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For trainers

Workforce documents

Consultants, educational supervisors and local faculty have a key role to play in supporting trainees with career thinking and decisions:

  • The GMC's "Promoting Excellence" standard (R3.2) states that trainees "must have access to careers advice and support".  Educators providing career support can also use this as evidence for GMC Recognition of Trainers, Domain 6: Guiding Personal & Professional Development
  • The Foundation Curriculum directs F1/2 doctors to "discuss how to achieve career ambitions with the educational supervisor"

This page provides resources, guides and tools to help you develop a well-informed picture of the current landscape of medical careers and to structure your careers conversations with trainees.  The other tabs in the Careers pages contain a range of documents, links and resources (Exploring and Planning, Jobs and Applications, Careers Guidance).

Where do you fit into the landscape of career support?  See our interactive Career Support Navigation Guide - click on a role to see who can best help with different career needs.  This short video will also help you to know the best people and resources to signpost trainees to, depending on whether they are Decided on their plan, Exploring options or Rethinking their career.

If you would like us to talk with a trainee who you think needs an impartial careers conversation, see our guide on Signposting or Referring a Trainee to Careers. They can contact us directly on pgmedicalcareers@cardiff.ac.uk and can send (optionally) some background to us on this request form.

Key reports

  • Find out what GMC data tells us about career movements of doctors progressing through training

  • A range of studies by the UK medical research unit into aspects of medical careers, including longitudinal cohort studies. We have a complete bibliography of all the papers published by the Medical Careers Research Group.

  • See the work the MSC are doing to support the widening particpation agenda through their Selection Alliance

Careers conversation tools

  • Careers decision timeline - encourages structured reflection on past decisions: Career timeline

  • Career kitbag - helps focus on immediate decisions: Career kitbag

  • Push or pull - prompts reflection on current factors influencing career thinking: Push or pull

  • Career reflection pro forma - helps to guide students and trainees with career reflection on jobs or placements: Recording career insights

External career support links