of the drugs
recommended in this book.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN-10: 0 340 88737 0
ISBN-13: 978 0 340 88737 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Commissioning editor: Joanna Koster
Project editor: Heather Smith
Production controller: Jane Lawrence
Cover design: Georgina Hewitt
Typeset in 10.5/13 Rotis Serif by Charon Tec Pvt. Ltd, Chennai, India
Printed and bound in Italy
What do you think about this book? Or any other Hodder Arnold
title? Please visit our website at www.hoddereducation.co.uk
This book is dedicated to all the hard-working lecturers,
doctors and students who have helped to inspire me over the
years. A special thanks goes to my family who have supported
me throughout my entire life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
After being awarded 4 A’s at A-level in 1998, Riaz went to
work for Harrods in Knightsbridge, London, for 1 year before
entering Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ School of Medicine
(GKT). There he was awarded the Pre-Clinical Scholarship, the
Distinction in Basic Medical Sciences, a 1st in his intercalated
BSc(Hons) in Anatomy and 20 academic prizes and awards.
Throughout medical school, Riaz has been engaged in a variety
of research projects both at GKT and at Harvard University,
with many going on to be formally published in peer-reviewed
journals and presented at international scientific meetings. He
has also worked as a Student Ambassador for King’s College
London, as a Medical Secretary and as the PA to the Manager
of the Surgical Directorate in a major London Hospital.
As an advisor to the Student BMJ and as a member of the local
BMA Committee, Riaz has been engaged in a breadth of
student issues. After becoming President of the Guy’s, King’s
and St Thomas’ Surgical Society, which under his leadership
became the largest student surgical society in the UK, he was
awarded the Gold Medal by the King’s College London Student’s
Union. Riaz has also served on the board of the Section of
Plastic Surgery at the Royal Society of Medicine in London and
as an invited reviewer for the 39th edition of Gray’s Anatomy.
In 2003, Riaz founded Surgical Associates Ltd and became its
sole Director. Later in that year he launched the International
Journal of Surgery, which is now published by Elsevier with
Riaz remaining the Owner and Managing Editor.
CONTENTS
List of contributors ix
Foreword by Sir Graeme Catto and Sir Barry Jackson xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgements xv
1 Career building starts in the mind 1
Riaz Agha
Part I Getting the Skills You Need 7
2 How to manage your time, finances and stress 9
Riaz Agha
3 Using information technology to give you an edge 18
Mohammad Al-Ubaydli
4 How to find information in medicine 32
Martin Hewitt
Part II Making the Big Decisions at Medical School 43
5 Intercalated degrees – benefits, costs and
alternatives 45
Riaz Agha
6 How to organize a successful elective 63
Riaz Agha
Part III Getting Ahead of the Competition 77
7 How to get shortlisted for competitive jobs 79
Riaz Agha
viii CONTENTS
8 How to write and publish a scientific paper 84
Riaz Agha
9 How to publish your own book 91
Mohammad Al-Ubaydli
10 How to get a book published professionally 104
Georgina Bentliff
11 How to make great presentations 117
Riaz Agha
Part IV How to Make Successful Job Applications 133
12 How to build a winning CV 135
Carole Hjelm
13 How to be successful at interviews 151
Sonia Hutton-Taylor
Appendices
I Sources of funding for your intercalated BSc
and your elective 167
II Questions asked at job interviews 175
Index 183
CONTRIBUTORS
Mohammad Al-Ubaydli MB BChir MA Cantab
Bethesda, MD, USA;
Author of Handheld Computers for Doctors
(John Wiley and Sons Ltd, 2003)
Georgina Bentliff MA BSc(Hons)
Publisher, London, UK
Martin Hewitt BA PG Dip Inf
Information Specialist, King’s College London, London, UK
Carole Hjelm BSc PhD
King’s College London Careers Service, London, UK
Sonia Hutton-Taylor MBBS FRCS FRCOphth DO
Founder, Medical Forum, Overton, UK