Hospital doctor : Employers and vacancy sources

The vast majority of hospital doctors work in NHS hospitals (see NHS Careers ), but there are also an increasing number of doctors in private hospitals.

There are opportunities for private work, particularly at consultant grade, which can be combined with working for the NHS. These opportunities may increase as government policy attempts to address the costs of caring for an ageing population and expensive new treatments. It is predicted that an increasing proportion of NHS work will be contracted out to the private sector. As a result of proposed changes to health care provision there may also be some merging of the traditional roles of hospital doctors and general practitioners (GPs). For information on the latest developments see the The National Health Service (NHS)  website.

There are limited opportunities within the armed forces, with some possibility of working overseas. There are also some opportunities to work within the prison service.

Voluntary and charitable organisations employ small numbers of doctors to work in developing countries. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)  is one of the best known. These posts are often very poorly paid, but competitive and often hugely rewarding.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• NHS Jobs  - vacancies in England and Wales.
• British Medical Journal (BMJ)  
• The Lancet   
• BUPA Careers    
• Doctors Net Uk  - registration required.
• Jobs4Medical  - international healthcare vacancies.
• Medical Jobs    
• NHS Scotland Recruitment  
• HPSSjobs.com  - vacancies in Northern Ireland Health Service organisations. 

Specialist recruitment agencies may also hold jobs. See the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC)  website for details.

Individual trusts and hospitals advertise vacancies on their websites, and sometimes in printed bulletins.

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