Town Mouse / Country Mouse

I am Debbie Miller , a GP Educational Supervisor at Nairn.

Rachel Hopkins is an experienced GP who has her own practice in Central London. She wanted a change and agreed to come up to the Highlands for 4 months to be my locum, a sort of "Town Mouse ,Country Mouse" thing.....except the Country Mouse headed off to the sun in Saudi Arabia (that's another story!)
I thought that it would be interesting to get some feedback from Rachel so she kindly agreed to jot something down about her experience and she has given permission for it to be posted on this blog.

"The cows looked mournfully out of the byre at me as I picked my way across the muddy farmyard to the cottage for a home visit. It had been tricky finding the right farm with no sign of a name anywhere- fortunately I'd been able to pull in and ring the farmer for directions. The environment was totally different to my usual work as an inner city GP in London, but the experience of struggling to locate a visit and ringing for directions was very familiar. Not very used to isolated farms in London, but maze-like housing estates. Finding home visits was like most of my experience spending my sabbatical from London working as a locum in Nairn, Highlands, both strikingly different but at the same time very familiar.

Some More Feedback!

Sherif, one of our ST3s was kind enough to send us this feedback and has agreed to us sharing it with you all via our blog.

"Dear Anna,

 

I really cannot thank you enough for all your support and encouragement all the way through my training.  I mean that that in its own was a great help, having someone we feel is on our side offering help and support.

The mock CSA practice was also great and I think it would be of immense value to everyone in the future.  The actor coming in was also helpful, especially with the scenarios chosen but I feel the mock CSA was more focused and much more structured.  Combining both would be great but if I had to choose one or the other I would choose the latter.

My small group was just super, Jenny our facilitator was just so genuinely interested and she always had something planned whether it was CSA practice or general discussions or hot topics.  I owe her a lot and I think it makes a great difference to feel that as a tutor she genuinely cared about the group, it becomes a much more involving and rewarding experience so If you can somehow clone Jenny, that would  really help other trainees in the future.  :)

Finally I think it really comes down to the human factor, people providing the service rather than the service itself and I think everyone in our programme has been genuinely helpful and supportive and at no point did I  feel let down or given up on which is the essence  of any successful training programme.

 

Thank you again for everything.

 

Sherif."

Recruitment 2014

So that is recruitment completed for 2014.  Congratulations to everyone who successfully applied to the North of Scotland schemes.  You have just made a very good decision!!  We look forward to meeting you all at your induction sessions in August.

In the lead up to August we will be sending you log-ins for our online learning system called Moodle.  All the information for your GP training is housed on Moodle including the induction dates and programs along with full information on your educational programs.

See you in August.

Aberdeenshire From Mountain to Sea

Watch this video from Aberdeenshire Council.  It shows some great reasons for coming to live and work in Aberdeenshire.  So if you are thinking of entering GP specialty training next year, put the North of Scotland at the top of your list!

"The Slump", By Ian Wilson GPST3

At this time of  year, as part of our ST3 educational program we lay on what we call the "Finishing School". This is for those of you who have successfully completed the exam components of the MRCGP, the aim being to equip you for the challenges you will face in your next 30 years of general practice.

Sessions are varied and topics include:-  Financial Planning, What To Look For In A Contract, CV Writing, Resilience, Appraisal, Interview Practice and so on.

Today's session was on "Medical Humanities, What's The Point?"  The workshop focussed on the human aspects of being a GP and the central importance of the patient's story. It included time for narrative writing, during which participants were invited to reflect on their experiences as GP trainees and to write something from the third person perspective. The narratives were shared in pairs followed by a whole group discussion on the impact of the experience. During the wider discussion Iain was asked to read his poem to the whole group and was then encouraged by his fellow trainees to share it more widely , using this blog. So here it is!

The Slump

There once was a doctor called Ian

He hailed from the University of Aberdeen

Hospital was good, but he didn't fancy ST,

So packed his bags and set for the land of GP

Now the past 12 months have certainly been hard

Long days with no play resulting in extra lard.

He realised he began to struggle with the daily grind,

And even after a holiday still felt he was losing his mind.

But now there is a baby on the way!

He realises that he needs a job with some pay!

After recovering from the famous registrar slump

He no longer comes to work with the hump.

Although the future is still not entirely clear,

In GP, he knows he's picked an awesome career.

THE END

Orkney Remote and Rural Fellowship

Once you have finished your GP Specialty Training in the North of Scotland there are a number of post CCT options open to you.  In Grampian we have the career start scheme which offers you the opportunity to spend part of your time in a GP practice and the other part of your time working in a hospital specialty to develop an area of special interest. 

NHS Education Scotland also funds a number of Fellowships including  Medical Education, Remote and Rural and Health Inequality Fellowships.  Dr Holly Tyson is currently a Remote and Rural Fellow based on Orkney.  In the video above she describes some of her experiences during her time on Orkney.

To give you an idea of numbers, the Grampian Career Start scheme normally has around 10 posts although this may vary depending on the number of those wanting less than full time working.  There are 8 standard Rural Fellowships and 4 Acute Care Rural Fellowships.  Of these 4 remain available; 3 standard - 2 in Orkney, one in Caithness and one acute in Stranraer. Closing date is 16th June. Contact for queries is Gill Clarke (gillian.clarke@nes.scot.nhs.uk)

Inverness Is The Happiest Place In Scotland!

Another good reason to come to Inverness on the Caledonian program!  Inverness is the happiest place in Scotland and the second happiest in the UK, according to a survey published this week by a property website.

Read more in this article on the BBC website.

Inverness Is The Happiest Place in Scotland