Two months after the UK finally began to lock down, Year 2 ScotGEM students like myself have come to the end of our abridged teaching for the academic year. For second years, the final six weeks of the session were originally planned to be a smorgasbord of exciting teaching and hands-on clinical experiences in emergency and pre-hospital medicine in our chosen health boards.
As a ScotGEM student, I knew a relationship wasn’t going to be easy. Not because I’m working all the time – don’t worry I’m definitely not(!) – but because we move around. I’m in my second year and I’ve travelled from as far flung places as Dumfries near the border to Inverness in the Highlands.
One of the best things about moving to the Highlands is being able to explore some of the most beautiful and most remote parts of Scotland. For many, the way of life up here is centred around outdoor activities. It’s a source of regional pride, and given the range of places to explore within just an hour or two of Inverness it’s hardly surprising. During my time in Inverness I was lucky enough to meet a fantastic community of people who shared this sense of adventure and were able to teach me more about how to safely enjoy and explore our beautiful country.
Last Sunday evening’s emails came as a shock to many of us. Although aware of the seriousness of COVID-19, the clarification that face-to-face university classes were cancelled for the rest of the academic year was hard-hitting.
One of the innovative aspects of ScotGEM – and I think many of the cohort would argue, the best – is the creation of the ‘Generalist Clinical Mentor’ or ‘GCM’ as it is often referred to. The GCM is an experienced GP who works part-time local to the university when they are not working with ScotGEM.
Smoking was once a very large part of my life. It was there when I wanted a break, which was as often as humanly possible. My relationship with smoking was a strange one – I knew that it was bad for me in every way possible, but I was always able to put a time limit on it which somehow made it okay to keep going.
One quarter of the way to becoming a doctor, and 6 weeks into the 2nd year of ScotGEM (Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine), I have finished up in Dumfries & Galloway (D&G) and started in Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. As with 1st year, I have been based in a local GP practice each week but with the added experience of hospital exposure with a variety of different placements.
Hello, my name is Jessica – I am one of the 2nd year ScotGEM students who has recently been on rotation away up in Inverness.
