Topper,
I'm not attacking individuals who come into this job from outside the NHS and who contribute as much as anyone else to it once they've picked up the experience and specific skills - it's just my opinion that employing them hasn't helped to develop formal training and professional development in NHS engineering departments.
I've been trying to get over why I think this 'profession' has not developed in the way that 'professions', like your last employment in the forces, was allowed to. No 'profession' can develop by relying on the integrity and professionalism of individuals when they enter it unless they are formally assessed for competence to nationally set standards, for example, and that the requirements of regulation are being met by those individuals. This should apply to us all.
Did you have to achieve standards, relevent to your last employment, before you were allowed to get on with it considered fully qualified? - if so then why should you not have sets of standards applied to this job?
You and your colleagues came into this job, day-one, and were able to perform all the tasks required straight away? I think not. It will have taken time to learn the non-engineering and the specifically clinically biased aspects of the job.
I've not actually commented on the complexity of the job with regard to engineering - I think I've said that the engineering basics of engineers coming from outside the NHS are not in question - these are relatively easily proven based on records and past performance. It's the other aspects that you can't possibly have been aware of before you started picking them up and gaining experience hands-on. Someone will have demonstrated, trained or educated you in these aspects initially and you will have picked up the skills over time. The experience on the job that is referred to in the requirements for VRCT.
However professional the attitude you still have to gain specific knowledge and experience. The job isn't just about fixing things - competences have to be there for the range of tasks or duties that an individual may provide as part of the job - not just repairing simple electronics for example - Radiotherapy, Diagnostic Ultrasound, Diagnostic Imaging, Renal, Anaesthetics - surely you cannot be competent in all of these, knowing all the regulations and safety aspects, from day one? Trainees and new starters could move into any of these areas so they need to be assessed in a range of areas.
From yours, Eagles and Cols postings I am beginning to confirm my initial impression that it's because you think your knowledge, experience, etc, carried over from your previous employment is more than adequate to meet all the requirements of VRCT, whatever - perhaps you think it was even before you even started this job. That's where my impression of a 'superior attitude' comes from.
Somebody recognizes what we have to offer.
Don't discount the possibility that you and your colleagues from the forces were seen as the best technically trained candidates around at the time, given demand, to fill vacant posts. Companies say they like individuals from the forces because they're used to doing as they were told without question - that's certainly the view of the after sales service Director of a private company I worked for briefly. So it's not necessarily because you were the best Medical Engineers.
