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  1. Nuclear medicine

    Doctors in nuclear medicine use radioactive substances to examine, diagnose and treat patients with life-threatening or chronic conditions.

    Training usually starts with a five year first degree in medicine. 2 years foundation doctor training, 2 years core training (CT1-2), followed by 6 years specialists training (ST3-8). This period of training will include your royal college exams. Length of training can vary according to your circumstances.
    Doctors may work up to 48 hours a week. The working hours may sometimes extend beyond the normal working day to include early mornings, evenings and weekends. You’ll first earn a salary when you start your foundation training after medical school. The basic salary ranges from £29,384 to £34,012. Once you start your specialty training as a doctor in nuclear medicine 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 to manage a wide range of relationships with colleagues, and patients and their families. You'll be emotionally resilient, have excellent problem-solving and diagnostic skills and work well in teams and under pressure. You'll also be very organised for the benefit of patients.
    In 2021, there were 63 consultants in nuclear medicine in NHS England. In addition, there were 16 applications for three specialty training places. You could specialise or conduct research or teach medical students and postgraduate students in training.
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