Donya Mighty

Foundation Doctor & previously a Physician Associate

[The BMA @TheBMA]

The Treasury Committee is reviewing whether the student loan system is fair and wants to hear from doctors and medical students. But you only have a short window to tell them what it’s actually like.
Doctors are often hit harder by student loans due to longer training and delayed earnings.
When responding to the survey, you may want to mention...
• the cost of longer medical training
• interest and repayments early in your career
• the combined impact of loans and tax
• how debt affects morale, retention and progression
The survey closes Tuesday 14 April.
Have your say👉https://t.co/D5xAZHvd2M

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@kcisc @DrLKVaughan Where was this from please?

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@LittlePersonDoc @aktmla97497 @ba22219107 @medicalmodelbri @Jean_Jeannie1 @Anisocyte @Mary_Tom11 @DrJoFranklin @parthaskar @Adam_Skeen This tbh sounds quite reasonable. I’ve always said my second year GEM exams (3rd year UG) were the most similar to the PANE.

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@LittlePersonDoc @medicalmodelbri @Jean_Jeannie1 @Anisocyte @Mary_Tom11 @DrJoFranklin @parthaskar @Adam_Skeen You’re right. That was the problem with having a voluntary managed register due to the profession being unregulated for so long. And I would seriously worry about an employer that hired a PA that hadn’t passed the PANE.

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@LittlePersonDoc @medicalmodelbri @Jean_Jeannie1 @Anisocyte @Mary_Tom11 @DrJoFranklin @parthaskar @Adam_Skeen Yes. There would be other exams/assessments at the end of units but depending on how the course is structured it may be that there is no exam right at the end of the course.

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@Anisocyte @Jean_Jeannie1 @Mary_Tom11 @medicalmodelbri @DrJoFranklin @parthaskar RCP host the question writing group, which is essentially a voluntary commitment, so presumably they had low turnout and reduced the threshold to attract more people to the group. I believe the group is also open to doctors who have worked with PAs.

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@medicalmodelbri @Jean_Jeannie1 @Anisocyte @Mary_Tom11 @DrJoFranklin @parthaskar @Adam_Skeen Depends on the individual university and some don’t have an exam at the end of 2nd year afaik unless things have changed since GMC accredited the courses

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

Accepting applications until this Friday 25th July. Please share… free mentorship and support network for PAs applying to medicine ✨

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

Pls RT: If you are a PA or PA student wanting to apply to medicine, feel free to leave your details here to be added to an online mentorship group ran by myself and other PAs who have gone on to study medicine: https://t.co/v14tKmB5b7 pls share among networks

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@iDrSunny @ItsnotrightUK Yes it’s my full name

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

Pls RT: If you are a PA or PA student wanting to apply to medicine, feel free to leave your details here to be added to an online mentorship group ran by myself and other PAs who have gone on to study medicine: https://t.co/v14tKmB5b7 pls share among networks

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@iDrSunny Totally free, based on voluntary time contribution from myself and other PAs turned medics as we all wish to support our former colleagues in applying to medical school

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@TCL3000 Can you get universal credit if you have a mortgage? Also I wouldn’t consider it ‘lucky’ you don’t get gifted a mortgage you have to work hard to save enough for the deposit in the first place!

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

Today I had a conversation with a PA who would love to be able to study medicine. But they are single parent and have a mortgage. Current funding arrangements make it *impossible* for someone in this situation to retrain and become a doctor. This is not ok.

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@AnneKSlater @2manypeople4me @Cray_tweets1 @Megsenmumdr I can’t give one size fits all opinion because there was no standardisation between courses.

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@DrJoFranklin @2manypeople4me @Cray_tweets1 @Megsenmumdr Sounds like what I was told was mild in comparison then.

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@Megsenmumdr @Cray_tweets1 @jewett6a @2manypeople4me @ollieburtonmed Yeah so reading more about it, it looks like the curriculum was developed jointly with and approved by the GMC informally (as they weren’t regulator at the time) but that doesn’t necessarily mean individual courses have been assessed by GMC as meeting standards…

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@2manypeople4me @jewett6a @ollieburtonmed @Cray_tweets1 @Megsenmumdr Yeah I do recall the university being annoyed about the level of contact time and someone higher up coming and telling us we should be grateful and not complain about course disorganisation because other masters courses have 12 hours contact time per week 🤷🏽‍♀️

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@Cray_tweets1 @jewett6a @2manypeople4me @ollieburtonmed @Megsenmumdr No it’s true, the quality of courses has been variable. PA degrees running from Sept 2023 are now accredited by GMC.

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@2manypeople4me @jewett6a @ollieburtonmed @Cray_tweets1 @Megsenmumdr My PA course was literally 9-5 48 weeks a year for 2 years. Maths on that makes it 3840 hours total (including the 1600 clinical placement hours).

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@Cray_tweets1 @2manypeople4me @ollieburtonmed @Megsenmumdr Yes I understand, my point was talking about the years doesn’t tell the full story as medical degrees even vary between 4-6 years.

[Donya Mighty @itsdoctormighty]

@Cray_tweets1 @2manypeople4me @Megsenmumdr No it was stated verbally