GP Speciality Training Committee Meeting

Hello everyone,

My name is Uma, and I am a GPST1 currently at Inverurie Medical Practice. I volunteered for this meeting which was advertised via email. I had no idea what it was all about!

On the day of the meeting, I turned up and was surprised to see that I was the only 1st-year trainee in the room. The rest of the people were all the “who's who” of the GP training world in the North of Scotland! I greeted everyone and took a seat. I think it is safe to say all the most influential people involved in the chain of organisation for training were present. 

My responsibility at this meeting was to represent trainees and share their opinions regarding training. I am unsure how well I did in this regard as it was quite unfamiliar territory. 

Despite this, I was excited to be there and listen to the plans and effort put in to ensure our training runs smoothly. I soon realised that running the GP Programme is quite a complicated and daunting job!

At the same time, it was reassuring to see the competent people working in our interest. 

There were significant benefits of attending the meeting. I got to learn about opportunities after training, information commonly shared with ST3s, and we ended up agreeing this could be very useful for ST1s, as it affords people better opportunity and time to make up their minds about what they envisage their career after training to be.

I guess one of the most important things I want to say is that the Training Programme Directors are very approachable and open to ideas. They encourage trainees to share their thoughts on how best the programme can be run.

If you have any suggestions to improve the program in North of Scotland, please do not hesitate to contact me (uma.abelega@nhs.net), or your program directors: Vicki Guthrie and Monica Milne for Grampian Programme, Rod Sampson for Caledonian Programme and Calum Urquhart for the Rural Track Programee. I am confident that your suggestions and opinions will be given adequate consideration.

The next GP STC meeting is on the 20th of February 2019. I would be delighted to forward your opinions or concerns to the board for discussion or perhaps I might see you there!

Dr Ngu-Uma Abelega
ST1, Inverurie Medical Practice