Autumn is here...

Summer has been and gone... big changes here! We moved from the islands back to Inverness, Highlands for our next year of training!

The year in the Western Isles ended fittingly with the HebCelt Festival, a wonderful weekend celebrating music in Stornoway with music, food & Pimms! A highlight for me was local group, Face the West, a new celtic music group who had the whole tent jumping and absolutely blew us all away!

Settling back into life on the mainland has been an adjustment.. all the things we missed while we were on the island such as Marks & Spencers and clothes shopping now don't have such an appeal! We are finding ourselves missing the quiet island life and being able to walk along the beach after work or walking around Stornoway Castle Grounds, excellent fresh seafood! We miss all the wonderful friends we made while we were on the island but look forward to returning for a visit in a few weeks!

Being back in the Highlands is fantastic, we are so lucky to have such spectacular scenery around us and so many things to do! I had a great day out canyoning in the Cairn Gorms with G2 Outdoors.. which for novices like me means suiting up with wet suit, helmet, life jacket (& sunglasses) following a river downstream, along the way you have fantastic pool jumps, natural water flumes and abseiling through waterfalls.. with the bonus of stunning scenery all around!

Work has been busy, re-adjusting to the pace of life in District General Hospital which is quite different from the Rural General Hospital... but many things remain the same! I am very lucky to be working with and supported by a fantastic Paediatric team and learning so much!

One of the reasons I was so excited about the rural GP training programme was the brilliant Out of Programme Opportunity to develop further interests and skills. I am currently planning my Out of Programme Experience, which is 6 months built into my GP training programme at the beginning of my 3rd year.. more details to follow...

So overall... would I recommend rural GP training in Scotland... YES!!!

Summer Is Coming!!

The days are getting longer, the sun is coming out, winter is turning into spring! So we have been out and about making the most of it! We took our first surfing lesson last weekend on the beautiful Dal Mhor beach with our fantastic teacher Cheggs (http://www.surflewis.co.uk/). Looking forward to more activities to come over the next few months!

 

We have been joined by a great new group of doctors who have been exploring the island, going on afternoon/early evening walks, enjoying the beaches, seeing the sights and wildlife (plenty of eagles!).






Very exciting news that my first blog photo below (Jumping on Tolsta Beach) has won the Recruit & Retain photo competition and is now being used nationally and internationally to promote working in the Western Isles. See more about the project on http://www.recruitandretain.eu/

What A Winter In The Western Isles!

Sorry it's been awhile!! Been making the most of the changing scenery in the Western Isles in Winter as you will see we've been capturing fantastic shots all over the island! My favourite is this shot of the Callanish Stones at sunset. The weather... well, we were preparing ourselves for the worst, we'd heard about the ferocious winds and rains, but we have been pleasantly surprised! We've certainly had a few cold snaps with the occasional high winds and rain but otherwise a fairly mild winter!

There are still things to do all year round here, we've still been doing some walking and hoping to take up the summer sports (including kayaking, surfing, horse riding) soon! Believe it or not the photos above and below were taken in Feb/March! There are plenty of lovely places to keep warm with hot chocolate and food over the winter all over the island.




Work has been busy with a great variety of acute medical and surgical presentations over the winter period and I've gained experience of working closely with coastguard, paramedics and emergency retrieval teams during my Rural General Hospital placement at Western Isles Hospital.

All in all the Western Isles has been everything we have expected and more, we have made friends for life her, have a fantastic work-life balance and have had a brilliant experience working in the Rural General Hospital setting. 

The tale of the Western Isles.. so far... the first 4 months..

My partner, Chris, and I moved over to the Western Isles in August with nervous anticipation. We are currently undertaking our first year of hospital-based training. Since our first day in the Western Isles Hospital, Stornoway we have been welcomed with open arms by the staff, patients and community alike. I wanted to be part of a community and work with a close multi-disciplinary team which is particularly important in rural medicine and my experience of this so far has been fantastic. I have also had the opportunity to attend clinics and home visits on the Isles of Harris and on the Southern Isles. The hospital roles are very well supported by Consultants and with no middle grade staff, we are encouraged to develop more advanced diagnostic and procedural skills than working in larger city hospitals. 

I chose rural medicine as a new opportunity to broaden my horizons, I feel rural medicine is constantly providing new and different challenges.

The Western Isles is a beautiful rural location, as a group of islands with a variety of geographical beauty. The main town Stornoway (Isle of Lewis) has excellent local restaurants, fantastic seafood, theatre/cinema and nearby outdoor activities. We have been very lucky to have a fantastic work-life balance here - since arriving we have been walking on dozens of beautiful beaches, surfing, kayaking, wildlife spotting (Dolphins, Golden Eagles) and horse riding on the beach. We've had several weekends staying down on the Isle of Harris, including taking part in the Harris Mountain Festival Ceilidh, walks and races. 

I am originally from Leicestershire, England and  began my medical training in Aberdeen where I fell in love with Scotland and decided to continue my further training here. I undertook the foundation programme in the North Deanery, with the first year in Aberdeen and second in Inverness. This allowed time for me explore the spectacular Highlands and Islands and this was when I felt my heart belonged there. During this time I was strongly inspired to do rural GP practice by my placements in Connel (near Oban, Argyll) and Aviemore (Highlands).  

I have started this blog to share my love for the Highlands and Islands and promote training in these areas. I hope to inspire more people to consider joining us in training up here!