Post by Deborah Udy Okusaga Akanne (@deborah_udy_okusaga)
The More Experienced The Doctor, The Worse The NHS Application. Here Is Why Seniority Is Actively Working Against IMGs — And How To Fix It.
I need to say something uncomfortable this morning.
After reviewing hundreds of CVs and supporting statements from internationally trained doctors, I have noticed a consistent and counterintuitive pattern.
The doctors with the most experience — fifteen, eighteen, twenty years of tertiary-care clinical practice — are often submitting the worst NHS applications.
Not because they lack capability.
Because they are doing something that their seniority has conditioned them to do.
They are writing for a different audience.
A doctor who has been department head for a decade writes a CV the way a department head writes a CV. They lead with institutional authority.
Departmental oversight. Strategic contributions. Committee membership.
And the NHS shortlisting panel for a Trust Grade SHO or Specialty Doctor post sees none of what they are looking for.
Because the TRAC shortlisting system — and the human panel behind it — is not scoring institutional seniority. It is scoring specific, criterion-mapped evidence of clinical practice at the grade being advertised.
"Led the radiology department of 24 consultants" does not score against the Essential Criterion: "Ability to report cross-sectional CT and MRI within agreed departmental turnaround standards."
"Responsible for strategic development of the paediatric oncology service" does not score against: "Evidence of participation in clinical audit with demonstrated change to practice."
"Awarded Best Department Award 2023" does not score against: "Understanding of clinical governance frameworks including patient safety, Duty of Candour, and incident reporting."
The seniority tells the panel who you are in your home institution.
The person specification tells the panel who they need you to be in their NHS department.
These are not the same document.
And rewriting fifteen years of clinical leadership into TRAC keyword-aligned, person specification-mapped, NHS governance language — without erasing the genuine depth of your experience — is the most technically complex rebuild I do.
It is also the rebuild that changes the most outcomes.
DM me "SENIOR" and I will give you a full assessment of how your seniority is being read by NHS shortlisting panels — and exactly what changes first.
Post 3 drops at 11:00 AM — the one thing HCAs and nursing assistants must do before December 2026 that nobody is telling them clearly.
#IMGDoctor #SeniorIMG #NHSApplication #TrustGradeSHO #SpecialtyDoctor #NHSRecruitment2026 #GMCRegistered #TRAC #NHSShortlisting #NHSJobs2026 #ClinicalFellow #NHSConsultant #CESR #InternationalMedicalGraduate #SovereignHealthcareAdvisoryGroup #NHSCVWriting #NHSJobs2026 #MedicalCareers #DoctorUK #consultantnhs
0 likes · 0 comments · 0 shares