Student Stories
A Glimpse Into My First Semester as a ScotGEM Student
During my first semester as a ScotGEM student, I had the opportunity to apply clinical skills in primary care and explore the wider role of community-based healthcare. A highlight was visiting Maggie’s Centre in Dundee, where I gained insight into the importance of holistic support for patients. This post reflects on these experiences and how they have contributed to my understanding of patient-centred care.
Representing ScotGEM at a National Surgical Competition
Lewis Astin represented the University of Dundee (and ScotGEM) at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh & Medtronic Surgical Skills Competition Grand Final.
ScotGEM’s first Wild Trials!
ScotGEM’s first wild trials experience, where they undertook various emergency and wilderness medicine scenarios as a team in a competition with 23 other medical schools across the UK.
Obstetrics in the Arctic
Amber chose to go to Norway for her elective placement in her final year of ScotGEM, to the city of Tromsø, in the north of Norway. She got to experience medicine in the Arctic, from skiing to work, sweet treats to celebrate the return of the sun and refreshing dips in the arctic waters!
Welcome to the ScotGEM stories editors of 2023/2024!
Welcome to the new additions of the editorial team for ScotGEM stories!
My South African Elective
I am a final year ScotGEM student and this year international electives are finally back up and running! For my first block I was lucky enough to be able to go back to South Africa…
Nith Inshore Rescue: A day of being rescued for ScotGEM
ScotGEM third year students in Dumfries and Galloway participate in a Nith Inshore Rescue training exercise, getting to be rescued themselves!
ScotGEM: An Unexpected Journey
A journey of two ScotGEM students and two GCMs cycling from Belfast to Limerick for the WONCA world rural health conference 2022.
Ushering in a new era for ScotGEM stories
Hello from your new team of editors at ScotGEM stories! To start off the 2022/2023 academic year we thought we would introduce ourselves so you all know a little bit about us and why we chose ScotGEM.
Graduation
Graduation! It’s hard to believe that it’ll be happening just a couple of weeks from now. It feels like it was just the other day when fifty-five eager new ScotGEMs took a seat in one of the seminar rooms at the School of Medicine in St Andrews for our first induction session, getting over a different dose of disbelief that we’d been given a place in the inaugural cohort of the first ever graduate-entry, accelerated medical degree programme in Scotland.
Pass Me The Needle
Having travelled two and a half hours from my rural LIC (longitudinal integrated clerkship) GP practice, I arrived at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, bright-eyed and eager to learn.
An Emergency in the Hills
I had never really given much thought to how my first experience of delivering CPR would go, but I certainly didn’t expect it to be out on the hills, without a phone signal or a single piece of kit.
A Fantastic Fortnight in Skye
Majestic, magical, misty… these are all words that come to mind when describing the wonderful island of Skye.
One Newspaper Later…
Time flies when you are whizzing about every corner of Scotland for four years, but not so much when you’re waiting for a bus in sub-zero temperatures in the middle of the Highlands. Need to learn to drive ASAP.
West is Best
If you don’t believe me, Princess Anne once said, “Sailing on a sunny day in Scotland is the nearest thing to heaven anyone will ever get on this earth…” She should know, with her near 30-year experience sailing her 44-foot yacht around Scotland every summer.
A Year in the Highlands
As part of the ScotGEM course, a year is spent undertaking a longitudinal integrated clerkship. I chose to come to the Highlands and wanted to be near Inverness, and I was assigned my practice in Tain. Before starting the course I had only been to Scotland twice, had never even heard of Tain, and didn’t know what to expect. Our course has an emphasis on general practice, and before starting my LIC I had enjoyed my GP placements but wasn’t sure if I would be better suited to secondary care. My main concern was that general practice meant working alone and I would miss working in a team. I also worried that there would be a lot of referring in general practice which meant not seeing a patient’s journey in secondary care. On a more general note, I was concerned that a career in medicine meant sacrificing hobbies and interests.
Ben Nevis
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.