The FY doctor as a professional

Why this matters on day one

The outcome that includes looking after yourself — explicitly, as a professional requirement rather than a wellbeing add-on. Foundation years have the highest attrition and burnout of any training stage, and this outcome exists because of it.

What the domain requires

1. 1Behave professionally. Probity, boundaries, equality and diversity, and candour when things go wrong.
2. 2Practise ethically and legally. Capacity, consent, confidentiality, safeguarding, and end-of-life decision making.
3. 3Look after yourself. Recognise fatigue and stress in yourself and others, take breaks, use occupational health and Practitioner Health, and know that working while unwell is a patient safety issue.
4. 4Keep developing. Engage with supervision and appraisal, reflect usefully, and act on feedback in a way that can be seen.

What evidencing it looks like

• Reflections that examine your own contribution honestly.
• Engagement with supervision across the placement, not clustered at the end.
• Evidence of acting on feedback.

What falls short

• Working through illness because the rota has no slack — this is reportable, not admirable.
• Reflections written for the portfolio rather than for yourself.
• Not registering with a GP, or self-prescribing.

Demonstrated by