How to get a CLINICAL ATTACHMENT during COVID 19
Hey everyone! It's Reetu here (: Hope you're ready for your first exposure to the NHS! I applied for my Clinical Attachment during COVID-19- from the months of June 2020 to August 2020.
A Lot of people told me “you’ll never get it during covid, how can you get an attachment without GMC registration or even without passing PLAB 2. There are a lot of restrictions now unless you know someone within the NHS you won't get an attachment. There are no free attachments, surgical specialities don't give attachments, etc”.
Well, it is harder now, but it is possible! Because I did get an attachment, during the pandemic, it was FREE, it was in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (my dream speciality). I had ZERO connections and before I passed PLAB 2. Background- I had only 4 months work experience back home, I graduated back in 2018, I had not written any Royal College exams, I am not a British National, and I had no family in the UK. So if you are determined and hard-working, stay positive ! You can definitely get an attachment. Don't let anyone else’s negativity get you down. Nothing is impossible, you just need to decide how badly you want it. You may get a hundred emails of rejections, but you just need ONE ACCEPTANCE and you’re in. (:
I was dead set on only an OB/GYN elective. I know that If I'm not interested in something, I won't give it my 100% and I did not want to waste my time during an attachment by not putting in my best effort. My personal advice is to pick a speciality you're genuinely interested in, don't do an attachment for the sake of doing it. People can tell when you're not interested, it affects your performance during the attachment. If you do an attachment you should be engaged and active.
First off, I followed the advice of many wise people before me and I tried calling a lot of hospital HR departments (get their number from google/ hospital website) and asking Consultant email IDs. Some HR departments were easier to get a hold of than others, but after doing this for 2 weeks I had only gotten less than 5 email IDs. This was not working, I needed a new plan, but I found a pattern in the email IDs - many email IDs are lastname.firstname@nhs.net.
Now I went to the NHS website - (https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/other-services/Hospital/LocationSearch/8/Consultants_
And picked the speciality I wanted, the region I wished to work in and saw the names of all the registered consultants. Now I did my trial and error of their email IDs. If the lastname.firstname did not work I switched it so it firstname.last name. While this is not going to work 100% of the time it did work for around 80-90% of consultants. Around 30-40% of them responded, and around 20% of them were happy to have me. Unfortunately, though due to the pandemic many trusts had restrictions on having Clinical Attaches, which makes sense. Safety first! Finally after 120+ emails I got a few positive responses, where both the consultant, HR and trust was happy to let me undergo a Clinical Attachment.
Try emailing to smaller cities, where COVID-19 cases are less and where the number of staff is also less. If the hospital has less covid cases they are more likely to accept you. Avoid big big cities, another perk of these smaller cities is that cost of living is significantly lower.
If you have any friends or seniors or family working in the NHS you ask them to put you in contact with consultants they know. They don't have to be doctors, anyone working within the NHS can help you. Or you can go in person to many HR departments and ask, if you are in the UK. Try anything and everything!
I am not sure how true this is, but I have noticed a lot of people from your own native country are more likely to give you an attachment than people of other countries. It may be because they have a more sentimental attachment to their home country or cultural similarities. It could even be because they were once an IMG (International Medical graduate) and they have been exactly where you are now. But by all means please don't limit yourself to just doctors from one country, this was just an observation I made.
In your email what you should include
A small sentence about where you're from, when you graduated, etc.
Why do you want an attachment, why are you interested in this speciality
The dates you would be available to start
Why you are going to helpful/useful to the trust
Your PLAB 1, 2 and GMC status
Your visa status
Your CV
Please do not exceed 6-7 sentences. Keep it short and sweet! Too long makes it discouraging to read. If you have a letter of good standing from your medical council please attach that.
Also when writing please write Dear Dr. Their last name. We don't call doctors sir/ma'am here and we don't use their first name. If they are surgeons they often go by Mr./Miss not Dr., It's an honorary title. But you can always say Dr. If you're not sure.
A handful of trusts have online applications, which you can try by just googling attachments, but you do usually have to pay some amount. But there will be some that you don't need to pay for. Sometimes they also have a big waiting list which is why I didn't choose any of these.
Once a consultant accepts you, kindly request them to email HR and CC you. Next you should follow up with HR and for processing all the paperwork. Please don't keep disturbing your consultant with this stuff. If HR doesn't respond to your email within a few days, try calling them between 10am -3:30 pm that's the best time to reach them. You will need to keep following up/chasing up with them. They work very hard and are probably busy. But remember you're the one who wants this, you’ll need to make sure it progresses. Once all the paperwork is done, let your consultant know and decide on a start date together .
Bear in mind, the paperwork for the attachment can be as quick as a few days to as long as a month. Some Trusts require you to have occupational health clearance as well.
So Don't lose hope and things will work out!
