My FY3 Gap Year/Doctor Career Break Advice

Un-blinding myself from all the junior doctor demoralization.
Summit of Mount/Volcano Rinjani, Indonesia at 5am

This post will relate to the 48% (2014-2015 UK statistics), if not the predicted 63% (2015-2016) of junior doctors who want to take a career break, but don't know how/what to do or plan it.  It's difficult to make it seamless and fruitful, packed with goodies and life-changing experiences.

Planning this "FY3" year was and is understated-ly difficult to make productive and rewarding.

But it was the best thing I had ever done. 

(I will do it again.)

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 [Posts to follow/link]

 Volunteer For The Visayans - My experience as a Volunteer Doctor in Tacloban, Phillipines (Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan)

 Life as a doctor in Singapore

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SO IN A NUTSHELL

This is what I wanted to achieve: explore alternative careers; secure specialty training somewhere; travel the world; volunteer.

This is where I went/did in 11 months:

• Hong Kong (base) [concluded no suitable alternative career in Asia/Australia, nor academic degree].
• Singapore (5 trips over 3 months: 2-weeks holiday + 1 weekend holiday + 1 weekend interview + 2 days interview + 1 day interview) - secured specialty training offer.  
• Indonesia (trekked Mount Rinjani; Lombok; Gili T islands)
• Japan (Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo)
• Thailand (Bangkok weekend)
• Australia (New Year's)
• UK (INTENSE locuming: 7 weeks, 4 hospitals.)
• Norway (Oslo, weekend)
• Hong Kong (stopover)
• Tacloban, Philippines (Doctor volunteer/Medical mission) - 1 month
• Hong Kong (stopover)
• Miami
• Bolivia
• Peru
• Costa Rica
• Mexico
• UK
• Migrate to Singapore

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THE BASICS

1. So why do so many junior doctors take a career break after FY2?

The numbers have been incrementally increasing: 48% of 2-year-postgraduate doctors; the forthcoming year's predicted to be >60% with the NHS' ongoing  politics and demoralisation.  No other country does Doctor-Gap-Years as much as UK does, neither do they understand fully the concept of breaking or delaying your career pathway.  I spent at least 5 minutes per interview or interaction trying to explain this 'movement' with people abroad or not in the industry.

Possible reasons:

- Never taken a year out.

- Burning out physically, mentally, emotionally, psychosocially.

- Sacrificing/compromising so much of your personal and professional life for other people that you want to do something for yourself for once.

- Want to travel/volunteer.

- Want to study/Masters/BSc/career pivot/research/teaching.

- Work experience in a lateral field eg management, sales, pharmaceuticals.

- Didn't get the ST training they wanted or last minute change of mind on career path.

- Want to move abroad to work.

My reasons:

I didn't apply for NHS Specialist Training in FY2 at all.  I knew since university I wanted to take a gap year/career break, knowing I would 'burn out' from being on the conveyor belt since young. 

My FY2 year was great and rewarding - much better than FY1. I was feeling I was helping my patients and I was professionally very satisfied.  But I was 'bored' of where I personally was in Life. 

I am also the type with multiple interests, potentials and talents that I wanted to explore my potential in these further, pursue certain hobbies, read books and learn things other than medicine, and improve certain sets of life and professional skills that I wouldn't have the time if I was in full-time medical training.  

I also wanted 'to be young' with no responsibility of any one else but myself, as there are times where you have to be selfish to allow yourself to be the best you can be.

You need to be honest with yourself here and list WHY and WHAT would you like to achieve, and whether they are realistic and worth your time and effort.  Time is precious, remember.  This was a lesson I learnt in my first 5 months whilst brainstorming and seeking out opportunities, of which some were a waste of time and effort. You want to minimize your mistakes.

2. What do the majority of doctors do in their career break?

1. 6 months locum in UK (build up CV for specialty application) then 6 months travel.

2. 12 months Australia/NZ and reapply for specialty training in UK or stay abroad.  Australia mostly offer 12-month posts, whereas you can get 6-month posts in NZ.
3. Masters/Research/Teaching for 12 months.
4. Bum off the whole year and travel/volunteer, with the occasional locum.

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TIPS FROM MY JOURNEY

Tip 1) Confront the Brutal Facts
Be honest with yourself and know your limitations.
Have a BASE focus to stay grounded,
YET still have the unwavering faith that you can succeed and achieve your dreams. 
(Paradoxical concept.) 

Specialty choice: Upon finishing my FY2 (2 year postgraduate doctor), which was just beautifully happy due to my working environment, albeit hard-working, I confirmed my wish to pursue GP training with a strong interest in Sports Medicine or Humanitarian/Aid work. One key point to remember is that whilst you can respect what your peers'/seniors' opinions on what specialty your personality suits best, it is at the end of the day your career choice.

I was in a sea of confusion during FY2, trying to direct my CV somewhere, being a talented yet lost chicken.  But be patient. It can be annoying to be lost, but over time, the answer will naturally emerge.  It is important to have a base career focus, because on a gap year you can just absolutely lose your marbles. 

Alternative career research/dabbling: I am a multi-potentialite (Refer to TEDs Talk by Emilie Wapnick) with multiple interests, as are many doctors - we are all very similar.  I can pursue business, management, music, art... BUT you can forget or not realise at times where your true talent lies.

I was getting tired of Medicine, and friends/colleagues/peers talking about work during out-of-work circumstances. Without being superficial, I was initially curious about the careers with perks and rewards for hard work that came in the form of money bonus, travel, entertainment/food/drinks.  The 'noseying' was refreshing - I read more, put myself out there to meet new people, looked at candidate requirements and went to pursue some of those requirements.  However I found myself to only momentarily sway away from Medicine - I returned subconsciously and consciously.  I realised my true-calling to the doctor profession with no denial.  The reward of saving or helping someone's Life is irreplaceable, and beats any superficial possession/monetary rewards.  Obvious, but I was blinded by the demoralization of FY1/FY2 years.

I read books - both fiction and non-fiction, of which I didn't have the time to do before and learned so many new concepts and felt so much more refreshed and inspired.

I hypothetically could do management/music/art/business, but being capable would't make me the best in it nor the best candidate for a job. These were some of the brutal facts I eventually confronted after spending the time and effort researching and dabbling. In the end, it wasn't necessarily time wasted -  it was the time needed for me to appreciate certain things more.

I had 6 defined plans on my career break, scouring new ventures in business/management/PR/teaching... but 5 months into my Gap Year, I figured out how I could incorporate them into my itch and into ONE MASTER PLAN (it's going to take many years...) within Medicine.  This formed my base to stay grounded.

This was where I was going to keep my unwavering faith.

Don't let the junior doctor years dishearten or blind you,

as with a career break, I could see so much more six months later.

Tip 2)  Don't be afraid to put yourself out there (professionally, electronically and socially) and explore unchartered waters.

Since November 2014, I had been researching hard and emailing over 100 people regarding opportunities, jobs, and volunteering in Asia, South America and Australia.  It was tiring, time-consuming, endless, sometimes unfruitful. Fruits didn't start to emerge until about April 2015.

My interest in Australia waned after my medical elective.  There were attainable jobs in Perth, Adelaide and New Zealand, however they didn't appeal to me. Nevertheless, exploring waters, I applied for a Medical Resident post in Melbourne affiliated with Monash medical school in March. I conducted a telephone interview, which was awkward and at midnight, and I was unsuccessful with the feedback being 'we had no problem filling spaces with local applicants'.

Singapore was planted in my brain in early 2015, and I applied and interviewed in Manchester in April. 1 working day later, I had been offered a generic Medical Officer/SHO job.  Problem was that I had never been to Singapore, nor did I know anyone there to advise me at the time.  When I did visit, I  loved it (English speaking, excellent training and teaching, polite, hard working, friendly, amazing food, multicultural, efficient, clean, warm...) & then I pursued and secured a competitive specialty training post that even the Singaporean recruiting company said I had zero chance of getting (more to follow in a separate blog). It was fate.

America, Canada, Hong Kong were no-goes for medical jobs.

I sent out CVs to teaching institutions, universities, and other companies - just testing waters, but I managed to bear some fruits.  I emailed people for opportunities/observations.   I would meet and chat to random people, either feeling like a novice fish with big eyes asking questions, or pretending to know what I'm talking about and engaging in a 30 minute hot conversation about e.g. the wine industry with a wine manager, accepting business cards for possible future opportunities.  I set up voluntary teaching workshops, coaching high school students. I got briefly involved in the academic department of a medical school in Asia.

Sometimes it may seem like a waste of time, but opportunities can arise when you least expect it and depending on your luck and how porous and enthusiastic the recipient is.

The greater the effort/time you put in, the greater success rate.  I would put effort into your top 3 plans, more so on your top choice. You can forget about plan 4 onwards, until you fail the top 3. Prioritise. Focus. Tailor.

Tip 3) Embrace the loneliness that comes with a career break

I left UK in August for Asia - no friends, no job connections, little direction... embracing unemployment!  I travelled by myself around Asia, America, South America and Central America.

Especially when you're doing something different and away from your peers and family, your situation is unique and not many people will understand what you're doing or going through.

When in such an unstable, indefinite situation, it can deter away friendships and relationships.

You will feel lonely, even if you're out and about socializing. Superficial interactions will not fill your glass of water. Even if you are still in touch with family and friends, it's just that strange sense of loneliness that wafts in and out when you're the only character, your own protagonist of your story.

You will miss home soil, and re-think your choices.  You will feel odd without structure and no job and not meeting people through work.  This is all normal, BUT it is vital that you can see what the long-term goals are that are preceded by these small steps, and wait painfully patiently.

I joined a sports team, some pub quizzes and Tinder.  I made a handful of friends only whilst in Asia.

Tip 4) Have faith in some Delicious Ambiguity

A card I found in Singapore

So on the 14th June 2016, I officially migrated to a new country, Singapore - on a spontaneous, yet deemed illogical by the locals and my family/friends, yet this was a weighted decision I made. Not only that, but I now have no 'family home' in UK. The feelings of homelessness, unsettledness, looser safety network, question marks, and vulnerability are all natural in the migration process to somewhere new, especially with no family/friends there.  This quote/card at the Isetan department mall on Orchard Road in Singapore rings true to me at this moment in time of my life.  Have I made the right Life decision? - Well, I shall no longer say YOLO/Hakuna Matata/Pura Vida as my answer, but Delicious Ambiguity.

My last 11 months have been the best, yet rollercoaster-like of my 20s. To think, 11 months ago, I felt somewhat unexcited with my day-to-day life (but I was still very happy) thus I went to search for an adventure. That I did and I've ended up here in Asia.

But I realise now that the empire I had created in UK was my 'dream' empire - but it just needed ME to mature a year or two in order for me to realise how I had it all. That was the alarm bell for me for how I have changed.

I knew I was leaving something special behind, but it was also because I believed I could create another special universe elsewhere - risk-taking based on mere gut feeling.  So I am still digesting my year out and my 3 months here, but my messages for sure are that:

👉 The grass is certainly greener where you water it.

👉 Yes you're not a tree, so you can move if you are not thriving , but sometimes the surroundings/climate change over time and evolve that sometimes you just have to let it naturally do its thing with great patience and it may be the best thing you waited for.

Those things said, I'm sticking to my guns as literally Destiny brought me where I am today.

Bottomline

• Do listen to advice of others who have your best interest, but always trust your gut.
• Chase your ambitions that you have creatively formulated and personalised, yet confront the brutal facts that come with it.  You have to plod on like a plow horse - determined, focused.
• Conquer your fears. 
• Your patience will painfully be tested.  You have no control what's going to happen in the next few months, nevermind year.  This may affect your career path, location, romantic relationships, friendships, family relationships to some scale.
• Not everyone has the luxury of taking a career break as a doctor.  Appreciate and embrace this opportunity and don't waste it. It's your Life.

My 25th birthday card