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Diving and Dining at the Annual Rural Track Workshop in Orkney

With nights being longer, Aurora Borealis in our Orkney skies and tourists nowhere to be found I feel like bringing memories of late spring days with blue skies, sun shining and puffins invading our northern archipelago...

This year there are also other memories to bring as our annual Rural Track Workshop took place in Orkney this year.

Over 2 days we hosted trainees from all rural areas of Scotland including Shetland, the Western Isles and Fort William.

The current Orkney 'herd' of GP trainees consists of 4 people: myself (Aneta), Alison, Jack and Shen. We were all very keen to host the event and show our fellow GP trainees what an exciting and diverse place Orkney is.

We spent our time quite actively, with Alison and Jack organising morning swims in clear waters of Orkney, myself trying to make sure everyone was fed and full of energy and Shen supplying local knowledge of ferry connections to some of the isles.

We had opportunity to hear from doctors at different stages of their careers, GPs and consultants alike, on what it is like to practice in Orkney and what challenges and excitement it brings.

We also visited local lifeboat station, decompression chamber for divers and we connected via VC with one of the remote islands to hear about experiences of truly rural & remote GP.



Personally, one of my favourite speakers was Dr Trevett, GP from Stromness, who talked to us about diving medicine and took opportunity to show us decompression chamber (one of four in entire Scotland!).

If you are interested in diving (medicine) Orkney is definitely a place to be! It is one of the most exciting spots for ship wreckage diving, just visit this website http://www.scapaflowwrecks.com/ and it will give you an idea of what treasures Orkney seabed might hide.

I could go on and on about how wonderful place Orkney is and how everyone can find something in here for themselves, but I will l​et the pictures speak for themselves...

Dr Aneta Filipek
GPST, NHS Orkney

We're in....Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2019 Top Regions!

Check out number 5 in the Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2019 Top Regions to visit guide....
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/best-in-travel/regions

Introverts vs. Extroverts at GPST day release...

Susan Cain on Introversion www.youtube.com The world is full of noise and those that are the loudest are the ones we tend to follow but what about the quiet ones? Author Susan Cain shines a spotlight on ...

To start GPST Day Release today we watched the animated video clip based on Susan Cain's TED talk on introversion.

She argues that modern society often undervalues the introvert and favours the extrovert especially in teams and small groups.

There were several heads nodding in agreement today but also a healthy debate with those who considered themselves more extrovert.

Rather than considering these as conflicting traits, there was the feeling that the distinction lies in where you draw your energy from.

Introverts tend to require privacy to think and reflect whereas extroverts prefer connecting with people and doing their thinking aloud.

Managing these traits in groupwork can be challenging but rewarding for all  when successful.

We'll keep this conversation going over the coming weeks.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUaj7rj6MI8

 

Orkney

Orkney, not quite the most northerly spot for UK GP training but close. A short flight from Inverness or 2.5-hour drive to Scrabster and then a ferry across to the picturesque fishing village of Stromness on ‘mainland’ Orkney. Whether GP training or holidaying, as we were, what a fantastic and friendly place. So much to see, do and enjoy. A well organised archipelago of islands, we received daily updates of island activities via email and so missed nothing of the busy islands goings on. With years of history embedded into the body of Orkney we were tripping over brochs and burial chambers, WW1 & WW2 lookout posts and Viking farmsteads on walks to the beach!

Great cycling around the smaller islands with short ferry trips to start the days adventure. We had a great trip round Rousay and visited the digs that are currently excavating Viking ‘patios’ and Pictish villages. Just the week before the handprint of a Pictish coppersmith had been excavated and the excitement of the archaeologists was palpable. Our 3 boys of 11 & twins of 8 were less than excited however by the broken pottery finds but were intrigued by the fish bones sucked by Vikings!
(1000 year old hand print found - https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jul/24/pictish-coppersmith-1000-year-old-handprint-found-in-orkney)

Having taken a cottage just north of Ophir we had a fantastic view of the Island of Hoy and were able to cycle around the island leave the car abandoned for most of the holiday. Each evening we were visited by a pair of Hen Harriers displaying their acrobatic hunting in front of the house and gave great delight and competition to the television which like the car was abandoned for the entire holiday. On the one rainy day we visited Kirkwall Parkrun and followed this with a swim at the The Pickaquoy Centre. Fantastic island facilities and what a playground for holiday fun. 
(Short YouTube clip on what Orkney has to offer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekYtsSubUJ4)

While on holiday I was drawn to think what a fantastic place to train as a GP. Orkney NHS Trust are currently building a fantastic new hospital due for completion in May 2019 and there are two great training practice The Skerryvore Practice, Kirkwall and The Surgery, Dounby. Orkney NHS Trust also run GP care of the islands with The Orcades Practice consisting of 5 island branch settings. I was tempted to relocate but lost the family vote 4 to 1 with a unanimous consolation vote for a holiday in Orkney next year.


Dr Mark Taylor ES & GP Associate Advisor, NES, Inverness Office.

Achieving success in the AKT and an amazing lunch at GPST2 Induction!

Induction time brings a chance for the ST2 trainees to all catch up from their hospital posts, and there was certainly plenty of chat and laughter to suggest they were making the most of the opportunity.  The ST2s were put through their paces in the morning trying out some mock AKT questions during a session focussed on achieving success in the AKT.  This session was led by Dr Sally Harkness, GP and RCGP examiner and it was well received by all the trainees with great interaction during the question debrief.

The feedback shows the lunch provided by the RCGP was “Great!” and there was certainly lots of great networking and socialising as the ST3s had arrived for their CSA session.  It was great to see the interaction between all the trainees from both year groups.  

After lunch they had informal interactive sessions to support their journey through the rest of the year.  With opportunities to ask questions and receive valuable information they left, fuelled with resources to help them achieve success this year.