Collegiate Trainees Committee report on career guidance in psychiatric training

Abstract

To determine the availability of career guidance within psychiatric training, the Collegiate Trainees Committee surveyed 300 trainees who had recently sat the MRCPsych Part II examination and 136 (45%) responded. Most trainees had received little or no career guidance and some had sought career advice without success. One third of trainees felt they had encountered discrimination within their psychiatric training. We urge trainees to be pro-active in seeking career guidance, identify sources of advice and make suggestions for topics to be discussed within consultant supervision sessions. We recommend that local access to career advice should be assessed by visiting College inspection panels.