Scottish Medical Training

Acute Care Common Stem training is a collaboration of acute care specialities with the aim of producing multi-competent junior doctors able to recognise and manage the sick patient and who have the complementary speciality training required for higher speciality training in Emergency Medicine, JRCPTB speciality, Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine.

ACCS Anaesthetics is an alternative core training programme for doctors in training wishing to enter Higher Speciality Training in Anaesthetics.  ACCS entry allows a more acute approach to the unwell patient given the experience in EM and ICM accrued in core training.   It is a four-year training programme delivered in both Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and/or Raigmore Hospital, Inverness. Trainees gain experience and competence in all four acute care specialities: Emergency Medicine, Acute Internal Medicine, Anaesthetics, and Intensive Care Medicine. The third and fourth year are Anaesthesia-based coordinated by the sub-speciality lead including a full range of anaesthetic sub-speciality experience.  

Aberdeen is an excellent location to live as well as to train. The University of Aberdeen Medical School is based on the ARI campus as is the Institute of Medical Sciences which is a university research facility. The Suttie Centre for Teaching and Learning in Healthcare is a large on site recently built facility managed jointly by the University and NHS Grampian ( The Suttie Centre ).

A large variety of teaching and training events take place there, including clinical skills teaching, simulation and many courses. The anaesthetics department has a quality improvement committee which oversees a variety of projects in which trainees are encouraged to participate.

The city of Aberdeen is a coastal city located between the rivers Dee and Don with access to magnificent coastal and rural scenery including Royal Deeside. There are many cultural, sporting and recreation activities available within and around the city.

Aberdeen Royal Infirmary – including subspecialty training in The Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, Woodend Hospital, The Royal Cornhill Hospital

Raigmore Hospital in Inverness (emergency medicine and acute medicine)