The Royal College of Physicians has launched a new careers development programme for fellows and members, as the number of members reaches 29,000 for the first time.
In the 2012 membership engagement survey, careers development was identified as a major reason for joining the RCP by junior doctors and medical students. As a result, the RCP is building on and expanding its existing careers resources to develop a comprehensive and user-focused careers service. This will include:
- research to identify the career support needs of medical students and doctors at all stages of their career and into retirement
- improved online information, signposting fellows and members to useful career resources
- introduction of new career support events and programmes, including ongoing expansion of the annual RCP Medical Careers Day.
The RCP has already appointed a Medical Careers Fellow, Dr Cathy Mathews, and a medical careers strategy and engagement manager to take the work forward. In the first phase, the team will concentrate on those categories of members who expressed the greatest need for careers support – medical students, foundation doctors, and CMT and ST3+ trainees. The focus will then move on to the needs of physicians at a later stage in their career, such as those wishing to change specialty and the opportunities for retired fellows and members to continue to contribute across a range of activities.
The work comes at a time when the RCP, founded in 1518, has reached its highest ever level of membership, at over 29,000 fellows and members. Consultant expansion, coupled with an increase in collegiate membership among junior doctors, has contributed towards the rise in overall numbers. Physicians work in 30 medical specialties in hospitals across the UK and internationally, and are at the heart of providing healthcare to patients.
Members and fellows of the RCP today enjoy a wide-range of benefits, including access to thousands of ejournals and ebooks, including Clinical Medicine , discounts on RCP events, as well as free access to the CPD diary and recently launched revalidation eportfolio. They can also join RCP committees, working parties and expert groups developing healthcare policies, examinations and curricula that ensure future generations of doctors are trained to the highest standards, and that the RCP’s voice is heard by parliament, the media and the public. Recent initiatives from the RCP include the Future Hospital Commission, the RCP’s response to the Francis Inquiry, and supporting doctors in revalidation.
Dr Cathy Mathews, medical careers fellow, said:
I am excited to have joined a dynamic team working towards the development of a careers guidance programme that is focused, targeted and responsive to the needs of RCP members. Times are uncertain and it is vital that the RCP remains a robust and constant source of support to physicians at all stages in their career- from medical student right through to retirement.
For further information and to interview Dr Mathews, please contact Linda Cuthbertson, head of PR, on 0203 075 1254 / 0774 877 7919, or email Linda.Cuthbertson@rcplondon.ac.uk
The RCP was founded in 1518 by Royal Charter from Henry VIII, and is the oldest medical college in England. A small group of physicians led by the scholar Thomas Linacre petitioned King Henry VIII to establish a college of physicians, to be able to grant licenses to those qualified to practice medicine and prevent unqualified practitioners. Until the 19th century there were usually fewer than 60 fellows at any one time and under 100 licentiates.