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ME5015 General Surgery - Block 1, Aberdeen (2026 - 2027)
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Did you participate in on-call / receiving during evenings, weekends, overnight? State which, if any.
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I did one receiving night shift.
Surgical Receiving on a Sunday shift - this was the best day of this placement due to more opportunities to complete practical skills like PVCs etc. I did some late shifts too.
Overnight
What has been the highlight of this block?
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The surgical receiving unit on a Sunday, as well as attending theatre, ERCP and scopes. I also feel much more comfortable with day-to-day FY1 tasks such as cannulas, bloods and post-op reviews.
Friendly staff, more insight and learning opportunities to take part in jobs that FYs do.
What has been the main challenge during this block?
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Making contact with my educational supervisor. I had to be incredibly proactive, to the point of being quite forceful (not something that comes naturally to me) to get the necessary introductory meeting and end-of-block meeting. While my advisor left kind feedback at the end of the block, I felt better communication would have greatly improved the experience. Last year I had a really excellent experience in the surgical block with Mr. Munro (ortho) as my advisor - he encouraged me to join him in clinic and theatre and took an interest in my career goals. This experience was very different and left me feeing like a bit of a nuisance when asking for learning opportunities and meetings (intro and end-of-block). Additionally, finding ST3+ level clinical staff to complete mini-CEXes and the long-case has been incredibly challenging and stressful. The clinical environment is very busy and therefore the ST3+ staff do not have the time to directly observe examination skills; therefore, mini-CEXes turn into case-based discussions - I have confirmed this with several of my friends who are also in Y5. This makes me concerned that I am not being observed examining patients, and therefore could be missing important steps or picking up bad habits. It would be good to be transparent from the beginning of the block if other clinical staff e.g. PAs, CDFs etc can help with these sign-offs - I think they would be more likely to observe students examining patients. I think it is quite funny that I have made it to the end of a general surgery block and have not been directly observed examining a patient's abdomen! Another concern was the volume of students. While coming in for OOH shifts helped ameliorate the impact of large student numbers on learning opportunities, the presence of a HCP-Med student from Edinburgh Uni on the ward for 4 weeks of the block really tipped the balance and meant there were simply too many students at one time. While this is an exceptional case of one student from another uni doing placements in Aberdeen, it had a very big impact on my (and the other Y5 student's) learning - this particular student did not share jobs and took many valuable practical procedure opportunities, such as ABGs (often hard to come by). Additionally, it seems odd that Aberdeen students are closely monitored to ensure adequate building of skills and preparation for FY, whereas students from other unis can 'choose their own adventure' in the same hospital. I believe in future, if students from other unis are on the wards in ARI, it should be factored into the numbers to ensure there are enough learning opportunities for everyone. Overall, it was a positive experience, but I think it would be valuable to ensure advisors are aware of the minimum mandatory intro and end-of-block meetings and are able to devote 5-10 mins for each. Additionally, factoring in students from other unis into the ward numbers, and ensuring they understand jobs are to be shared, would be valuable. I have never complained to the uni about anything before - I am really proud to be an Aberdeen medical student and have found the course wonderful; however, I feel some changes could be made to greatly improve student experience in this block.
Ward can get really quiet- nothing to do during placement hours.
Would you like to tell us more about the concern related to discrimination, bullying and harassment?
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We wish to recognise and appreciate those who have excelled in your Year 5 learning experience, eg quality of teaching, student support. Staff may be based in the University or in the NHS environment. If you wish to nominate any member of staff involved in your education, please do so here, stating - who they are; where they work; why you have nominated them.
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Dr. Amira Orabi, ST6, General Surgery (Red Team, Upper GI) - Dr. Orabi was kind, supportive and knowledgeable. She was really forthcoming with teaching on the ward, in theatre and during CBDs. She spent lots of time with me discussing a Boerhaave's case, and went through all of the imaging thoroughly, which really helped my understanding of diagnosis and management of the condition. Additionally, in theatre, she was very supportive and engaged in teaching whenever she was able to.
Amira Orabi (ST6 in upper GI surgery)- incredibly supportive throughout 8 weeks of placement. Very keen to get involved in teaching the students. Always explained everything in great detail and would take time to give appropriate feedback. She had a great presentation skills and overall had a lovely manner.
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