RGUC Newsletter
SEPTEMBER 2022
Welcome to the September 2022 edition of the RGUC Newsletter
This newsletter updates members of the Dudley Group Undergraduate Teaching Academy and medical students about projects and resources being developed to supplement learning and medical education. We aim to publish an edition every quarter.
CONTENTS
In this edition...
- Key diary dates
- Staff Spotlight
- Wellbeing
- Postgraduate Education Centre website
- OSCE dates for 2023
- OSCE Feedback and Thanks
- Clinical Skills
- Third Year Curriculum Update
- Aston Medical Students
Key diary dates
- Fourth year students’ return date – Tuesday 30th August 2022
- Fifth year AIP, OBG & paediatric students’ start date – Monday 5th September 2022
- Third year students’ start date – Thursday 1st September 2022
- Fourth year new SPM and SPC students’ start date – Monday 19th September 2022
Aston University
- Fourth year SSC students’ start date – Tuesday 30th August 2022
- Fourth year cancer care students’ start date – Monday 26th September 2022
- Fifth year students’ start date – Tuesday 20th September 2022
Clinical Teaching Academy (CTAC) Meetings
Tuesday 4th October 2022
Tuesday 1st November 2022
Tuesday 6th December 2022
The CTAC meetings have now returned to face-to-face meeting format. These will take place in the Undergraduate Centre.
Staff Spotlight
Welcome to our new staff members
We are delighted to welcome several new staff members who will be supporting the delivery of medical education across the undergraduate clinical teaching academy.
Summer Hiscox - receptionist / administrative support
Summer joins the administration team as receptionist / administrative support. She is the main point of contact for the department and deals with all queries as they arise, room bookings, and generally keeps the centre running smoothly. Summer also provides general administration for all undergraduate staff when necessary, supporting timetabling, attendance and liaison with healthcare professionals.
Mia Mason – new fourth year coordinator
Mia joined the team in October 2021 as the undergraduate receptionist / administrative support, but has since undertaken a secondment as the fourth-year coordinator to cover maternity leave. Mia will be administrating the fourth year SPC and SPM curriculums for the upcoming academic year and is looking forward to getting stuck into her new role and challenge.
Our New Teaching Fellows
Dr Josh Tulley
Clinical Teaching Fellow
I graduated from the original BMedSc course at University of Birmingham (UoB) in 2016, then from GEC medicine at UoB in 2020. My F1 and F2 were split between City and Sandwell, QEHB and BCH, with some lovely research time on COVID vaccines, before landing in Dudley for a wonderful year of teaching. My clinical interests are in anaesthetics and ITU (I love a good resus call and large cannulas) and I’m very keen on teaching, quality improvement and research. I’ll be teaching across all year groups from both UoB and Aston and organising Aston’s teaching timetable. Alongside my teaching and clinical work this year, I’m a wellbeing champion for both students and junior doctors, so keep an eye out for your wellbeing schedule. I’m always happy to grab a coffee and chat, and I’m not too bad at responding to emails. So, feel free to come and say hi or drop me a message.
Dr Adam Gittins
Clinical Teaching Fellow
I’m one of the fourth year leads for UoB students. I’m spending my clinical time in the general surgery department to hone my skills and prepare for surgical training. I’m a graduate from UoB and I’ve been inspired by my time with the CTFs to take this post so I can pass on the enthusiasm for teaching they passed onto me.
Dr Dayna Arthur
Clinical Teaching Fellow
My primary educational role is as co-lead for fifth year UoB students undertaking their acutely ill patient module. I completed my foundation years training this summer in the West Midlands, and am a UoB alumna. I have a keen interest in emergency medicine and surgical specialities. Looking forward to meeting and working with you this coming year.
Jenny Novy & Cora Billyard
Physician Associate Teaching Fellows
Cora and Jennifer were appointed as clinical teaching fellow physician associates in August 2021.
Cora has experience in acute medicine, and Jennifer has been working in the Trust for six years since qualifying, working alongside Cora in AMU. Both are also covering governance secondment posts in addition to their other roles. In relation to teaching, they have been appointed to aid the learning and hospital experiences of physician associates, medical students and nursing students.
Dr Matthew Whallett
Clinical Teaching Fellow
I graduated from the University of Exeter in 2019 and completed my foundation training in Manchester. Having developed an interest in the potential value for digital development in healthcare whilst working at Russells Hall on summer jobs during university, I re-joined the Trust as a digital clinical fellow to work with the education team to help work on new IT projects to benefit patient care, workplace efficiency and healthcare education. I’m also excited to work with the medical students as part of the clinical teaching fellow team. Outside of medicine, I enjoy playing music in orchestras and choirs, and spending time outdoors climbing mountains and participating in water sports. I intend to pursue internal medical training with a view to becoming a physician in a career that combines clinical practice with technology projects.
Dr Priya Parekh
Clinical Teaching Fellow
I’m one of the UoB fourth year leads. I will be spending my clinical time in the ENT department. I’m from Birmingham and went to university at King’s College London. My hobbies include travelling, making clothes and drinking coffee! Feel free to say hi!
Dr Fred Smith
Clinical Teaching Fellow
I am doing my CTF role as an OOPE (out of programme experience) from my emergency medicine training, between ST3 & ST4. I am a UoB graduate and have done all my training in the West Midlands. I am fifth year lead for the UoB medical students along with Dayna.
Dr Sindoora Jayaprakash
Clinical Teaching Fellow
I have just completed my foundation training and hoping to go into general medical training. I have a special interest in dermatology. I’m very excited to be involved in teaching and projects this year. Please feel free to contact me for opportunities in teaching and for any advice as a junior doctor too!
Dr Manpreet Badh
Clinical Teaching Fellow
I graduated from the UoB in 2020 and completed my foundation training at City & Sandwell Hospitals. My work interests include anaesthetics and intensive care. Meanwhile, I love swimming, running and dancing in my free time!
Nuha Mohammed
Physician Associate Teaching Fellow
I trained as a student at Russells Hall Hospital and completed all my clinical rotations here as a student. Upon qualifying, I stayed at the Trust and completed an internship year in ED, vascular surgery and AMU where I spent most of my years as a physician associate. As well as teaching, I enjoy research and taking part in clinical trials and quality improvement projects. I now work in general surgery during my clinical time to broaden my knowledge, so I can continue to share my acquired skills and expertise with others through teaching.
Wellbeing
We take the wellbeing of all medical students seriously at this Trust. We encourage you to speak up about any concerns you may have, be it big or small. Please select the poster to find out who to speak to about concerns.
You can also speak in confidence to clinical teaching fellow, Josh Tulley, who is the wellbeing champion for junior doctors and medical students.
Postgraduate Education Website
We have recently completed the development of a new website to showcase the various roles, career opportunities and learning resources across the wider organisation. It features video interviews with many staff in the Trust who provide insights into their roles. Some areas may interest our medical students. We encourage you to take a look at the new site by visiting
OSCE Dates for 2023
UoB fourth year – Tuesday 18th and Wednesday 19th April
UoB third year – Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th May
UoB fifth year – Tuesday 2nd, Wednesday 3rd, Thursday 4th, Friday 5th May
Aston fourth year – Week commencing 3rd July 2023 (official days to be confirmed)
Please ensure you enter the OSCE dates in your diaries now and that you book professional leave and cancel clinical commitments (where required) at an early stage. As part of your responsibility payment for your role in the Academy, the expectation is for you all to provide support for the OSCEs by being examiners for at least one day each (or 2 half days).
OSCE Examiner training sessions for 2023 have been confirmed. These sessions will take place in the Undergraduate Centre on the following dates and times:
- Thursday 19th January 9:30am – 12:30pm
- Wednesday 15th February 13:00pm – 16:00pm
- Monday 20th March 9:30am – 12:30pm
Further correspondence will be sent in due course.
Please contact dgft.ugcteam@nhs.net with the list of dates you will be supporting/attending as soon as possible.
OSCE Feedback and Thanks
Well done to all involved with running the medical student OSCEs again this year. The exams ran seamlessly thanks to the incredible preparation and hard work by our administrative team, supported closely by our clinical skills team.
There was, once again, a tremendous show of team work on the days themselves with medics, nurses, AHPs and admin staff all working collaboratively to make this happen.
A big thank you to all who contributed.
Professor Atiq Rehman
Head of Teaching Academy
Kate Holmes
Medical Education Manager
The team also received compliments from Prof. Una Martin, Dean of Birmingham Medical School:
Thank you so much for hosting the OSCEs this week. I was so impressed with how smoothly everything went and how cheerfully Debra’s team and your medical colleagues went about the various tasks! I wanted to thank you and the team for running the OSCES with such calm efficiency over the last few days. I was very impressed with how enthusiastic and friendly the whole team was. I am sure that there was the odd moment of panic behind the scenes, but it certainly didn’t show! All in all, a great experience and I really appreciate your leadership as head of academy.
Update from Clinical Skills
Clinical Skills Education
April and May saw our medical students complete their OSCE examinations. We hope that the training and input provided to all our third, fourth and fifth year students has provided them with the knowledge, experience, and confidence to excel.
Congratulations to Rachel, Keeley and Sarah in achieving their ARTP Certificate of Blood Gas Sampling and Analysis from the Association for Respiratory Technology and Physiology.
A huge well done to Sarah, one of our clinical educators in achieving her PG Cert in education.
Well done to Simon, our clinical skills technician, on passing his GNVQ in Business Administration.
A two-week medical work experience programme was delivered in June/ July 2022, which offered a varied insight to students who are wanting to commence a career in medicine. All students were given the opportunity to visit a range of clinical areas and meet healthcare professionals within the MDT, whilst also attending numerous teaching and clinical skills sessions.
A second year hospital preparation programme was delivered to introduce the prospective third year medical students into the clinical setting, which involved clinical and teaching sessions and introductions to staff involved in their future placements.
We also look forward to welcoming the new cohort of Aston medical students who commence their placements from September 2022.
Third Year Curriculum Update
We would like to inform you of important changes to the structure and delivery of the third year MBChB programme from this coming September.
The third year students will continue to have two separate hospital-based placements, with community-based medicine running throughout the year. However, rather than the sole focus being on integrated hospital-based medicine and surgery, there will be a shift to incorporate more specialty knowledge.
The cohort is to be split into bands A and B.
Band A will learn about integrated clinical medicine and surgery with a focus on cardiology, respiratory, care of the elderly/neurology and general surgery (vascular surgery/breast).
Band B students will learn about integrated clinical medicine and surgery, whilst focusing on gastroenterology, liver medicine, diabetes, endocrine and general surgery (colorectal/UGI). The students will then cover the specialities in the other band when they switch to their second semester hospital placement.
Semester A will be 14 weeks long (including three introductory weeks at the beginning). Semester B will be 13 weeks long (including one week of lectures and one week holiday towards the end of the semester) and students will return for two weeks of more intense teaching within their categories.
Third year students will be on site Thursday and Friday 1st and 2nd September for their induction, face mask fitting etc. Students will be sub-categorised into A and B students.
They will start their placement teaching on Monday 5th September (with the first three weeks being their introductory period).
During the three week introductory period, they will be working Monday – Friday. After this, they will work Monday – Thursday like previous academic years.
Students will keep their categories throughout the year and swap their specialties in Semester B. Semesters will be organised to facilitate students gaining additional exposure and experience in a number of specialties, previously covered as part of the fourth year curriculum.
Students should be exposed to the type of patients likely to be encountered as foundation trainees. It is expected that students will spend the majority of their time learning clinical medicine and surgery by being involved in day-to-day patient care, supplemented by teaching from CTF’s and SATU’s. In addition to the established learning processes we have put in place, additional contact may be sought from the following:
- Taking histories and performing clinical examinations on patients (with opportunities to observe, get feedback and practice presenting patients)
- Being involved in ward rounds
- Being involved in MDT meetings
- Spending time with allied health professionals
- Spending time in clinics
- Spending time in theatres
The head of academy and year leads will continue to work alongside you all to ensure delivery of integrated medicine and surgery and help to identify access to opportunities within specific specialty medicine and surgery. We will update you with these finer details in due course.
Aston Medical Students
From September 2022, the Trust are taking on more Aston medical students. Joining us will be fourth and fifth year medical students, in addition to last year’s SSC fourth year Aston students and UoB students.
The fourth year students will undertake a cancer care rotation, to include surgery, oncology, haematology, and palliative care. The fifth year medical students will undertake an acute and emergency medicine rotation, to include acute medicine, elderly care, surgery, ED, and anaesthetics.
Faculty lead for Aston is Dr Snigdhendu Mandal, with administrative support being provided by Laura James.
Where feasible, we aim to integrate and merge the Aston and Birmingham students’ timetables and learning objectives together, in order to reduce the demand placed on staff and clinical areas.
Breakdown of students:
- 10 students for fourth year SSC (audit placement) starting on 30th August for four weeks who will need to be assigned a project and clinical supervisor each.
- Four students for fifth year starting on 19th September for six weeks for three blocks. Two students in surgery spending time in surgery, ED and CCU. Two students in medicine spending time in elderly care, medical wards and AMU.
- Five students for fourth year cancer care starting on 26th September for six weeks for six blocks rotating around breast, colorectal, urology, haematology, palliative care and respiratory.
The students will be assigned to Josh Tulley as their clinical teaching fellow, with additional support from the physician associate clinical teaching fellows.
Their clinical skills educator is Keeley Williams.
Dr Sudeep Thomas is the surgical lead for Aston students and Dr Anthansios Georgalas is the medical lead.
Start dates:
- Fourth year SSC – 30th August 2022 (1:1)
- Fifth Year – 19th September 2022 (1:3)
- Fourth year cancer care – 26th September 2022 (1:6)
- Fourth year cancer care – 7th November 2022 (2:6)
- Fifth year – 31st October 2022 (2:3)
- Fifth year – 12th December 2022 (3:3)
- Fifth year cancer care – 3rd January 2023 (3:6)
- Fourth year cancer care – 13th February 2023 (4:6)
- Fourth year cancer care – 27th March 2023 (5:6)
- Fourth year cancer care – 15th May 2023 (6:6)
The same number of students each time:
- 5x fourth year students
- 4x fifth year students
Would you like to contribute?
Do you have any news or updates that you would like to see in the next edition of this newsletter?
If so, please emails us at media.team@rguc.co.uk
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