As I write this newsletter, an article of mine has just been published that I thought at one point would never see the light of day. When I said yes to the commission, it seemed very straightforward. There was a detailed brief, it was a topic I had seen lots of chatter about online and I knew of various professional organisations who had raised the issue before. I had a month to sort it. Easy peasy.
Writing about doctors speciality training might not be everyone’s cup of tea but equally there are not many of us in this niche world of medical trade magazines and it pays well so I was happy to oblige.
The battle for training places once you have finished your basic first two years as a doctor is also a really important issue for those who are stuck in it. Imagine investing all that time and money in your education, spending a few years on the lowest rung of the ladder and just wanting to get on with the rest of your career but unable to land a job that will allow you to work your way up to consultant level.
Go on Reddit and there are so many threads from doctors being rejected for even an interview and considering moving to Australia or Canada. This will be a fairly simple bread and butter article I thought to myself. Yet the reality was VERY different. I started early, I was organised but for some reason (and even now I don’t know why) I had to battle to get anyone to talk to me. Even getting case studies was virtually impossible. I had lots of press officers ignore me. I didn’t manage to get one single medical education expert to talk despite me contacting at least 10 of them all over the country.
The editor also wanted me to put some direct questions to NHS England whose job it is to oversee all this. After much going back and forth they said we don’t have anyone to speak to but send some questions over. So I did because I needed something, anything.
But today there is a piece up (you have to be a registered doctor to access the site so no link - sorry) which is being widely shared on social media. It does bolster our original sense that this was something that has a big impact on people and they would be keen to discuss. So how did I get there in the end?
I asked for an extension. The timing of the commission meant it had also hit the Easter holidays so I wondered if some of the tumbleweed was because people weren’t around. I explained this to my editor and he agreed it was more important to get a good piece sorted and we pushed the deadline back a week and a half.
I chased people repeatedly. If I didn’t get this sorted I was missing out on a big chunk of my planned earnings for that month. I stopped being polite and decided it was a numbers game and started following up everyone I had already got in touch with.
I widened the net. I realised quite quickly that things were not going to plan and I would have to go more broadly to get the comment I needed. This included a wider range of medical colleges than I had originally planned to go to.
I asked for help. I mentioned to another editor at the publication I was having difficulty getting people to speak to me about this as a way to brainstorm some ideas and she came up with what turned out to be one of the key contacts. I was also really honest on social media that I was struggling to find doctors to speak to because there is always that chance on a topic that affects everyone, people assume others have already answered.
I held my nerve. I have never not finished a piece that I was commissioned to do and I wasn’t about to start now. It was somewhat nail-biting that three of the key interviews I needed came through on the final day. Several organisations were late in their responses too so it was a good job we built in that extra time.
Ultimately I did submit it, the editor was pleased and apologised that it had been more effort than we both realised. It has already led to more ideas and commissions on the same topic weirdly. So maybe it was a case of building up that momentum and becoming known as the person who was working on this.
Luckily this situation is rare and the same week I had another feature for which I needed to speak to three people that all responded that same day. You win some, you lose some. But it does beg the question, if I was doing this for a lower rate would it have been worth it in the end and the answer is a big fat no. It’s obviously not as clear cut as that because then you have to weigh up what you would lose by not delivering.
I’m just relieved we got there in the end and would like all commissions in the next month to go much more smoothly please!
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Triumph of the week
Keeping two days free for a special project
That feeling when
Payments are imminent but they keep not arriving in the bank account
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Bye for now!