Training jobs

Now with official training jobs (ie. residency), it’s more difficult because you don’t apply to individual hospitals, instead you apply to a specialty for the whole UK and you get matched to a job.

Where you match depends on 2 things:

1. Your rank amongst all applicants
2. How you order your list of preferred locations or hospitals

Once you are finally matched to a job, the location is set. If you don’t accept the placement, then unfortunately you don’t get a training job at all and you need to reapply the following year.

With the exception of FY1 (UK internship), unfortunately, there is no option to link applications when applying for specialty training whether you’re applying for the same specialty or different specialties.

Also, if a specialty is competitive and has very few seats, then the chances of getting into the location of your choice are lower which makes it even more difficult.

So what should a couple do?

Here are some strategies to get placed together.

1. Both score as high as possible in your applications

Doctors with the highest application scores will get the first pick of locations. Those with lower scores will only get to choose from the locations left over after the higher scoring applicants have made been allocated their choice. So basically, the higher you score the better! This will increase your chances of getting into your preferred location.

But at the same time, if one scores really high and the other scores quite low, it doesn’t work either because one will get matched to a location high up on the list, while the other will get matched somewhere lower down.

So it’s really best if your scores are roughly the same so that you both end up with preferences that are roughly in the same position on your preference list. 

This can be extremely tough to work out, especially if you are applying for different specialties with different levels of competition. In those cases, it can really be a lottery!

We run a Masterclass to help IMGs achieve high application scores and get into their dream specialty, read more on how we can help you.

2. Rank your preferences exactly the same

If you both score highly, it won’t matter unless you list your preferences in the exact same order. If you don’t list them in the same order, then even if you both get a high score, you may end up in different locations!

So make sure to rank your preferences exactly the same and try to list them in order of proximity to each other. That way, even if you end up at different hospitals, they’re not too far apart and you can find somewhere to live in the middle of the two hospitals.

Related: How to rank preferences for UK training jobs as an IMG

3. Request an Inter-Deanery Transfer (IDT)

Once you get matched to your placement and receive your final job offer, you can either accept it and start working there, or decline and reapply the next year. If you accept your post and start work, you can attempt to request a transfer for the following year.

This is called an Inter-Deanery Transfer because hospitals in a particular region are usually grouped together for the purpose of training programmes. These groups are called “deaneries”, so since you’re moving deaneries, it’s called an Inter-Deanery Transfer or IDT.

As you can imagine, lots of doctors make IDT requests each year but not all requests can be accommodated. You will need to prove that you have had “unforeseen and significant change in circumstances” since accepting your training job which can be difficult. You have to show that everything was fine and you were happy with your location when you first accepted the job, but things have now changed.

Each criteria is ranked by priority. You can read the exact wording of each criteria by clicking on the them.