My Journey: From International Medical Graduate to Research Fellowship
Relocating to UK and starting work as an FY1 is an exciting and challenging process. I am a native of a sunny port city, in the South of Ukraine, Odesa. I have, however, studied medicine in, cold and gloomy capital of Poland, Warsaw. During my final year (in 2022-2023) I was completely lost as to where I would want to begin my career in medicine as my homeland was torn by war. I found myself in a predicament having to look for a new place to call home. So, I took a risk and applied for UKFP as an IMG and was matched to Wessex Deanery, in a city of Portsmouth.
Was I nervous beginning FY1 as an IMG in UK? Absolutely, but definitely happy to be residing by the seaside once more. First FY1 rotation was Urology, which was a … steep learning curve. The team was really lovely and nice to me, even though I had absolutely no clue what a TTO was. Firstly, I couldn’t help but feel at a disadvantage to my other FY1 peers, as all of them were UK graduates, 2 of them being local and 1 of them being much older and having already worked within healthcare.
On top of this, Urology is famed for being extremely busy in Portsmouth, yet all of this taught me how asking questions, making new friends, and teamwork are of the utmost importance. Being IMG is not easy at all and to adjust in a new country, city, culture, and work environment is a challenging and rather time-consuming process.
Luckily, I didn’t experience any horrible discrimination but there are people who will still make comments and remind me every now and then that I didn’t “graduate” here. Coming to UK is my second immigration so I’m quite resilient to such comments, and my journey has showed me that there is beauty in being different, unique and having various perspectives and backgrounds. NHS is very diverse and multicultural and making friends with other and more “experienced” IMGs can help a great deal with just learning how to live in a new country.
I have experienced a range of rotations throughout my Foundation training, from busy respiratory and surgery in FY1 to Neuropsychiatry and Microbiology in FY2, where I was the only junior, leading to a busy AMU final placement.
Microbiology is a very specialist and niche rotation in UKFP, but I have really enjoyed looking at various pathogens down the microscope and taking Microbiology question calls from all over the whole hospital.
Beyond clinical practice, I joined my hospital doctors’ mess committee as a social secretary during my FY2 and an SHO representative after completing Foundation training.
Working on the committee was incredibly fun and enabled me to meet numerous new colleagues and other IMGs, whom I have not encountered before.Whereas, being a representative of SHOs I was greeting new colleagues joining the Trust and as I have some experience of working in the NHS, sharing some useful tips with those from abroad and new to UK healthcare systems.
At the end of Foundation, I took the opportunity to do something different and new and was successfully interviewed for a clinical research fellow post in my hospital. Now better than ever equipped for new starts, I’m a member of research agile team – conducting trials in all medical specialties and assisting University of Portsmouth medical students by participating in teaching sessions with academic fellow colleagues.
And just like that, Portsmouth became my second home and I really enjoyed it here throughout my Foundation training, and met some amazing friends and colleagues, who made this journey easier, smoother and supported me when it was starting to get a bit tough. Moving to another country, being away from your family and friends and starting a new life at the other side of the continent is never an easy experience, but it’s always worth taking an opportunity. Maybe it is too soon to say yet but I have never looked back regretting having made this choice.
Dr Mariia Amitsy
F2, Wessex Foundation School
All previous HOFP articles can be found on our HOFP webpage