Broomfield Hospital is developing rapidly and is the site of the Regional Orthopaedic Department and the Regional Burns and Plastics Surgery Centre. The atmosphere is one of development and excitement with the hospital attracting a very high standard of consultant manpower. The library and study facilities are excellent. Accommodation is often available on the hospital site. The course organisers are happy to answer any questions you may have.
Accident & Emergency
Accident & Emergency provides an opportunity to improve your listening and examination skills on a wide variety of clinical problems. In six months each specialist trainee in A & E will see and manage approximately 1,500 new patients. The diversity of cases and problems presenting to the department hones your decision-making skills and allows you to gain confidence in the early management of acute clinical problems.
You will be taught the techniques of fracture management and reduction of dislocations as well as suturing. There is an intensive induction course over the first 2 weeks followed by an active ongoing teaching programme, which will involve you in audit and case presentations.
"My personal experience in A & E training in Broomfield for 4 months is that my learning curve increased dramatically. The consultants are supportive and quite hot on teaching.All 3 consultants have their areas of interest. It is a fairly busy department and because some of the specialities are split between sites for example paediatrics is 5 miles from main hospital,therefore I got more exposure in dealing with stabilising paediatric emergencies. All SHO's get feedback either in the form of a discharge letter or consultant feedback on most of the paediatric cases they have dealt with.
The rota is rigorous as can be expected in any A & E rota, but speaking to colleagues in other parts of UK I realised that we did not do very odd shifts like finishing shift at midnight or 2 AM. From a GP trainee's point of view it was a 4 months of hard work but a great investment in terms of clinical exposure and accumen. As they say 'no pains no gains'.
Jithu
Dr B Sathyajith
ST2 GPVTS
Paediatrics
This GP training attachment is based at St. John"s Hospital, which is on the south side of Chelmsford and about three miles from the main hospital at Broomfield. GPs are frequently involved in Child Health Surveillance Programmes; with this in mind, a component of this job is within the community. The GP trainee is also involved in the Special Care Baby Unit and in more general day-to-day management on the wards.
Obstetrics and Gynaecology
This GP training job is also at St. Johns Hospital. In the late 1980s Chelmsford was the fastest growing town in Europe and although the population boom has diminished there are still adequate births to allow hands-on experience without too much competition from the student midwives!
Medicine for the Elderly
This GP training post is at Broomfield Hospital. Medicine for the Elderly is fully integrated with General Medicine. This will enable the trainee to gain experience in managing acute medical problems of all ages, but opportunities are available for the trainee to gain experience in rehabilitation, day hospital and domiciliary consultation. The department holds regular meetings to discuss specific topics related to old age.
Psychiatry
There are 4 psychiatry posts. Two based at The Linden Centre, adjacent to Broomfirld Hospital, one at Harlow and one at Colchester. These jobs provide a broad experience in all aspects of psychiatric illness.
ENT
This GP training post is at Broomfield Hospital and provides experience appropriate to General Practice. At present, this job allows adequate opportunity to study.
Oncology
Cancer is common disease expected to involve 1 person out of every 4 in UK, at some stage of their life. The diagnosis of most of these patients starts at patient surgeries. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy is hospital base but most of the management and support of these patients are conducted by General Practioners. It is crucial for trainees to have some experience in the management of patients with cancer. This post give you an in-depth insight into management of patients on chemotherapy and palliative care. You will work with three Oncologists who have different site specialization supported by 4 middle grade doctors who conducts daily ward rounds and regular teaching. There is full time dedicated Palliative Care Team in the hospital. The post include participation in general medical rotation and allows you to perform different oncological procedures like chest and abdominal paracentesis under supervision as well as dealing with oncological emergencies..
Dermatology
"This GP training post is based a Broomfield Hospital and comes as part of the GP innovative post. It offers excellent training and exposes the GP trainee to a wide range of skin disorders both in the outpatient clinic and the Chelmer suite.
The trainee attends and participates in both the joint dermatology and plastic surgery clinic (St Andrews) and the general dermatology clinic (outpatients) and is supervised by the dermatology consultants, the plastic surgery consultant and the GPWSI working in the clinic thereby exposing the trainee to vast amount of skin disorders
The trainee gets to a dedicated clinic room to see their own patients in the general dermatology clinic with the supervising consultant at hand for any help/advise needed. The trainee also gets to do practical procedures in clinic such as cryotherapy and gets to counsel patients for procedures such as phototherapy. Prior to this the trainee is given a guided tour of the dermatology suite (by the nurse specialist) where all treatments are done and is welcome to come and watch ongoing treatments so that when patients are being counselled in clinic the trainee has first hand knowledge of the procedures.
For the keen ones and those trainees with a surgical interest, there is the opportunity to attend the Chelmer suite with the dermatology registrars for minor ops sessions and also to attend the plastic surgery minor ops theatres for removal of skin lesions.
The training in this post is excellent and the supervising consultant is very aware of training needs of GP’s as well as the required e-portfolio DOPS needed."
Dr Bassey Okon
ST2 GPVTS
Respiratory Medicine
Respiratory medicine is one of the newest posts available within the Chelmsford VTS scheme. It is recognised about 25-30% of acute admissions are due to respiratory disease. You will be able to confidently manage cases of COPD exacerbations, Asthma, lobar pneumonia, lung cancer and pleural diseases. The respiratory team works closely with the PCT funded chronic lung disease nurses and you will see how effectively exacerbations can be managed in a community setting. Oxygen assessment, fitness for flying is also done via the same team. In clinics you will be able to learn and assess and manage cases of allergy and sleep apnoea. On the ward, which is attended daily by consultants, you receive training on management of respiratory failure using non-invasive ventilation, management of intercostal tubes amongst many other procedures. You will also receive excellent training opportunities on palliative care. There are weekly x-ray meetings, dedicated respiratory teaching and opportunity to join the weekly MDT’s in lung cancer and chronic lung disease management. You will be on-call 1:10 for General (Internal) Medicine which is well supported with juniors and receive many training opportunities through this./P>