Introduction
The Foundation Programme is a bridge between medical school and specialty training. Your career is important and only you can manage your career. As an estimate, you will work 40 hours / week for 40 weeks / year for 40 years and that is a long time to do something that does not fulfil you. On top of that, work is not all that you will do. Your career has to fit in with the rest of your life so that a work-life balance can be achieved.
The Malta Foundation Programme offers a variety of resourses. These range from one-to one discussions, Windmills training day, Taster weeks, and other workshops which are organised throughout the year.
Our aim in this section is to provide you with a range of information and resources to support your career decisions and to help you manage your career effectively.
We want to support your career so that you are able to choose a career that makes the most of your strengths and abilities. So let us know what support you need by contacting us. However you still need to do your homework!
Below is just some information as to help you think about your career. Follow the links below as to obtain more information. Then to set you thinking just have a look at the questions below!
Post-graduate Training Programmes available in Malta
Post-graduate Training Co-ordinators
The Medical Specialist Accreditation Committee
Q&A Section
For each question below, note down your answers. At the end, review all your answers and think about which are the most appropriate career options for you.
Yourself
You need to understand yourself and develop the art of self awareness and reflection.
What are your values, interests and abilities (within and outside medicine)?
What motivates you and is important to you?
What are you good at?
What's your skill set?
Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years time?
Within Medicine? Out of medicine?
Investigate
This is all about researching what is out there.
How many specialities?
What does the work involve on a day to day basis?
What are the lifestyle implications?
What opportunities are there for changing or specialising further at a later point in time?
Is there any potential for research or travel?
Do I want to study here or abroad?
What's the earning potential?
What is the daily work environment like?
How competitive is a particular speciality? Is it growing or declining?
Decision Making
Do you have any idea?
Where do I start with exploring which speciality?
What is important to know and what is irrelevant?
What do I include in my application form / CV?
What should I leave out?
Everything that you learn about yourself and about your potential career options will eventually lead to the point where you have to make important and life impacting choices. It is good to spend some time reflecting on how you make decisions and recognising the implications of your style for career planning.
Implementation
Making it all happen. Obvious, but the final bit of the model is putting everything into action and making your career plans a reality, not just an aspiration or good intention!
Dr. Pierre Ellul
Careers Lead
Associate Foundation Training Programme Director
Malta Foundation School