Balancing a full career as a female Intensivist with a young family

I am a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine and have been an Examiner for the RCoA Primary Exam since 2018. I am also a mum to Finlay (7) and Isobel (5) and have a husband (44!) who is frequently deployed as an RAF Intensivist. I wouldn’t be being honest if I didn’t state that it is all a bit of a logistical nightmare. However, with a lot of diary co-ordination and childcare rota planning we make it work. When the RAF pull my husband away at short notice during Exams Week, there is always flexibility and understanding from the Exams department at the College. Examiners may examine part time and so fit in their examining duties around their existing childcare routine.

I work in a busy district general hospital and have a department that is very supportive of my role as a parent, a Consultant and as an Examiner. In particular, our Critical Care Consultant body is focused on staff well-being and we have created a flexible Consultant rota that helps us all to maintain our life-work balances. In addition, having a Consultant who is also an Examiner is of huge benefit to a department.

As a specialist trainee in the North-West, I had seen first-hand how it is possible to balance a full career as a female Intensivist with a young family. In addition, I was also inspired by the female Examiners in the region. It was therefore in the back of my mind that I would like to become an Examiner at some point in my career. I therefore, after starting as a Consultant, looked at the person specification for Examiners to familiarise myself with the appointment process.

My decision to apply to become an Examiner was multifactorial. I had been running a regional exam course for the previous eight years and changes to the exam format prompted me to send in my Examiner application. I wanted to become involved with the exam and help shape it for our trainees. I also, having not long returned from maternity leave, was ready to do something for myself.

I have really enjoyed my time as an Examiner so far. I am in my fourth year of a ten-year term and have decided, for now, to remain in the Primary Exam; Examiners are given the opportunity to examine in either the Primary or Final Exams. Examiners in their second year of the Primary Exam get to choose an area of the exam in which to focus their attention. I chose to join the MCQ group which is responsible for the written part of the Primary FRCA. I found this a little daunting initially but quickly discovered it to be enjoyable, social, rewarding and challenging; I hadn’t appreciated how much went on behind the scenes of the written exam. When the opportunity arose, I applied and was successfully appointed to be the Deputy Lead for the MCQ group. This has given me the opportunity to work with the rest of the team to help ensure the reliability and validity of the Written Primary Exam of the future.

As part of my Examiner role, I was given the opportunity to attend the Foundations of Assessment Remote Learning Course. This provided me with a useful insight into the perceived Gold Standard when it comes to assessment; I have been able to apply this new knowledge to my examiner roles.

Examiners are generally busy people. I am typical as an Examiner in that I have additional responsibilities within my hospital and region. I spend two weeks of examining per year plus my additional MCQ group duties. Having a very supportive department has made this role much easier for me.

I would really encourage anyone thinking about possibly becoming an Examiner to come and visit the exam. A visit will provide the ideal opportunity to chat to lots of Examiners who all have a slightly different story to tell.

If you would like to find out more about becoming an Examiner, please go to the RCoA website.

Dr Coralie Carle