Welcome to the SAS Career Development Programme

Specialty, Associate Specialist and Specialist (SAS) Career Development

We will deliver an annual programme incorporating events, training, workshops, webinars and eLearning to enhance your skills and support your continuing professional development.

The SAS Development Fund will accept individual applications for bespoke development projects involving SAS developing new or improving existing clinical skills to extend their roles and skills to improve services, and where funding is not otherwise provided in study leave budgets

To assist you with gathering and structuring evidence to support Appraisal, Revalidation and applications for Specialist posts or Portfolio Pathway we will map our courses to the nine domains of the GMC Generic Capabilities Framework.

Please read on and make full use of the resources we have compiled for you on our NIMDTA SAS Career Development pages.

If you have any queries in relation to SAS Career Development in N.I. please contact us on SAS.NIMDTA@hscni.net

SAS Career Development Guide

Please click on the below image to access the NIMDTA SAS Career Development Guide and stay up to date on each aspect of the programme.

About SAS Doctors and Dentists in NI

There are approximately 700 Specialty, Associate Specialist and Specialist doctors and dentists working in HSC Northern Ireland, comprising around 15% of the medical workforce.

SAS work in all specialties and must have completed a minimum of 4 years postgraduate experience to become a SAS doctor/dentist, with at least 2 of these years in the relevant specialty. The majority of SAS in Northern Ireland are very much more experienced, with some SAS doctors having worked for over 20 years in their specialty.

Advantages and Benefits of choosing SAS as a career path choice

Advantages of a SAS career include improved work life balance, geographical stability, increased flexibility and ability to achieve a portfolio career.

Since 2021, career progression as a SAS doctor or dentist has become better defined. Specialty doctors progress both clinically, and by contributing to wider roles within healthcare for example teaching and training of others, innovation, service development and modernisation, leadership or management and representative work.

Introduction of the Specialist Doctor post for which a minimum of 12 years postgraduate experience with at least 6 years in a relevant specialty is required offers career progression beyond Specialty doctor. SAS Career development in NI is now supported by NIMDTA.

Click here to Meet the SAS Career Development team!