The mistakes that could spell the end of your career

Not properly qualified

A doctor applying for a specialist training post completed his online application in a hurry to meet the deadline. He had recently passed Part 1 of his Membership of the Royal College of Physicians examination and stated “MRCP” and the date obtained on his application, failing to record that he was still working towards Part 2. He was accused of trying to mislead the local education and training board about his qualifications.

MDU advice: The GMC expects doctors to take “reasonable steps” to check that the information they provide is correct and relevant details have not been omitted. It makes sense to double check everything and you could also ask a colleague to help with reviewing to make sure that nothing can be misunderstood.

The perils of copy and paste

A doctor submitted an article to a respected clinical journal. While researching online, she noticed a phrase which summarised a point she wanted to make. The doctor copied and pasted the phrase into her article but forgot to reference the source. Although the doctor had correctly attributed all the other quotes used in the article, the publishers of the journal used specialist software which picked up the phrase she had copied. She was reported to the GMC for plagiarism.

MDU advice: If you are focused on meeting a deadline, footnotes are often an afterthought. It’s easy to forget sources and the availability of plagiarism detection tools make this a risky strategy. Instead, make use of the referencing features in most word processing packages that let you insert citations as you go.

Opportunity knocks

A foundation year 2 doctor was offered a training post at a general hospital in a town. She accepted the offer but a week later she discovered a more attractive opportunity at a major city teaching hospital. Out of curiosity she applied and was offered the post. Not wanting to miss out on her dream job, the doctor contacted the first hospital to say that she was no longer available to take up the post. Unfortunately, this was less than a week before she was due to start and the hospital reported her to the GMC.

MDU advice: Paragraph 38 of Good Medical Practice states: “Patient safety may be affected if there is not enough medical cover. So you must take up any post you have formally accepted, and work your contractual notice period before leaving a job, unless the employer has reasonable time to make other arrangements.”

In these circumstances, you could contact the second hospital and try to renegotiate your start date in order to meet your contractual notice obligations. If this is not possible, you have an ethical duty not to leave the first hospital in the lurch, however frustrated you feel.

Public order

A doctor joined a demonstration against cuts to NHS services, painting a slogan on a wall in protest. A policeman issued him with a penalty notice for disorder at the upper level for causing criminal damage. Rather than go to court, the doctor decided to pay the £90 fine and put the matter behind him—but didn’t realise that he had to report this to the GMC. He later received a letter informing him that his conduct was being investigated.

MDU advice: The threshold for reporting criminal or disciplinary matters to the GMC is set out in Reporting criminal and regulatory proceedings within and outside the UK.2 Paragraph 4d requires you to notify the council without delay if you “accept the option of paying a penalty notice for disorder at the upper tier penalty level (in England and Wales).” Contact your medical defence organisation for advice if you are unsure whether to report something.