I Do Sometimes Go To Work.

Ardnamurchan From Ganavan

Lest I create the impression that all I ever do is ride my bike or go walking, I felt I should probably write a bit about the job at Oban and why it is a good for a GPST1 year.

 I did my foundation jobs in the two enormo-hospitals in Sheffield, Englandshire.  As a result, my exposure to lots of really common medical and surgical presentations was limited to what I saw when carrying an out of hours on-call bleep.  I have therefore, prescribed IV fluids and chased serum rhubarb for patients with everything from epistaxis to epididymitis, without learning much about the management of these conditions. 

Happily for me, the relatively small number of patients and the non-specialist nature of care at Oban means things are very different here.  In my first six months, I had really good start-to-finish exposure to all the commonly presenting medical conditions and I am finding the same, now that I have moved over to surgery (or the dark side as the medical nurses refer to it). 

The same is true of my experience in A+E.  I have never done an A+E job before, so I am finding the smattering of A+E that you do whilst on call here a great experience.  It presents situations where I don't have a clue what I am doing (otherwise known as learning opportunities) every day.  This has really brought my knowledge and confidence on.  This is also true with very unwell patients in A+E.  Out of hours, for at least a short while, when a sick patient comes in, you are it.  When I have called consultants in at night (which has NEVER been a problem),  I have never been pushed out, rather I have supported and guided through management of the unwell patient.  It is rather like being thrown in at the deep end, but with a good lifeguard on the poolside. 

I made a film last year about training here, in which some of the consultants and juniors talk about why they think this is a good place to train.  Have a look.  It's a bit long, but I hope it gets the message over that if you are looking to get a very broad base of exposure and some experience of being under pressure, then you could do a lot worse than Oban.