More than a dozen medical students who are due to start as junior doctors in August have joined our team to provide support to staff and patients at the James Paget during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Some of our new junior doctors with James Paget Foundation Training Programme Director Mr Vamsi Velchuru.
After completing medical degrees, the next part of training as a doctor involves a two-year foundation programme - foundation year one (FY1) and foundation year two (FY2). This usually involves six different rotations or placements in medical or surgical specialties, to allow for the development of a range of clinical and non-clinical skills.
Many of those who are due to start their FY1 training in August have joined hospitals around the country in advance of their start date to help out and we have been delighted to welcome some of this next generation of medics to our team.
While the work they are doing now is a separate role to the FY1 posts they will start in August, and some will start at different hospitals, the programme has so far been mutually beneficial.
The hospital has gained already well trained and medically aware staff to support our team and the new doctors are gaining experience and the opportunity to learn from their predecessors.
While the work they are doing now is a separate role to the FY1 posts they will start in August, and some will start at different hospitals, the programme has so far been mutually beneficial.
The hospital has gained already well trained and medically aware staff to support our team and the new doctors are gaining experience and the opportunity to learn from their predecessors.
One of the new doctors, Connie Tidd said; "We are mainly placed on a ‘base ward’ in the surgical or medical department that we are going to start on in August. This is good as we can get to know the basics of how each area is run. We also all have time on the hospital Emergency Assessment and Discharge Unit and on Ward 9 so that we have a variety of experiences.
“Myself and my peers have had overwhelmingly positive experiences. Many of us were due to be at the James Paget for our last placement of medical school, but now we’ve had the benefit of starting in the hospital when more beds than normal are empty, due to the COVID situation, and this has meant that we have been able to spend time learning from current foundation year doctors whose jobs we will be taking up in August.
“We are really lucky to already have access to teaching and we’ve already had induction which would normally happen during the first week of FY1.”
“We are really lucky to already have access to teaching and we’ve already had induction which would normally happen during the first week of FY1.”
Mr Vamsi Velchuru, James Paget Foundation Training Programme Director, said; "I would like to thank Interim foundation year doctors for volunteering and helping the NHS in these times of need."