Future roles, responsibilities, and rewards

Doctors’ purchasing power has fallen over the past 15 years, a fact not lost on those entering further strikes. Pay for doctors requires attention, whether seen as calculations of average earnings or in the personal accounts of doctors struggling to meet their needs and salary expectations, as recounted by Adele Waters (doi:10.1136/bmj.q666), including one former ophthalmology trainee who was effectively paid around £4.50 for each cataract surgery he took part in.1Poor retention of doctors and rising workloads have bolstered the argument for increasing use of physician associates, and three doctors give their views on this change. Consultant David Oliver summarises the concerns that have been raised about working with physician associates (doi:10.1136/bmj.q665): issue of supervision, scope of practice, regulation, and the need for greater understanding of the associate role among patients and the public.2 He also comments on what organisations are doing to tackle these challenges, sometimes badly. Junior doctor…
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