As a skilled and highly qualified NHS worker, there are many options available to you which you may not have considered. Alongside your existing role, you may wish to plan an alternative career path to provide you with more opportunities to earn, learn, and help your patients in the future. Here are our top tips for planning an alternative path while working in the NHS, helping you to open doors and take control of your future:

Identify complementary paths; alternative career

Initial medical training to qualify as a licensed doctor, nurse, or dentist can be lengthy and time consuming, but these qualifications do provide you with base skills that form the foundations of many different areas of medicine. To minimise the cost and time of further training, we recommend looking into complementary career pathways such as aesthetics that allow you to build upon your existing knowledge base rather than start over from scratch, especially if you’re juggling new training on top of a hectic NHS job.

Focus on personal strengths for alternative career

Similarly, the best alternative career path for you is one that allows you to use your own personal strengths and enables you to practice the areas of medicine that you enjoy most. Remember that’s right for one person may not be right for the next, although at the Derma Institute we have identified a trend for many doctors, nurses, and dentists to train in aesthetic medicine. That’s because aesthetics is a highly varied field, enabling you to solve problems, manage health and wellbeing, and work closely with patients.

Be flexible

Perhaps one of the most important aspects to take into consideration when planning alternative paths while working in the NHS is flexibility. With an already demanding role, planning new ventures, researching the right training providers, and earning new qualifications can leave you busier than ever before. Flexibility is key to managing your new workload. Try to determine the most suitable times to study around your course and job, and be sure to value downtime and make the most of your time off.

Ensure you have the right support

It can be very challenging — if not impossible — to successfully plan an alternative career path without the support and assistance of industry professionals. This is why taking the time to research the best training for you is an essential component of earning new qualifications and providing yourself with greater career opportunities. Look for a training provider like the Derma Institute. Our courses are run by experienced industry leaders who are there to support our students throughout their new journey.

Take your time

Planning an alternative path doesn’t end once you’ve earned your qualification. In fact, leaving the NHS can be a big decision, and it’s not a decision you need to make immediately. Take your time. Our students have many options available to them. Some choose to continue working in the NHS full time, while others reduce their hours and supplement their income through private practice. Some do opt to dive in and start their own business. Training provides you with options… what you do is up to you.

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