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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2472 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 17, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that, since I'm only aware of planned changes to the UK training pathway. Last time I checked (all of a week or two back), the fact that I'm already in training and will (hopefully) acquire a British degree makes me quite safe. Even if I want to go through the pain of becoming a senior registrar and then fight for a substantive consultant post. Not perfectly safe, since things are up in the air. To be specific, the number of years of NHS experience you need to be treated as on-par with British medical graduates.

Am I missing something? If yes, then the main way I cope with this is by ignoring the problem till I can't put it off. Worst case, I'll end up a perma-reg or a locum consultant, or join a private company. That's not glamorous work, but it pays the bills, and I already live well below my means. If the UK isn't an option, then I think there's a chance I have an out in the form of NZ. If my USMLE issues clear up, that opens doors I'd rush through like they lead to nirvana. In the worst case? I can leave for India, rather unhappy about everything except the increased vitamin D production. All of this was half the point of the pain and suffering, I retain some optionality, even if it's not as much as I'd like.

Ah, I was talking about this: https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/career-progression/training/what-the-new-law-means-for-uk-graduate-prioritisation

Surely you must have seen this? I'm nowhere near medicine and in my circles people have been complaining about it.

Any doctor who has completed or is currently on the relevant qualifying UK training programme (for example, foundation doctors applying for core training or doctors who are completing or have competed core training applying for higher training).

Yay. ☺️

What ‘significant NHS experience’ means is still up for debate in 2027. But analysis from NHS England has projected that a two-year NHS experience threshold (as per original 2025 BMA ARM policy) would have minimal impact on reducing training bottlenecks over forthcoming recruitment years, negating the purpose of the Act.

Nay. 😒

I know about this, as I should, since my future hinges on it. But I'm not seeing anything about consultant posts, which is why I was perplexed. If they were discriminating against me on that basis, I haven't heard about it, and it's not covered by the BMA article

I'm a core psychiatry trainee. That means I'm "completing" core training. It's in the name, unless they have very serious opinions on ab workouts.

As far as I can tell, I'm safe. About 90% confident saying so. I caught the last chopper out of Saigon, or the last C-17 Globemaster out of Kabul. Sacrificing my sanity or my will to live to get there was a small price to pay. I tell new Indian doctors who want to train abroad not to waste their time aiming at the UK, and not just because of recent developments.

Yeah, the UK has issues. I tell people who want to become quants as well that they shouldn't prioritise the UK: you pay crazy tax while getting basically nothing in return + you don't even have the lower tax for X years incentive plans the European nations have to entice people like us to come over. It's like the UK believes that by virtue of being the UK it can bring high talent people over plenty of other options that only look better and better every year. That may have worked in the past, I'd be surprised if it still works 10 years down the line.

They have the balls to expect me to pay taxes on my Indian income/capital gains. That wasn't true when I moved here, but I believe it applies even to immigrants without an ILR. I think that goes into full force either yesterday (metaphorically speaking) or somewhere around 2028. I don't know, I don't care. That's my accountant's problem, or it would be, if I had one.

The US can pull off that move, but the UK is huffing paint thinner. Why yes, make it even less appealing to move here, when your economy is clearly thriving and your weather pulls tourists from Ibiza. I love paying 50% taxes on my salary past £current figure (that I crossed a while back). I love regressive tax systems and cliffs.

They have the balls to expect me to pay taxes on my Indian income/capital gains

You think this is bad? If you own a piece of ancestral village farmland with a small house on it anywhere in the world and it's worth more than £40k in total (or even if you have a share in such land worth over this limit, not a high bar these days) even if you'd never ever think of ever living there and only visit like once every year because social ties force you to do so then when you buy your first house in the UK it's technically counted as a "second home" and you have to pay 5% extra stamp duty on top for the privilige of owning your actual home. And btw, if you're married and either you or your spouse satisfies this condition, yep, pay an extra 5%: HMRC want their pound of flesh £50,000.

The UK really suffers from a bad case of thinking it's like the US. It doesn't have the job market or salaries or even any remaining international goodwill to engage in these indulgences and after Brexit Ireland is looking more and more like a smaller but better version of the same thing (full EU access has genuine value). Apparently student visa applications are down 40% this year compared to the same stage last year as people realize there's no need to pay 3x what locals pay for mediocre education if it doesn't buy you a decent chance at a passport from a western country (compare once again to Ireland, international fees are usually just 1.5x local fees and their post study + work visa options are generally better), lets see how long the govenrment continues trying to deny reality.

The only migrants I'd recommend the UK to these days are those who seek to arrive on a small boat.

You know, you've given me a lot of reasons to feel depressed and these are better than any that came before.

Fortunately, I don't own any property in India. At least none that I know of. Second home? I don't even own a first one, at least not till my parents hand theirs over. Which they won't, for the next 30 years at the least (which I am perfectly happy with, because the alternative would be that they've passed away). My mother was seriously contemplating buying a nice little house in India in my name, which I turned down because I have no concrete plans of moving back. Not if I can help it.

I don't wish to look down on the average Britisher. I don't. I detest their government, which has delusions of grandeur, or at least of empire. If you have an economy that stagnant, a system this unsustainable, you shouldn't be fucking up a high speed rail network or building tunnels for bats. You shouldn't be doing your utmost to make the best and most talented avoid you. I dare not call myself the best, let alone the most talented, and that's why my sorry ass is here. Could be worse. It could also be much better.

My general advice is to speak softly or carry a big stick. The current UK's political class are loud-mouths with limp dicks. I pity the average citizen, and I'm sad that I actually have it better than they do. At least I can pack my bags and leave if it gets too much to handle. Such squandered potential. It would be so easy to love the country, all I can really say is that its people don't deserve what they're going through.

You mentioned Ireland, and I've actually considered it as a perfectly viable alternative. Compared to Scotland? Similar weather, similar alcohol intake, and I suppose I can learn to love redheads instead of fake blondes. I'm a little more iffy on the EU and its value proposition, but I'll take more cash in hand most days of the week. I'm not sure why you're still there, but I suppose finance works differently.

What’s the property rights regime like over there? I’ve heard the level of bureaucratic congestion is endlessly Byzantine and outright corrupt in some certain areas; it’s pretty bad. What are your objections to perhaps retiring there in good standing, later in life?

Assessments of economic freedom/property rights:

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