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ME4019 Specialty preference placements & directed e-learning - Block 2, Aberdeen (2026 - 2027)

Schedule Comments Summary (optional)

What helped you to feel welcome?

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The team. Everyone was friendly and made me feel part of the team.
I didn’t feel welcome, unfortunately. I felt like a burden as many staff didn’t know I was coming.
the teams across all of the attachements were very welcoming and enjoyed teaching
OOH Elgin was really welcoming. The team gave me a tour and intro and took the time to get to know me. Seems like a little thing but makes a big difference! :) Would have appreciated an intro to Radiology and ENT. Even a 10 min powerpoint of what you're likely to see in the block and a tour including water fountains, bathrooms and where to get stuff from storage.
getting an email from breast surgery FY2 prior to starting placement about some tips and general info about the ward, clinic and theatre days was super helpful.
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Team involved and keen to let me be involved and hands on
I was encouraged to join handover meetings and ward rounds like the rest of the team
People acknowledging my presence and explaining how things work to me. People including me in the team by finding appropriate jobs for me to do as a medical student. People explaining procedures to me and inviting me to see things or take part in things. The team in Peterhead were very welcoming and included me in everything to make me feel a part of the team.
Intros with the team

Comment on your interaction with patients on this block

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I felt I got a variety of opportunities to interact with patients from ward rounds, wards, outpatient clinics, paediatrics, theatre. I felt I had many opportunities.
Overall good - got to see a wide variety of patients
got to follow patient journeys and all were welcoming to students
OOH and ENT was brilliant for seeing patients
Good opportunities in out of hours to take histories with and without supervision, as well as examinations under supervision. Breast surgery clinic - took histories from pts and then presented them to the breast specialist nurse
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Lots if interaction, good support, lots of opportunities for clinical skills
I had some great intereactions with patients in both my rheumatology and palliative medicine blocks. In my rheumatology block I was able to take some of my own consultations and examinations which really developed my confidence in my history taking and examination skills. I was also able to be involved in some personal and senstive conversations with patients regarding there palliative status and making difficult decisions and so this was very useful for my learning and future clinical practice.
I was able to take histories and examine patients in OOH GP Peterhead. And I was able to review and examine patients by myself in ICU after observing a few times.
Lots of opportunities

As this block contains different specialties, please make it clear in your comments which specialty you are referring to. Please note any particularly good educational experiences and state why:

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Plastics - theatre was great with lots of opportunities to get involved/ observe a variety of cases. Pain medicine - I really liked how the placement was over a few locations. It was great to the different types of management like the acute pain team on the wards then more chronic outpatient clinics at the health village.
the anaesthetics team were amazing! they were very welcoming and willing to teach. made good professional relationships and were very inspiring. made me consider the specialty very strongly
Very happy to have a placement in Elgin – such a unique experience. Patient population was very different from Aberdeen, and med team had experiences very different from Aberdeen hospital docs, which meant I learned loads that will be useful in future career. Accommodation was a great pick, hostess was lovely and took me for ice cream on the beach on my day off! :D ENT had a great focus on teaching so I learned loads. Hadn't come across teaching ward rounds previously, and in shadowing consultants they ask a lot of questions to get you to think on the spot - perfect for learning!
paediatric radiology - the doctor was such an incredible teacher and seemed genuinely interested in teaching us breast surgery clinic - the FY2 was a great teacher, quizzed me lots and explained things well
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Pain medicine: great, eye opening and informative Urology: fast paced, lots to do, independence in a supported environment
I had an amazing time in Palliative care. The team were fantastic and made be feel so included. I developed so many new skills and had many opportunities. I cannot thank the team enough for their guidance. I unfortunately did not have the same experience in OOH. Although there were some lovely clinicians who made me feel welcomed and supported, there were a couple of clinicians who quite honestly could not have cared less if I was in the room or not. They did not interact with me in the whole time I was with them. This unfortunately made this experience a negative one for me.
Examining my own patient in ICU was a really good experience, although it would be good if whichever doctor was taking my patient for the day checked up on mein the morning in my review so that I felt supported. Particular doctors in Peterhead really supported me in taking histories and exploring my own theories of diagnoses.
Anaesthetics - very involving and lots of opportunities to practice skills

Please suggest any improvements to this educational experience.

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Inductions for all 3 specialties - especially OOH where in my HV induction I was ignored for 3 hours by the clinician - critical care - no induction was given, never heard from the supervisor who I was advised to email Timetabling and notification - especially diagnostics where most staff didn’t know I was coming
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I'm happy to be sent elsewhere but would have appreciated more of a heads-up about a placement elsewhere. I only had 10 days notice, which meant I had to get my foster cat adopted with very short notice. While medicine is my priority, I would like to maintain my professionalism elsewhere in my life. If we have to provide 6 weeks notice for an absence request, I would appreciate a 6 week notice if I’m being sent elsewhere. Would like more variety in Radiology block. I had 4 CT sessions, 3 US, no x-ray and no MRI. One duty CT (or other Radiology) is essential to show what makes a good imaging request (a skill many of us will probably need after we graduate), but two CT Duty sessions was overkill. Would be great if MyMBChB timetable on phones let you see the description. Currently works on laptop but not phone. The description is useful as it has lots of info about how to get to placement, e.g. route, phone number to call to get through door, etc Would appreciate it if all placements contained a location with a colour and level. For example, “Ground floor, ECC” – ECC doesn’t feature on any signs I could find in ARI. A colour would’ve narrowed it down. I also had one session labelled “Paediatric X-Ray Room, RACH”. RACH has multiple levels! Also had placements with location labelled as “Level 1” but description saying “Level 3”. Received an email at the start of the block telling us where to go. Would prefer it to be on MyMBChB timetable – everything in one place. By week 4 I'd gotten so many new emails it was hard to find that original one. Would appreciate drinking water in ENT Woodend. Only has clinical taps. Water fountain condemned. Only way to access drinking water is to boil water from a clinical tap and wait for it to cool. Think it’s a noted ongoing issue, but hoping you might be able to give it more clout ? Too many students in ENT. Had days where there’s more students than patients on ward round. Barely fit in staff room. Also didn’t feel fair on patients to examine patients in RAC when they’d already been examined by four other clinicians within the last few minutes. A little too much competition for opportunities.
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I am unsure what could be done to fix the above problem
I think there could be some improvement to th diagnostic blocks. I did have several clinicians who were very willing to teach and spent time with me which was great for my learning. However, I was aware that on many occasions the staff werent aware I was meant to be joining them and I didnt really feel fully welcomed or part of the team.
Not many opportunities for skills during diagnostics week

Would you like to tell us more about the concern related to discrimination, bullying and harassment?

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We wish to recognise those who have excelled in your learning experience, e.g. quality of teaching, student support. Staff may be based in the University or the NHS. If you wish to nominate any member(s) of staff, please do so and state: 1. Who they are 2. Where they work 3. Why you have nominated them.

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I would like to nominate Baryab Zahra, an ST3 working in ENT ward 210. I have nominated Baryab because she was incredibly kind and a great teacher during my time in the ENT specialty. She gave me a lot of insight into the specialty and was always keen to answer my questions and offer advice for medical school and working as a junior doctor. She made me feel very welcomed and gave me the opportunity to do a variety of things in the block such as attending cadaveric anatomy teaching, attending theatres, and watching her perform minor procedures. I would like to nominate Mahnoor Shah, a CT working in ENT ward 210. I have nominated Mahnoor because she was great at teaching during my time in ENT and made me feel very welcome. She explained things really well, especially when she talked through practical procedures so I could easily follow along to what she was doing. She was also able to answer any questions I had, and this really helped with my revision.
Alyson Thomson GMED driver for Peterhead Out of Hours Service Made me feel very welcome, gave great advice, looked out for me and included me
Dr David Nesvbada, Anaesthetic consultant Very welcoming and allowed hands on teaching. Encouraged to get involved and push out of comfort zone to learn.
The nursing team in ENT Woodend including Debbie, Sascha and Kerrie were amazingly welcoming in giving me a tour, tips on ENT and they gave me some patient-info leaflets to take home to learn more because they knew it aligned with my learning goals. Had a great experience in ENT Woodend. Massive shout-out to the OOH team in Elgin. The entire team of GPs, ANPs and drivers are a talented, friendly bunch ? Loved the way they interacted with patients too. Made for a placement I'll remember throughout my career
Matthew Shott FY2 breast surgery Paediatric radiology team especially the consultant (didnt catch his name)
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Very good experience overall but especially the junior doctors and team in Urology (209) especially the new foundation doctors
1. Varija (Vee) In Roxburghe House. She was absolutely fantastic. She was so supportive and gave me so many opportunities to develop my skills.