SAS posts are permanent posts with national terms and conditions and recognised career progression and pay thresholds.
There are a variety of ways in which you can develop your career as a SAS doctor.
It is important to be alert to opportunities that arise and any gaps in local service provision that you could develop yourself to fill and offer to help do this.
These posts are essentially service provision posts, so the employing Trust is under no obligation to provide additional paid time for specialty training unless this is an agreed part of the job plan.
- This may be able to be negotiated locally if such training will enable the SAS doctor to provide a local service that is currently lacking or needs improvement, for example.
- Generic developmental needs (leadership, teaching etc.) can often be provided by SAS Development funding, available through local SAS Tutors and/or Health Education regional centres. See here for information on the Scottish Government’s SAS Development Fund Application Process.
- Provision of these funds currently varies around the country but in England there are plans to make access to these funds more equitable in future.
Ensure your Clinical Director (CD) and other senior colleagues are aware that you are keen to develop your role.
Discuss with your CD if there are any departmental leadership roles you could take on – audit, guidelines, maternity day unit etc. Could you manage the rota or organise the departmental teaching?
- Find out if you have a local SAS Tutor, and through your SAS Tutor or Director of Medical Education find out what is being provided in your region to help develop SAS Doctors
- If there isn’t a SAS Tutor at your trust, consider asking your local Director of Medical Education about becoming one
- Look out for generic courses in becoming an educational supervisor, trainer, examiner, leader, mentor, coach
- Contact your local research department to see what research projects there are presently that you could get involved with or could be a principle investigator for in future, and update your GCP eLearning
- Ask about local appraiser training (SAS doctor appraisers can appraise consultants as well as other SAS Doctors)
- Consider taking part in formal education of undergraduate medical students or allied health professionals; train to sit on interview panels; get involved in hospital induction of SAS doctors. Please see the RCOG page on SAS as educators for further guidance.
- Consider opportunities at the RCOG to acquire additional skills. For example, becoming an examiner at the RCOG or becoming a Committee member.
- Please see the information of specialist roles for further resources to support you career development.
It is often a case of being alert and proactive and willing to work for what you want to achieve, as well as letting others know you are interested in developing yourself, so they think of you when new opportunities arise.