Hospital doctor
A hospital doctor diagnoses and treats illness and disease in patients admitted to hospital.
- Starter salary£40,000 a year
- Experienced£145,000 a year
- Typical hours42 to 48 a week
What you'll do
Your day to day tasks will depend on your medical speciality. You'll do some tasks common to most hospital doctors like:
- talk to, examine and treat patients in hospital wards or outpatient clinics
- carry out medical procedures
- write reports and keep confidential records
- supervise and train junior medical staff
- work with the wider medical team and update GPs about their patients
Working environment
You could work in an NHS or private hospital.
Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding.
You may need to wear a uniform.
Skills and knowledge you'll need
You'll need:
- knowledge of medicine
- science skills
- counselling skills including active listening and a non-judgemental approach
- sensitivity and understanding
- the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
- the ability to use your judgement and make decisions
- thinking and reasoning skills
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
How to become a hospital doctor
You can get into this job through a university course or an apprenticeship.
University
To become a hospital doctor, you'll need to complete:
- a degree in medicine recognised by the General Medical Council which takes 5 years
- a foundation course of general training which takes 2 years
- specialist training which can take between 5 to 8 years depending on the speciality
A medical degree normally takes 5 years to complete. Some courses have the option to include an extra year if you want to study a subject further. This is called an intercalated year.
You might be able to study a foundation year before starting a medical degree. This will depend on your circumstances or if you have not studied enough sciences. Check with the admissions department where you want to study.
If you already have a degree, you could take a 4-year graduate entry route into medicine. There's lots of competition and entry requirements vary, so check with the admissions department where you want to study.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- at least 5 GCSEs grades 9 to 7 (A* or A), including English maths and sciences
- 3 A levels, or equivalent, including biology and chemistry
Apprenticeship
You might be able to do a doctor degree apprenticeship which will take around 5 years to complete.
The apprenticeship is recognised by the General Medical Council .
You could then progress to the foundation course of general training before completing the specialist training.
Entry requirements
Employers will set their own entry requirements.
Restrictions and requirements
You'll need to:
- pass enhanced background checks
Career path and progression
With experience you could:
- apply to senior or consultant roles once you're on the General Medical Council Specialist Register
- lead a team, manage a department or work in a private practice
- work in the Army , Royal Air Force or Royal Navy as a doctor or medical officer
- train medical students or other healthcare professionals
- move into clinical research
Career tips
The General Medical Council has a guide on what it means to be a good doctor. You might find this useful when preparing for medical school interviews.
You can use online resources to find out more about the types of interviews you can expect to get into for medical school.
Professional and industry bodies
You could join the British Medical Association for professional development and training opportunities.
Registration
- you'll need to register with the General Medical Council
Guides for this industry
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