On 18 September 2024, the British Medical Association (BMA), a representative body for doctors in the UK, announced it would refer to ‘junior doctors’ as ‘resident doctors’ in the future.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists put this decision to our own Psychiatric Trainees’ Committee who have voted in favour of using this title as well. RCPsych will now begin to refer to all postgraduate doctors in training as ‘residents’ and will begin the process of formally amending this terminology across our committees, bye-laws and regulations.
Speaking on the outcome of the vote, Dr Claire-Marie Hosein, Chair of the RCPsych Psychiatric Trainees’ Committee, said:
“The Psychiatric Trainees’ Committee (PTC) has today voted in favour of informally referring to postgraduate doctors in training as ‘resident doctors’ moving forward. This title more accurately reflects the wide range of skills and experience they possess while also making their position clearer to patients.
“Before the vote, the PTC carefully considered the wide range of views on this issue among our members and engaged in extensive discussion to explore the full implications of the change. Members were given the option to vote for one of three possible titles, the majority of which supported ‘resident’ (67.5%) followed by ‘trainee’ (27.5%) and no votes were received for junior doctor (0%).
“We are committed to ensuring all our members feel valued and respected, including our resident doctors.”
For further information, please contact:
- Email: press@rcpsych.ac.uk
- Twitter: @rcpsych
- Out-of-hours contact number: 07860 755896