| Individual Placement Description | |
|---|---|
| Placement | Palliative Medicine |
| Year | F2 |
| Region | North |
| Hospital(s) | Roxburghe House, Aberdeen |
| Main Duties of Placement | The medical complement comprises a team of two consultants, associate specialist, part time clinical assistant, two specialist registrars and three FY2 level doctors, one attached to the GP VTS, the other two on medical rotation. Each FY2 doctor will have an opportunity to be attached to each of the three medical teams within the hospice. A senior physician would be responsible for each FY2 trainee and this would allow attendance at different outpatient clinics during the attachment. Other duties would include the day to day care of the inpatients within the unit and the opportunity to see and review patients attending the daycare unit. Attendance at the Friday oncology clinic is part of the GP VTS FY2 commitment. |
| Typical Work Pattern | |
| Learning Opportunities | The unit also has links with Dr Gray's Hospital and "The Oaks" palliative daycentre in Elgin. We work closely with Highland Hospice Inverness and Roxburghe House Dundee. The unit also has close working relationships with the Northern Isles. |
| Teaching | There will be opportunities to work with the hospital specialist palliative care team and visit patients within the hospital setting who have palliative care needs. There may be opportunities to attend domiciliaries and outlying clinics such as Elgin. There is a weekly journal club at which the FY2 trainees would be expected to be part of the rota for presentations. Every 6 weeks there is a radiology meeting to discuss interesting imaging of patients being cared for by Roxburghe. There is a rolling education programme for the trainees in house. The attachment offers invaluable experience in dealing with patients who often have advanced, incurable disease. We offer multidisciplinary team working, the opportunity of becoming proficient in pain and symptom control. There are ample opportunities for developing communication skills with patients, relatives, and families and within the wider team. The skills learned at Roxburghe will complement any chosen future career path in hospital or community medicine. |
| Unique Selling Points | Roxburghe House is a new purpose built specialist palliative care unit comprising an inpatient unit of 21 beds, a day-care unit, outpatient/therapies suite and an education department. It forms the focus for palliative care within the north-east of Scotland with closer working links now possible with Aberdeen Hospitals and the medical school following the move from out at Milltimber. |
| It is important to note that this description is a typical example of your placement and may be subject to change. | |
