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You’ll need to follow a set pattern of training which usually starts with a five year first degree in medicine and two years of foundation training. You will then undertake two years of core training (CT1–2), followed by 5 years of specialist training (ST3-7). This period of training will include completing your royal college exams.The length of training can vary according to your circumstances.

Working hours should not exceed 48 hours a week. The working hours may sometimes extend beyond the normal working day to include early mornings, evenings and weekends. You will also need to be on call. The basic salary ranges from £29,384 to £34,012. Once you start your specialty training as a general surgeon employed by the NHS, you can expect to earn a salary of at least £40,257, which can increase to between £84,559 and £114,003 as a consultant.

You'll need excellent communication skills and be emotionally resilient, have a calm temperament and the ability to work well under pressure. You'll have the capacity to lead multidisciplinary teams and have excellent problem-solving and diagnostic skills. As a x surgeon, you'll have: a high degree of manual dexterity; superb hand-eye co-ordination; excellent vision; visuospatial awareness and the physical stamina to cope with the demands of surgery.

There are approximately 2,571 general surgeons working in the NHS in England. You could specialise within general surgery, for example breast surgery, lower gastrointestinal surgery, endocrine surgery, upper gastrointestinal surgery, transplant surgery or advanced trauma surgery.

Finance staff in the NHS will usually work towards a finance qualification. You can either enter as a trainee (you usually need at least 2 GCSEs including English and maths, or equivalent) and study while you work, or take a finance qualification and apply to join the NHS. Employers may also ask for IT skills. They may expect some customer service or office experience.There are apprenticeships in finance departments.If you join the NHS with a finance qualification this could be one from the Association of Accounting Technicians or Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. If you have a degree in a non-finance subject, you can apply for the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme and work towards professional accountancy qualifications. Finance trainees are encouraged to take further qualifications.

Most finance staff (except the most senior managers) working in the NHS are paid on the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay system. You will typically start in a post at AfC band 2. With further training and experience, you could apply for more senior positions such as finance offer at band 3 or team leader at band 4. There are managerial roles in finance at more senior levels. Finance staff in the NHS work standard hours of around 37.5 a week. Terms and conditions will usually be different for clinical support staff working outside of the NHS.

Finance staff have to be interested in figures and money, accurate and methodical, honest, able to work to deadlines, able to follow instructions and procedures and willing to use IT-based systems. You'll also need excellent numeracy skills, IT skills and organisational skills.

With experience, finance staff can become team leaders supervising the work of other finance staff. They can progress to become managers responsible for a department or area. Some progress to senior roles such as head of finance or finance director.