Introduction – this newsletter covers student achievements – and some useful reading for us to help us cope with patients with problems we struggle to understand.
In this newsletter:
- The GMC report
- Consider how you address patients
- Student and Staff Achievements at Graduation
- Focus on Academy deans
- Staff Departures
- A personal insight into mental health
- Important information on SSCs for this year
GMC report
Most of you in Years 2-5 will be aware that the GMC visited the medical school last May 2016 but you may not have heard the outcome of that visit. The GMC were quite impressed with the meidcal school while they were hear and their report was very positive including these highlights:
- We heard good evidence that the academy structure supports the delivery of undergraduate education for both learners and educators. We note the strong working relationships between the academy deans and the university.
- There is a strong system of academic support and the learning environment values education allowing students to achieve their learning outcomes. We were particularly impressed with how the course aims to turn students into well rounded doctors.
- The medical school have an effective system of educational governance that is responsive to feedback from both learners and educators.
- We were impressed with the Learning in The Hospital Environment Programme (LiTHE), which bridges the transition between pre-clinical and clinical learning.
- Educators are well trained and supported in their roles and we were impressed with the work of the clinical teaching fellows.
- We were impressed with the developments and the level of stakeholder engagement in the design of the new curricula.
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Thinking about how we speak to and address patients
On the face of it, the question ‘What would you like to be called?’ doesn’t sound unreasonable or offensive. However, remember that our patients will be somewhat or considerably older that most of us and may not want to be called by anything but their surname / Family name. Remember that your patients are VIPs who are uncomfortable and often frightened after admission to hospital – a very alien environment for most people. In that case, treating them with respect might mean introducing yourself formally by your surname and always addressing patients by their titles ‘Mr X’ or ‘Mrs Y’, Sir or Ma’am, unless they spontaneously ask you to do otherwise.
One of our patients expresses her views exceeding well in this video clip from the Clinically Speaking resource, available free to our students as an App on Apple or Android:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5MbZr-IQCo
Student and Staff Achievements
In July, we hd a great day for the MB ChB graduation. As well as getting their degrees, students were awarded prizes in the now traditional Promise ceremony lead by Professor Richard Huxtable. This was followed a reception for graduates and parents in St Georges on Brandon Hill.
| Students who won prizes were: John Farndon Prize for Special Achievement:Will Creasy Frances Townend Steven Webber Prize for Top Ranked Student across the MBChB Programme: Bethan Arnold David Rayner Prize for Best Performance in Year 4 RHCN Examination 2014/2015: Abigail Shaw Green Armitage Prize for Outstanding Student in Year 4 RHCN Examination 2014/15: Mary Fenton-Jones RHCN RCOG Prize for Best Elective Proposal: David Jones Peter Dunn Perinatal Prize Best Neonatal Elective Proposal (Acknowledgement): Isabel White Alfred E A Laurence Best RHCN SSC Presentation: Rosie Riley Best Faculty Elective Bursary Report: Eng Hean Teh Dean’s Prize for Sports and Music, Art & Drama: Sports – James Stephenson Music, Art & Drama – Louise Geller In Recognition of his Input to Revision for Yr 4, nominated by Yr 4 students: Krizun Loganathan Primary Care 2015 Prize (Acknowledgement): Bronwen Warner Chantal Cox-George |
Alfred E A Laurence Best RHCN SSC Presentation:
Rosie Riley Best Faculty Elective Bursary Report: Eng Hean Teh Dean’s Prize for Sports and Music, Art & Drama: Sports – James Stephenson Music, Art & Drama – Louise Geller In Recognition of his Input to Revision for Yr 4, nominated by Yr 4 students: Krizun Loganathan Primary Care 2015 Prize (Acknowledgement): Bronwen Warner Chantal Cox-George |
Staff who were awarded prizes were:
Academy Teacher of the Year
Bristol North: Dr Junaid Fukuta
Bristol South: Dr Henry Burton
Bath: Dr Nick Adams
Somerset: Dr John Chester
Swindon: Dr Susie Canning
Gloucestershire: Dr Craig Miller and Dr Susan Ho
Nth Somerset: Dr Kurien John
GP Teacher of the Year
Year 1 Dr Sarah Woodward
Year 2 Dr Damian Cussen
Year 3 Dr William Nattrass
Year 4 Dr Martin Strong and Dr Ian Jarvis
Focus on Academy Deans (This month Somerset, Swindon, South Bristol and Bath)
Kevin Jones, Swindon
Kevin Jones told us “I did my primary degree at St Andrews and my clinical training in Ireland then completed my pre-registration appointments in the South West Deanery. I trained in O&G in the South West, including time as a Fellow in Reproductive Medicine at the University of Bristol & a Clinical Fellow in Endoscopic Surgery in Guildford. I was appointed to an NHS consultant post at the Great Western Hospital, Swindon in Aug 2003 and Senior Lecturer (Hon) at Bristol in Aug 2005. I have been The Medical Academy Dean in Swindon since Jan 2011(current) and as the SSC Lead (current) and Chair of the Student Choice committee for the MB21 curriculum since June 2015. I am involved in delivering general obstetrics & gynaecology but my area of special interest is ambulatory gynaecology and infertility. I am the director of the Wiltshire Fertility Centre.”
Alastair Kerr, Bath
Alastair Kerr said “I was appointed as an Elderly Care Consultant at the Royal United Hospital, Bath in 2005 having trained throughout the Wessex area & a year in New Zealand.
I have always been passionate about teaching having been influenced by senior Doctors who taught me throughout my training. I was therefore keen to pass on this enthusiasm to medical students & was appointed as lead for the Senior Medicine & Surgery block at the Royal United Hospital in 2006.
Having held this post for 9 years I felt it was time to step up to applying for Academy Dean & was delighted to be appointed to this post in August.
I am greatly looking forward to welcoming all the medical students who come to the RUH in Bath & will aim to ensure that the teaching quality & experience you have here will make you want to return to the RUH as a Doctor.”
Simon Cooper, Somerset
After gaining his CCT he started working at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, in April 1996 as a Consultant Geriatrician with a specialist interest in Parkinson’s disease. His job plan expanded when he took on the roles of Clinical Lead for Dementia and Parkinson’s disease and in 1999 also became the College Tutor for Medicine. Dr Cooper gained his Certificate in Medical Education with the TLHP in 2006. His first formal role with the undergraduates from the University of Bristol was running the Care of the Elderly placements before the Academy system was introduced in 2005. In 2009 he became Associate Academy Dean until July 2015 when he took on his current role of Academy Dean. In 2014 LiTHE was introduced to the curriculum and he took on the role of Unit Coordinator for that unit. His roles within the University also include being involved in the student appointments process, being the Academy representative on the Y5 finals and assessment group and being an Academic Mentor.
Simon regularly teaches for the RCP as well as examining at PACES exams and has been an external examiner for UCL.
Jane Sansom, South Bristol
Dr Jane Sansom has been Academy Dean at South Bristol for the last five years, the main hospital being the Bristol Royal Infirmary. She graduated from Bristol University many years ago, and has never really managed to work further away than Swindon … so has a strong allegiance to the city and fond memories of Dolphin House as a medical student.
After graduation, Jane was a house officer at Southmead and Frenchay before a medical rotation in the same hospitals. A chance conversation led to consideration of a career in Dermatology – a decision she has never regretted. Jane worked part-time for the whole of her dermatology training before being appointed as Consultant Dermatologist at the BRI in 1998 where she is currently Clinical Lead and has a specialist interest in occupational and contact dermatitis.
Jane has been interested in medical education for a number of years, having previously been Dermatology and COMP2 lead. She is also interested in assessment at postgraduate level which includes question writing and standard setting for MRCP and the Dermatology Specialist Certificate Exam.
Outside of work, sport, singing (especially with the Galenicals choir), food and travel are definite passions and she is lucky enough to have three daughters who kindly provide ‘constructive criticism’ on a daily basis.
Jane’s deputy, Robert Marshall, has been a Consultant Rheumatologist at University Hospitals Bristol since 2006. He is also the Academy Unit Coordinator for MDEMO at South Bristol. He attended medical school at Guy’s and St Thomas’s in London, with an intercalated BSc in History of Medicine at University College London. Following house jobs in London, he moved to the West Country to complete the SHO rotation in Plymouth, and then began Rheumatology training in Bristol and Bath. During this time he developed an interest in medical education, spending a year as a teaching fellow helping to develop the current MDEMO module. After completing Rheumatology training in Wessex, he returned to Bristol as a Consultant. He has been Clinical Lead for Rheumatology at UHBristol for the last 2 years, and has a clinical interest in connective tissue diseases. In recent years he has been closely involved with teaching, examining, and developing various aspects of the undergraduate curriculum. He may be seen riding a folding bike around Bristol, or once a year hurtling down a ski slope trying to keep up with teenage offspring. He has been known to bump into the University of Bristol ski club staying at the same resort, so be on your best behaviour at all times!
Central team – Change of staff – New Senior Tutor
Dr Nicola Taylor, presently a consultant Liaison Psychiatrist in the BRI, takes over the leadership of pastoral care from Nigel Rawlinson, and starts in this role in early September. Her title is Senior Tutor, and this change in title reflects a major shift in the role whereby the Senior Tutor is not involved in any academic decision making about students, focussing only on student support. We look forward to having her in this new role.
Farewell from Nigel Rawlinson
It seems strange to be saying farewell as a new Academic Year gets underway. In sending you my best wishes, I have printed the text of a “thought for the day”, which I gave on Radio Bristol in August. Be encouraged! Nigel
So I have just returned from a farewell do – for me. I am changing jobs, and leaving colleagues with whom I have worked closely. However clear the decision, emotional ties are hard to lose. And we have shared many experiences together. We are seeing other transitions in our news. The fabulous Olympics! And the return of our athletes – after golden joy or heart-break sorrow – we see and listen to people who have devoted four or more years to prepare, now coming home and thinking of what is next – for them. However well the games went, this uncertainty can be disorientating.
Not all of us are athletes – I wish! But any change is significant. It is easy to lose sight of this – but we build our identity around us, and when that goes we can feel naked!
I found myself talking to a close colleague with whom I have taught. We both have an understanding and respect for students studying medicine. It’s a tough curriculum, learning about the suffering of illness or trauma, and with people who are. He was asking about chaplaincy. That is where I am going (in the University of Bath).
I described a picture that defines this ministry for me. It’s in a church, where in the distance, around the high altar, people are standing for a service. The presence of God – maybe a mystery – is shown by a particular shade of light. In the foreground is a person who has come in to the church, and flopped down in prayer –head in hands. Jesus is there behind – in the same light – with a hand stretched out to bless and comfort. This is chaplaincy – working outside a conventional religious service, and alongside people of all stages of faith, or none, who are seeking God’s help in crisis times. Here is a rock to hang onto at times of change and transition
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How we can all become victims of mental health problems.
Introduction
An incident occurred to a medical student last year. This was quite dramatic and disturbing, and almost life threatening. They wrote this short paper which describes the impact of this, the student’s attempt and then failure to cope with the effect of it, and their experience of being a patient in a psychiatric ward. The student has given me permission to publish this in the Newsletter to help us all understand the impact of something like this and provide us with some insight into such an episode.
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This paper describes the journey from those first 5 seconds of silence after the incident, to why a medical student might then suffer in silence, and a possibly unique description of the experience of a private psychiatric hospital from a medical student’s perspective as a patient. The literature on these themes will be explored, so that medical schools and physicians taking care of medical students may learn from my experience.
Main Body
As medical students and doctors we are expected to be pillars of society – strong, resilient, caring, and infallible – and yet statistically we are the most vulnerable to mental health issues. These include depression, anxiety disorders (including generalised anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), aswell as substance misuse (including alcohol) and eating disorders. Indeed prevalence of medical student psychological morbidity has been found to be close to 27%, of whom only around a quarter sought help, and 80% surveyed felt that the level of support was either poor or only moderately adequate4.
This high prevalence may be attributed to a number of factors. The first is (and perhaps most relevant) – the possession of the self-selected traits of a caring professional.
The second factor – the widely acknowledged stresses of the medical course, and finally – lack of appropriate help-seeking because of fear of stigmatisation. Indeed, many hold back from presenting because of the perceived fear of being declared unfit to practice by the GMC, simply because of the presence of a mental health issue.
When the fuse does eventually blow – where do we turn? Most of us will have to rely on a heavily overburdened NHS mental health service – waiting between 6 to 18 weeks for psychotherapy – while a few (like me) are lucky enough to have private health insurance. For most, by the time they start therapy, the student concerned may be in a significantly worse state, as well as behind in their studies.
First impressions
After finding it especially difficult to access care in a timely manner, the decision was taken to address my PTSD and resulting depression with concentrated inpatient therapy at a private psychiatric hospital, or ‘wellbeing centre’. This pseudonym was apt since it had much the appearance of a leafy Wiltshire country retreat.
On admission, as I sat awkwardly at the end of the bed as a nurse searched through my personal effects – I contemplated the satire of the situation that might have seemed impossible, almost laughable, a year ago. This procedure was protocol for all patients, however it didn’t make having your knickers searched for knives and paracetamol any less dignified.
The first few days were uncomfortable, and I struggled to adjust to the role of patient. This sentiment was in no way lessened by the fact that to get medication- from citalopram for depression to paracetamol for a headache, one had to line up 3 times a day to a dispensary window complete with paper cups, very similar to that in the book and film ‘One Flew Over A Cuckoo’s Nest’. I understand and accept the reasoning underlying this mode of dispensation, however it does not make the removal of autonomy any less biting.
Furthermore, on the first night, despite prior warning, the 3am observation round was a shock as on hearing the door click open, I observed in my hypnopompic state a dark shadow approach from the corridor to stand over me, dementor-like (the nurse presumably listening for breath sounds). Indeed further on in the week. I was also greatly bemused when a confused, (and unashamedly nude) patient entered and sat on my bed at 1am – however this visit was neither procedural nor invited.
Treatment therapies
Upon settling in, I got to know and interact with the other patients – an extraordinary cross-section of society and of hidden illness and addiction. They included a fellow medical student, stockbrokers, CEOs, housewives, and ex-intelligence agents. I cannot recommend psychodynamic group therapy enough – not only because it has stood up to thorough scientific scrutiny, but through my own personal experience. It is through exploring our own issues – and others offering their own different perspective on our ‘problems’, that we may gain insight, as well as find a great deal of comfort and the impetus for change. By encountering another’s issues that we might perceive not to be a ‘problem’, we may recognise it to be a symptom of a pathology, and thus recognise that our own are also simply a symptom.
Admittedly, at first I found myself surreptitiously privately diagnosing the other residents, whilst following the different stages of alcohol withdrawal in others. Once trained, it is difficult not to notice the first signs of delirium tremens, or the dyskinesia suggesting long-term use of antipsychotics. I developed wonderful relationships with many of them – with such a wealth of life and experience to offer, and the great depth of wisdom and non-judgement that comes with having encountered great personal suffering.
Personally, I had previously encountered CBT in the community and had found NICE-recommended bibliotherapy/computerised self-help therapies disengaging because I always felt I had more pressing study work to do whilst at my desk. In essence I felt ‘guilty’ spending time doing CBT, and in short, I never got round to it. I then found one-to-one delivery patronizing – I did not engage with it because I found it hard to accept that a rational scientific mind could be so vulnerable to self-sabotage. It was only within group delivery, where the focus of the therapist’s attention was shared that I felt more comfortable. This was because I was able to normalise the core concept, by witnessing the manifestation of my peer’s negative automatic thoughts.
One thing this high-achieving cross-section of patients seemed to have in common is the lack of an ability to ‘switch off’- to truly relax and take time for themselves. It brings to mind a sentiment expressed by poet William Henry Davies:
“A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare”
‘Mindfulness’ is a treatment based on Buddhist meditation – by tuning into the ‘moment’. It has a robust evidence base for the prevention of depressive relapse.
Arguably medical students may benefit highly from the acquisition of this ability to tune into what their body and mind is feeling at that current moment. For example, on experiencing feelings of panic or angst about the future when revising for exams, the student may recognise that these are ‘fleeting events in the mind and body that they can choose to engage with – or not’.
The doctor treating the ‘doctor-patient’:
The psychiatrist treating the medical student is a unique relationship, because the student may feel better understood. Indeed the therapist who has experienced medical school may utilise countertransference to yield insight into the student patient’s experience and thus promote empathy. There is minimal literature written about this subject pertaining specifically to medical students, however several authors have encountered several disadvantages. These include excessive intellectualisation by the medical students, fears over confidentiality, over-identification and idealisation both by therapist and student, as well as internal conflict over reporting the student when substance abuse issues are raised.
It is often said that ‘doctors make the worst patients’. BMA guidance states that ‘such patients should be offered the same explanations of what is involved in the investigation and management of their condition. They may be much better informed than most other patients and their special knowledge should be recognised, without assumptions being made about the amount of informational and detail they want’.
My personal experience has been that having somebody non-judgementally fill in the specific gaps (that the wide-ranging medical school curriculum can leave) was a great tool on the road to insight in one’s own experience of a condition. This, combined with being given the room for greater autonomy within the shared-decision making progress produces an efficacious care plan.
Protection of Autonomy
In medical school, students are taught about the Mental Health Act – this outlines citizens’ rights concerning consent, treatment and ultimately detention.
It is there to protect patients from the days where they could be admitted on the grounds of ‘masturbation’, ‘laziness’ or even ‘moral insanity’ simply for wanting a divorce. As part of a curriculum, it is an almost abstract concept – however when you are suddenly on the other side of the gate, it is sharply evident just how important this legislation is.
I noticed a strange dynamic at the weekly community meeting in which patient feedback is given. Never did I think I’d witness the patient (an executive in a multinational company) cowed so quickly by a hospital administrator. The administrator claimed that having a (requested) gym ‘would be too expensive in terms of supervision’ (despite the hospital rate of £800/night). Later, I asked the patients why they had allowed themselves to be silenced so easily, to which they expressed the fear that by rocking the boat, they might compromise their care or even be ‘sectioned’. Despite many of them being highly educated, their lack of familiarity with application of the Mental Health Act law led to unawareness of the actual checks and balances on staff ‘powers’. And naturally, they were unable to cite NICE guidelines advising exercise for depression, nor the awareness that many NHS psychiatric hospitals across the country do indeed have gym and exercise programmes. Unintentional or not, the imbalance of knowledge resulted in potentially poorer care, and an atmosphere of patient deference.
Discussion
Sophocles wrote ‘I have no desire to suffer twice, in reality and then in retrospect’. However, upon looking back I do not feel regret or indeed suffering when I think of that time. I take heart that by sharing at least part of my journey in mental health, I might inspire some encouragement for progress.
At a time of great change for the NHS, when the medical profession is battling against ‘efficiency savings’ being raided from the extension of ‘normal working hours’, might we also stress the potentially negating cost of considerably higher burnout rates and thus sick days? Stressed students are more likely to become stressed doctors who make more mistakes, and have less empathy than their counterparts.
We must bolster preventative measures, and equip students with the tools for resilience to mental health problems. Medical student ‘burnout’ is a state of emotional exhaustion, cynicism and low academic efficacy, which may then lead to sleep disorders. It results from excessive and prolonged stress in the learning environment. Risk factors to ‘depleting the reserve’ (see figure 7) include transition into medical training (first year), beginning of the clinical phase (third year), lack of family support, and bereavement. This predisposes to many mental health conditions including anxiety disorder, alcoholism, depression and/or suicidal ideation.
Stress management programmes have produced promising results in medical schools worldwide, and are advocated by NICE. These promote sleep hygiene and positive coping mechanisms, as well as discouraging maladaptive strategies such as denial and sleeping less to allow for more study time. Mindfulness and teaching ways to reduce self-criticism through CBT has also shown to help ‘top-up the coping reserve’.
Medical students must also be provided with appropriate support when they do develop mental health problems. The capacity for insight is key to keeping safe both the patients they come into contact with, and for their own long-term recovery. Denial is more likely to take precedence over insight, if fear of stigmatization or discipline is present. It is important to equip medical students with the reassurance that the GMC ‘is only concerned when patients are being put at risk; most doctors with mental health conditions are not in this bracket, and as long as the doctor has insight into their condition and seeks help, then the GMC are satisfied. Furthermore, pastoral support should be offered throughout the course, and that ‘those providing pastoral support are not in a position to make decisions on academic progression’. Thus, students are provided with a ‘safe’ point of access to services, and thereafter effective links with external mental health providers.
With the reduction in the stigma of mental health comes increased rates of presentation. Whilst this is a positive thing, it raises the question – surely service providers should be able to recognise and adapt to medical students’ needs? Can the profession (and the system) learn how to look after their protégés in a more specialist or streamlined manner? A high index of suspicion for personality traits such as excessive self-criticism and a tendency to focus on other’s needs before one’s own may aid diagnosis and therapy selection for medical students (especially with regards to group therapy).
Is there a need for specialist training in addressing the unique challenges a medical student or trainee doctor consultation might bring to a psychiatrist. This would encompass the ability to discern ‘burnout’ and monitor for conversion to other morbidity, as well as acknowledge the difficulty of adjustment to the role of patient (particularly in hospital). Indeed the psychiatrist needs to protect him or herself from countertransference and over-identification, and be ‘ethically prepared’ with the clear guidance on reporting of substance abuse in medical students (whilst having warned the medical student at the beginning of the consultation of this exception to non-disclosure).
In order to facilitate this move towards taking better care of our colleagues, the dearth of up-to-date high quality literature concerning the mental health of both medical students’ and doctors’ has to be addressed. Trends in presentation, personality traits, concurrence, preferred consultation style, effective therapies and medical school wellness programmes need considerably more research and planning. Medical students and doctors alike should also be encouraged to write about their own encounters with mental health services.
Conclusion
Through exploring why I stayed silent from the first 5 seconds through to 4 months of suffering with a mental health problem, I have come to recognize that whilst society might no longer brand me ‘mental’, I am apprehensive about how my colleagues might view me in a different light should I publish under my own name.
Medical students are more at risk of mental health problems than other university students due to the stresses and length of the medical course, fear of stigma, and the self-selected personality traits of the caring profession. Inter-professional de-stigmatisation is the crux on which we must build the preventative and interventional strategies in caring for our colleagues. Ultimately, ‘medical students with better psychological and physical health can better handle the problems they face in academic learning’, and so more up-to-date, high-quality research must be done into how we can facilitate this most effectively.
Reflection
Writing this piece leaves me with a sense that things have come full-circle. By this I mean that by admitting that there is a high incidence of mental health issues in our supposedly infallible profession, we may provide a talking point – oiling the wheels of a new machine for normalisation and change.
After suffering in silence for 4 months previously I had learnt that it is stronger to ask for help – and ultimately get better, than to depreciate on one’s own. Through therapy, learning the skills to control this new fear and anxiety, and initially recognising it as ‘other’ rather than ‘self’ and ingrained in the personality, took a long time, however ultimately I have found more peace because of it.
Ultimately, I have learnt to be kinder and more forgiving…. to myself. We hold ourselves up to be ‘the best’: clever, respected, caring, strong, fit, miracle-working, life-saving, infallible, honest, trustworthy, pillars of society. Would you ask a friend to do all of this and then reject him when he failed to meet this standard? No? Then why do you do this to yourself? As one brave F1 doctor wrote – ‘It is often said that you should treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. So why do we doctors treat ourselves differently from those we treat? Perhaps it’s time we took our own advice’.
I wholeheartedly recognise that my experience, is very much a qualitative experience, and its representativeness is limited by the one-person sample that is me. Thus, others may well have had very different experience, however I hope that you will be reassured when I say I have tried to be honest – and express not necessarily what I feel I should say, but what is honest, and therein lies the value.
Student Choice: “SSC Placement & Careers Conference July 16”
The SSC placements are now completed and we hope you enjoyed them. We introduced a wide range of changes last year which we hope enriched the experience for you. One of the changes was the introduction of a work diary / log which you should have completed with your supervisor before beginning the placement. This serves as a record of what you both agreed so that the student & supervisor’s expectations can be met. This process is set out in the SSC handbook [link to SSC handbook].
This year 986 student placements were offered which gave students more “Choice” than ever before and it represents a great achievement for all the staff involved. The first row of the table 1 shows the total number of placements offered (TPO) for each Academy & virtual Academy. The middle 2 rows show the number of placements taken up by students for each year and the bottom row gives the % uptake. As you can see most Academies & virtual Academies are delivering SSC placements. The majority are offering a diverse range of choice to students, but for some the uptake is low and we hope this information will encourage staff to advertise and market the placements in the next academic year by holding open evenings or distributing flyers for the students.
TABLE 1 [1 = Yeovil, 2 = psychiatry, 3 = Taunton, 4 = North Bristol 5 = South Bristol, 6 = Swindon]
The Medical Careers Conference (4 – 6th July 16) for the Yr. 4 students is part of the SSC placement and this year we also invited year 3 students to attend if they wished to. The conference was designed as an academic meeting similar to meetings qualified doctors attend as part of their continuing professional development (CPD). We hope you found the programme inspirational. The presentations were chosen to appeal to all students including those thinking about careers outside of medicine. We had a wide range of speakers with different backgrounds and experiences. We wanted to show you that a Bristol Medical degree is a qualification that will open up a world (literally) of opportunity to you.
So for Yrs. 2, 3 & 4 the whole process begins again in Sept 16. There will be even more choice, but there will also be some significant changes. These are set out in the SSC handbook (Sept 16 -17). I hope to have the opportunity to speak to each year group and answer any questions you have.
Best wishes
Kevin Jones
Finally
Do you have something to share? Send it to susan.pettinger-moores@bristol.ac.uk