Happy Sunday 👋 

So many new faces! Welcome to The Handover

This Sunday Clerking is the second in our ongoing series called Breaking The Bottleneck.

Securing speciality training posts is becoming increasingly tight and it’s a worrying time for a young doctor. That said, people are still somehow getting through…

We are interviewing doctors who recently got past the “bottleneck” and find out exactly what it took to get them into their dream specialities.

SUNDAY CLERKING: BREAKING THE BOTTLENECK

🩻 I Got Rejected Twice…Then Landed Radiology in Oxford with a Top 5% National Rank

How boring was radiology in medical school? 

Just when you thought you’d ditched physics for good, it rears its ugly head in mechanics behind a PET and CT scan. Then tutorials where you miss the “obvious pleural effusion” after staring at this hazy chest x-ray for the better part of 10 minutes. 

The story was as true for me and you as it was for Ashar Asif – incoming ST1 radiologist at Oxford NHS Trust. A top 5% outcome for applicants in this role.

Ashar early on had no interest in radiology. The initial dream was cardiothoracic surgery. But whilst spending time in theatre, scrolling up and down CT scans, he began to see the appeal. Eventually, it was experiences during foundation training that sealed the deal. 

That early exposure began to reveal what radiology could offer:

• A rare balance of lifestyle and intellectual challenge.

• Opportunities to get involved in interventional work without the gruelling hours of surgery.

• And a front-row seat to the implementation of AI and imaging technology. Something Ashar is particularly passionate about.

So now your mind is made up, what now?

1. See what’s required - The requirements are here, the earlier you get involved, the easier it becomes.

2. Get in touch with radiologists - The bar isn’t high, most students don’t reach out. Once you come across as eager, offers to participate in QIPs, audits and research (all required for scoring matrix) comes easy.

3. Get your foundations in place - When the opportunity for projects comes, the doctors will not baby you. To show your value, understanding the fundamentals of statistics, research methodologies and the clinical topic will help you in balancing the work and the quality of your output.

Following the above steps led to:

• 7 publications at time of application.

• 5 Audits: 2-3 medical schools(although they didn’t lead to any change), 2 radiology closed-loop audits in foundation year.

• Teaching: 4 days a week as a teaching fellow + cardiology teaching series on zoom.

Ashar had the portfolio side sorted. But the second component was the MSRA exam. This is where he initially fell short.

• ❌ Attempt 1: Minimal prep meant he didn’t meet the cut-off.

• ❌ Attempt 2: Personal circumstances (new baby, moving house) affected preparation.

• ✅ Attempt 3: He went all in. Cleared his schedule, used Anki, MSRA-specific question banks, and really committed.

“I started way earlier, cleared my schedule, and just went for it.”

After getting the interview, he practiced mock interviews, signed up for webinars, and doubled down on preparation. This led to him smashing the interview.

This all led to him attaining a rank of 34/592 nationally, landing him his dream post at Oxford.

Key takeaways:

• It’s okay to not know what you want to do
  Ashar only discovered radiology during foundation years. Exploration is key early on. Immerse yourself in all things, taster weeks and speak with seniors. 

• Once you have an idea, be proactive
  He looked at the scoring matrix and deliberately targeted his efforts to match. Even if your not certain on what you want, carry out tasks that can be applied to a variety of specialties (teachings and quality improvement projects)

• Persistence is key
  Ashar didn’t succeed on his first or second try but still came out on top. His advice: “Don’t let one or two failed attempts define your journey.”

• Don’t delay personal decisions for work
  In the middle of all of the chaos of application, Ashar was raising a young family. His advice is to not delay personal matters like starting a family. There’s never a right time. So when you’re ready, go for it.

• Foundation matters more than flair
  What made him valuable to research teams wasn’t a fancy CV. It was solid baseline knowledge in stats, methods, and medicine. That made the difference.

Ashar’s future looks bright with academic opportunities. He’s particularly excited to be at the precipice of AI and imaging. With Oxford being the king of radiology research, he’ll be like a kid in a candy store. 

Hope you enjoyed this Sunday’s Breaking The Bottleneck Interview. We’ll back with the regularly schedules Weekly Handover on Friday!

We have got exclusive access to Ashars CV, that got him into this position.

It can be yours for free.

All you have to do is refer just 1 friend to The Handover using the your personal link below. Once completed the CV will immediately be sent to your inbox 📥️ 

If you are unsure of what you want to do in medicine. That’s okay. If you’d like to gain some clarity. Reply to this email with the speciality YOU want to hear from and stage in their career.