My third year on placement in Fort William has so far been brilliant. The people who I have met and worked with have taken every opportunity to demonstrate their kindness and generosity. However, I think most of us would admit that at times this year has been tough. We have all had to make the most of what we have around us. This year of all years I have tried to embrace the opportunities afforded to me by the beautiful west coast, and I really could not have asked for more out of my time here.
I arrived in Fort William in August, lured by the prospect of Highland adventure. The two dozen or so ScotGEM students brave enough to try their hand at remote Highland medical placements had been scattered to the winds, each of us nomadic explorers in our own right. As per ScotGEM tradition, I arrived in a small, second-hand car overflowing with a ramshackle assortment of rucksacks and shoeboxes full of treasures. Greeted by long, warm days full of clear skies and new faces, I was excited by the promise of the year ahead.
Fast forwards to the end of November and I found that initial flame of enthusiasm starting to wane. My hopes of running off into the hills with mates had been scuppered by a combination of tightening COVID restrictions, some Achilles problems, and an unyielding deluge of rain and grey that had swept in a month ago and stubbornly refused to budge. This was accompanied the famous ‘November slump’ of third year, characterised by a heightened sense of academic inadequacy and impending doom brought on by the prospect of medical finals.
However, I had been sympathetically informed that when the weather gets cold enough to snow, Lochaber is transformed. Ever the optimist and determined to find some enjoyment in pandemic life I went and bought myself my first pair of winter boots.
The start of December brought with it a sense of change. The academic worries of November had subsided a little with the help of an abundance of Christmas spirit within my GP practice. The arrival of lower temperatures was accompanied by a healthy dumping of snow on the mountaintops as the chilly Highland winter arrived in style.
Myself and a fellow coursemate made the decision to try what would be my first winter Munros; Ben Nevis via the Carn Mor Dearg Arête. And so early one crisp December morning, armed with bags full of warm layers, flasks of tea and an enormous bar of Toblerone we set off from the north face car park.