I have recently been elected a Fellow of the College, which I consider to be both a great honour and a great achievement. I had put myself forward to be considered via the Unified Route to Fellowship (http://www.rcgp.org.uk/membership/fellowship.aspx) and I would urge all experienced and established Members to consider doing the same themselves.
It is easy to feel overshadowed by those who stand out in some particular way (who may well also put themselves forward for consideration, of course): but I know that I am not the star striker, or the demon bowler, nor the Olympic gold medal winner. No, I am a solid, dependable, all-rounder in the first team (which in my case includes everyone who works with me in the practice of which I am a partner).
The standard required for Fellowship is appropriately high, the process to be followed is rigorous, as it should be. Yet, I think that it is achievable by any Member who is committed, hard-working, aspiring to, and attaining high standards in clinical practice, or one or more other areas of general practice or primary care work. For me it involved describing what I already actually do in practice, and organising data, and other material I already had; in other words, it was not a large burden.
I think that the Unified Route to Fellowship is a good way for many colleagues like me now to receive the recognition they too deserve of their stature in the profession.
- © British Journal of General Practice, 2010.