Trainee Update September 2014

I hope you have all settled well into your new jobs and a very warm welcome to those that have recently joined the ‘family’ of acute medicine. I would first of all like to thank Ruth Johnson for all her hard work as trainee representative over the last 18 months and wish her all the best as she ventures into consultant territory: her replacement will be announced later in the autumn. July was a busy month, dominated by our Acute Medicine Awareness Week, during which AMUs across the UK undertook events to raise the profile of the speciality and the important work they were doing locally. Barnsley completed a 25 mile virtual marathon, Crosshouse Hospital made £350 in a cake sale, Salford Royal staff walked around every acute medical unit in Greater Manchester, North Staffordshire staff ran a half marathon and there was more cake on sale in Kings College and Leicester Royal. The AMU staff at Southampton raised over £400 with their cake sale and cycle challenge, during which they were joined by the Trust Chief Executive for a ‘virtual’ 120 miles on an exercise bike situated outside the hospital entrance. The highlight, however was the contribution of Dr Nigel Lane, an acute medicine trainee from Southmead Hospital in North Bristol, who put together an outstanding weekly programme of events. This included a visit from the Chief Executive of the trust, visit from local GPs to the unit, daily MDT teaching, daily ‘messages of the day’ located on the trust website and lots of screensavers, banners and information scattered throughout the hospital. I am delighted to announce that Nigel has received the SAM awareness week prize. This involves the opportunity to join the European School of Internal Medicine and attend the winter EFIM school camp in Latvia. Nigel will also be joining us as one of the speakers in the trainee session at SAM Brighton. He will be speaking on “Preparing for your PYA”. There will also be talks in the trainee session on “Keeping your e-portfolio updated”, “Choosing your specialist skill” and “Preparing for your consultant job”. The session will be aimed at both junior and senior trainees. The trainee that has produced the best poster at Brighton will also have a chance to win a place to attend the summer EFIM school camp. The day before the conference starts there will be a SCE revision session. I attended last year and found it extremely helpful! Looking forward to seeing you all in Brighton. In the meantime if you have any problems or suggestions please tweet or email me at the addresses below.