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🎹  Achievements Outside of Medicine

🎹  Achievements Outside of Medicine

If you have taken time out of training, it may be because you have interests that lay outside of the realm of medicine that you wanted to pursue. This section is the right place to celebrate who you are outside of being a doctor, and provide whoever is viewing your portfolio with some conversation starters and areas of interest to get to know you better.

This section can also illustrate the links between your hobbies and your clinical practice, and can be used to demonstrate your commitment to a specialty. For example, you can draw a link between your interest in orthopedic surgery and your passion for cycling by showing photos of the cycle ride you did to raise money for charity.

Additionally, if you are applying for specialty training, you will need to account for time spent out of work, and having a list of your personal accomplishments and evidence pertaining to those interests is a great idea.

🎵 Musical Achievements

Have you recently taken up a new instrument? Can you show evidence of learning with an exam certificate or a photo of you in a local band or recital? Can you discuss what your musical venture meant to you and link it back to your work as a doctor?

🎨 Artistic Achievements

Do you love Photography? Ceramics? Painting? Can you show evidence of your work including pictures of your creations, or links to your website? Have these projects been inspired by your work as a doctor? Have you done any research into the health benefits of creative output that you can discuss?

🏄‍♀️ Athletic Achievements

Whether you participated in the Olympics or taught yourself how to swim, activity and health are inextricably linked. Do some reading about the health benefits of your chosen activity, and consider the health risks too. If you have taken up swimming, try getting informed about the physiological effects of cold-water swimming or how the NHS can use social prescribing to save money and improve health outcomes in sedentary communities.

🤖 Technological Achievements

Did you spend your time out of training learning how to code? Or building robots? Or mining crypto? Include images or links to websites you have built, or videos of projects you have worked on and are happy to discuss if the examiner takes an interest. Consider using these interests as a launching point to discuss health tech advancements or ideas for better integration of tech in hospitals.

💬 Linguistic Achievements

Learning a new language is an achievement that can be measured in many different ways. Taking exams, participating in conversation groups, or surviving in another country are all ways to test and prove your ability. Language can act as a barrier to accessing healthcare in the UK, and the ability to communicate can influence the care you receive.

👤 Personal Achievements

If you have traveled, think about how healthcare systems overseas operate and consider discussing the pro’s and con’s of different systems. If you have taken time out to have a family, you may have accessed the NHS from a different side (as a patient) and be able to talk about your experiences as a service user as opposed to a service provider.