Inspiring trainees to consider a career in medical education

Dear Sir

No sooner than newly qualified medical graduates have found their feet in their first jobs, they are already being asked to consider their long-term career direction. Many trainees spend vast sum of money and time on taster weeks, conferences and courses to become better informed and show ‘dedication to a specialty'.

Medical education is rarely considered as a career by first year trainees, with the majority pursuing more established pathways such as surgery and general practice (Svirko et al. 2013). Although there are several courses that aim to improve teaching skills, opportunities for foundation doctors to discover how to pursue medical education as a career are lacking. Furthermore, the absence of a clearly defined career pathway (Cheung 2010) may deter some trainees.

We organised a heavily subsidised National Medical Educators Conference, aimed at foundation doctors and medical students. Eminent medical educationalists gave keynote speeches on pathways of career progression and inspired delegates to consider medical education as a career. Delegates were also given the opportunity to present their work in the field of medical education to share and disseminate ideas and examples of best practice.

The field of medical education may miss out on talented individuals who slip through the net because they are unaware of the opportunities available to them. We feel that more conferences aimed at junior trainees as opposed to those further along the career ladder as well as more of an emphasis on ‘teaching and training’ in the foundation curriculum, would encourage more trainees to explore medical education further.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest.