I love a countdown, whether it’s counting down to my next holiday, Christmas or my current favourite, weeks until I can go back to GP for good (twelve!). I hated the idea of going back to hospital after loving my first six months working in GP, so life has been a bit of a giant countdown since then!
I was back in my training practice this week for my final “keeping in touch” day and as ever it was great to see everyone that works at the practice and have the chance to see some patients, reassuring me that I haven’t completely lost all of my GP skills. It caused me to think about the past 15 months in hospital and what the experience has taught me and how it’s likely to influence my clinical practice when back in GP. Much as I hate to admit it I’ve gained a lot of experience in the time I’ve had back in hospital practice that will be invaluable when working as a GP. Whether it’s assessing a baby with bronchiolitis, making the decision when to start a syringe driver in a palliative patient or determining whether a patient with a head injury needs admission for monitoring, I have dealt with a lot of situations that I would have otherwise never encountered if part of the GP training programme wasn’t in hospital. I often find it strange that at least half of our GP training is spent in hospital because I feel that, fundamentally, you learn to be a GP in general practice.
I was back in my training practice this week for my final “keeping in touch” day and as ever it was great to see everyone that works at the practice and have the chance to see some patients, reassuring me that I haven’t completely lost all of my GP skills. It caused me to think about the past 15 months in hospital and what the experience has taught me and how it’s likely to influence my clinical practice when back in GP. Much as I hate to admit it I’ve gained a lot of experience in the time I’ve had back in hospital practice that will be invaluable when working as a GP. Whether it’s assessing a baby with bronchiolitis, making the decision when to start a syringe driver in a palliative patient or determining whether a patient with a head injury needs admission for monitoring, I have dealt with a lot of situations that I would have otherwise never encountered if part of the GP training programme wasn’t in hospital. I often find it strange that at least half of our GP training is spent in hospital because I feel that, fundamentally, you learn to be a GP in general practice.
Now coming to the end of my hospital section I can appreciate it has enriched my clinical knowledge and skills. I think the key factor to appreciate as a GP trainee is how to make your hospital posts work for you. There is a risk that you can be used purely for service provision but I have found that a lot of departments are now recognising that we have quite different educational needs to the core trainees in each speciality and are adapting rota’s to reflect this. In addition if you can be proactive in seeking out educational experiences that are beneficial to GP you will get so much more out of the hospital rotations. For example in my current job which is geriatrics, consultants have aligned GP practices and generally visit their practice about once a month and also any nursing homes that are attached to the practice. Therefore I’m planning to accompany the consultant aligned to my practice to these meetings.
Being back at my training practice this week has helped keep me inspired to try and get as much as possible out of my final 12 weeks in hospital. I find my current rota quite challenging and it’s easy to get swept up in the long hours and multiple days at work and forget to keep your learning at the forefront of your mind. So whilst I’m busy counting down to August I’m also determined to try and get the most out of my last taste of hospital medicine.
84 days to go…………!!
84 days to go…………!!
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