Welcome Class Of 2015

Welcome class of 2015.  It was great to welcome on board the new class of 2015 at their induction last week.  The future of general practice is in safe hands!  We spent a productive couple of days looking at how we can develop the skills that will support us not just through GP Specialty Training but our whole life in General Practice.

All this was suitably fueled by a selection of home bakes produced by the GP Adviser Team and their families!

Career Start

The step from being a GP trainee to being a partner is a big one and can feel a bit daunting for some.  In Grampian we have developed a halfway house, the Career Start Scheme.  These are one year posts for newly qualified GPs to allow them to become established in general practice whilst at the same time developing a special interest for 2 sessions per week.

Read about Eloise’s experience as a Salaried “Career Start” GP working in a semi rural practice in Grampian.

“I applied to the Grampian Career Start programme for a variety of reasons: Mainly because I enjoy hospital-based acute medicine and emergency care in particular, and was keen to maintain an interest in these areas. Also because I felt I still had a lot to learn despite completing my GP training, and Career start seemed like a good half-way house between a trainee position, and working full-time in General practice. It offers support and supervision if required, and also the stability of being based in one GP practice as opposed to moving about between surgeries as a locum GP, which would have been the alternative option for me at this stage.

No Looking Back! From London to Aberdeen

We were standing in the kitchen of our flat in London when out of the blue my husband asked 'Fancy moving to Aberdeen?'  He had been working on a project up there and had been offered a permanent post. I took a sip of my coffee and thought 'Why not?

I was a few months away from finishing GP training and we had no particular ties to staying in London. Every journey, to work or to see friends, took an hour door to door. We couldn't afford the sort of house we wanted to start a family in. May be a move was just what the doctor ordered?

A few weeks later, we took a flight up to Aberdeen. Within an hour of landing we were climbing sand dunes on the beach at Balmedie. The sun was shining, the sea was brilliant blue and the beach was empty. That evening we walked into the city centre, taking in the impressive granite buildings and enjoyed a great meal. The next day we drove out to the Cairngorm national park and realised how close Aberdeen was to some truly wild scenery. As we sat on the plane waiting to take off back to London, our decision was made.

Since moving here, we have never looked back. We live less than a five minute commute from each of our jobs, we were able to afford a beautiful home, have started a family, made a wonderful group of friends and each weekend are spolit for choice: a picnic on the beach, a walk in the hills, dolphin-watching at the harbour, a visit to a fairytale castle...the list goes on.

Being a GP is a stressful and demanding job wherever you decide to do it, but with access to all this on your doorstep, Aberdeen gives you plenty of chance to unwind.

Career Start

I am coming to the end of my Career Start Year and it’s certainly been everything I had hoped for and more. You may have seen from my blog at the start of the year I was combining GP with Old Age Psychiatry. As it happens this has worked out perfectly!

From August I will be taking up a part-time partnership at the practice where I have spent the last 12 months. This has allowed me to have a very good idea of how things work but more importantly getting to know the people I will be working with. As this is only part time to start with I need to have another source of income and I have been able to get 3 sessions a week in Old Age Psychiatry, continuing the work I have been doing in my Career Start for the past year. Without the experience of the past 12 months I suspect it would have been impossible to get as it was only created by me asking for it. Fortunately they had some spare money and have given me a job.

Looking back on the year I am much more confident in my skills as a GP but have also developed so many new ones, which has allowed me to explore other areas of medicine I would never have thought about during my training. The secondary care team have also enjoyed and valued having a GP about and I have been able to create some invaluable working relationships.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the year and would certainly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Andrew Rigby

Career Development Posts

This year we have a new option for anyone who has completed Foundation but does not yet feel ready to commit to specialty Training.  The Career Development posts are for 1 year and are a combination of  two 6 month hospital posts along with 6 x 1 week release to general practice.

In the North of Scotland we have 6 of these posts. The posts would form an excellent basis for a future application to general practice and the skills gained should stand you in good stead for the recruitment process for GPST next year.  The time spent in the posts will not however count towards your GP training and you would still be expected to complete the full training program if you were successful in applying to GPST for August 2016.

For more information on these posts follow the link below.

• Career Development Posts

Applications closed but late contacts with Dr Jerry O'Rourke considered

Congratulations!

Recruitment for GP Specialty Training commencing August 2015 is now complete with the deadline for accepting posts in Round 2 now passed.  So congratulations to the 41 successful applicants coming to the North of Scotland.  We have 24 who have successfully gained places on the Grampian programs and 12 on the Caledonian programs along with 5 on our Rural Track program.

So congratulations to you all on making such a smart decision and electing to spend a life in general practice!  We look forward to meeting up with you in August at your inductions.  Our admin team will be in touch with you with all the information that you need in the run up to August.

We have a training intranet called Moodle that houses all the information on your training program and you will need to register for this.  Instructions and the necessary passwords will be forwarded by email in the coming weeks.

Working On Orkney

I can't say why I chose to take a job working in Orkney for 6 months, I have to admit, I had no idea where Orkney even was (and had a big shock when I searched for it on Google maps after applying). I saw it advertised, thought it looked interesting and a bit different and without too much thought applied for it. I never regretted what I guess was a bit of an impulsive decision..