Better Health For All

I clearly remember starting public health training. It was nearly five years ago now, I’d just come off a string of night shifts on A&E and it took a month to get used to sitting down at a desk all day. I’ve enjoyed nearly every day of training and feel excited when I think of my future career in public health. I’m very pleased to welcome the new registrars and hope they enjoy training as much as I do.

One of the most special things about training is all the amazing opportunities that are available to us, it’s the perfect time to get as much experience as you can. Saying this, I remember finding everything a little confusing and daunting in my first couple of years, with so much on offer it’s hard to know what to choose. So here are a few of my top tips….

My main advice is not to focus on what you want to be (or think you want to be) at the end of training, but instead focus on what experiences you want to have during training. Get involved in things that get you in contact with registrars from other training regions. Everyone’s experiences of training are so different it can be really useful and interesting to hear about what other registrars are doing. One of my favourite ways of doing this was through helping with recruitment at the selection centre. Not only does this give something back to the specialty as they rely on the help of registrars to run the process to the high standard you will have experienced yourselves, but you’ll be there with registrars from all over the UK with plenty of time to socialise. Don’t forget that the registrars you are training with will be your colleagues when you get consultant posts!

My other piece of advice is to find out what is going on in Public Health beyond your day-to-day placements. This could be by attending conferences and training events or getting involved in some of the opportunities that FPH offers. I did this by joining the FPH Specialty Registrar Committee (SRC) and over the years this has become one of the highlights of my training. I initially joined as my regional rep because no one else wanted to do it, but I soon became immersed in the committee and found myself doing some fascinating work with them including representing public health registrars in discussions over the junior doctors’ contracts and shape of training proposals. I now have the privilege of being the Chair of the SRC and I am thrilled to be leading a committee who continually do such important work which benefits all registrars, like reviewing exams, sharing ideas and ensuring equity in training.

I would, of course, encourage you all to join the SRC – it’s a great way to meet people and gain an understanding of issues that affect public health training, workforce and practice. But if this is not for you there are several other opportunities you could take, such as joining a special interest group at FPH, or getting involved with your Union. This is your chance to make your training what you want so be proactive and get involved!

Written by Dr Emily Walmsley, ST4 Public Health Registrar and Chair of the Specialty Registrar’s Committee of FPH. You can find out more about FPH by clicking here.