I'm post-commserve, what courses/examinations should I do?

Career Guidance Postgrad Education
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:tada: Congratulations!!

You’re finally your own, independent practitioner!

Some of you might be lucky enough to get an MO (or even registrar) post straight out of commserve in an accredited facility that continually drives your training.

However, most of us do not and suddenly we find ourselves possibly working in general practice, emergency centres, telemedicine, assisting in theatre, or perhaps even unemployed.

Wherever you find yourself, one thing is certain: you gotta keep on moving, moving, moving.
This involves ongoing studying through courses, diplomas and examinations to grow your clinical skills and bulk up your CV.

We’ve already gone into significant depth on short courses, diplomas and fellowship examinations in the topics below for you to check out:

I'm an intern, what courses should I do?

I'm in commserve, what courses or examinations should I do?

In this topic we will mostly look at a few other courses not mentioned or properly discussed in the above topics.

Aviation

If you are interested in working in air ambulances, then you can do the Aviation for Healthcare Providers (AHCP) short course.

Ultrasound

Ultrasound skills can be helpful in both public and private sectors. For example, if you work as a GP then it can even allow you to add it to the services offered at your practice, giving your practice a competitive advantage.

  • Emergency/ePOCUS: Aimed at the use of ultrasound in the emergency setting, making this a very helpful skill to have in commserve for most doctors.
  • General practice U/S: Some other ultrasound courses are aimed at GP POCUS (point of care ultrasound) in the GP setting. If you know you want to end up in general practice then we recommend doing that. While most jobs wouldn’t require it, it is a great added skill to have and service to offer your GP patients.
  • Obs & Gynae U/S: Basic and advanced obstetric US courses can be done through US suppliers like Impilo. Alternatively, universities and academic hospitals might include it in their training programme for radiology and O&G registrars.

Aesthetics

If you are interested in offering Botox as a service at your practice, or perhaps in opening an aesthetic practice, then you will need to do some courses in aesthetics.
Below are links to some aesthetic courses or relevant websites:

Medical Impairment Evaluation

If you’re interested in working with SASSA grants, then you need to do a course in medical impairment evaluation.
You can do this through an institution like Foundation for Professional Development.

Research

Research is a pretty broad field, but one thing is needed for anyone looking to be involved in research: Good Clinical Practice. This course is offered by various institutions at a price, or can be done through TRREE for free (with a possible fee to obtain the certificate).

Tip: make sure you do the CGP for South Africa if you want to do research in SA.

More free online courses on research methods, etc., can be found here.

Private Practice

If you are starting your own practice then there are a number of courses you can do to help you navigate everything that entails. From billing to financial planning for your practice, we definitely recommend that you equip yourself to avoid falling into some of the common practice startup pitfalls.
You can find a range of courses on the MP Consulting website.

And so many more…

We’ve only listed a few of the courses more commonly done by doctors, depending on their career stage, fields of interest, and future goals. However, there are many more courses out there.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for, or wish to browse and see what else is available, below are some useful links to relevant pages and websites:

:left_speech_bubble: While the list is not comprehensive, we hope this has at least helped you get started! Feel free to ask your questions by creating a new Topic, or to reply to other topics if you have any additional insight to share.