Preparing for Professional Practice (Shadowing)

So I started my PfPP yesterday and had my F1 inductions with all the usual mountain of paper, fire drills and eventually some ward time.

I was just wondering what everyone else has thought of theirs so far?

And if you haven't started yet, what you hope to get out of it?

Personally I am relieved as my first job in pathology doesn't seem half as **** as I originally thought from the job description.

Reply 1

Renal

I haven't done mine yet. I am at the hospital I will be working at doing an 'acute & critical care' course which is mostly badly structured and relatively unproductive.

I don't know what I want to get out of shadowing, I guess I want to learn all the little bits and pieces from the code for the mess door, where to hide and have a smoke, who to call when whatever happens, how does the boss like notes written and so on.

Reply 2

Elles

As ever (

MedSciOffice! ) I have a logbook to give me some helpful suggestions of what I should be getting out of it. :p:

So all those:
+ Finding out what the accommodation is like/house-hunting/experiencing the commute?

I think mine will be just full-time shadowing of the current F1 + perhaps the surgical F1 on call if they do things like that there. We have an Induction Week + more shadowing just before we start too.

Reply 3

dob86

Yes finding out about the mess is important. We have a "mess induction" on Thursday night. Open bar. I reckon I could get used to that!

Reply 4

Helenia

I have two sets, I think - my clinical school is making me go for a week at the end of June to shadow the F1, and then the hospital itself wants us for a week before we start work for more shadowing and induction bits, I think. In the June one I intend to do enough to get my form signed off and then spend the rest of the time house hunting and shopping for the ball I'm going to at the end of the week. I just hope I don't have to go through all the Occy health, fire safety etc stuff twice.

Reply 5

dob86

Helenia

I just hope I don't have to go through all the Occy health, fire safety etc stuff twice.

You might be dissappointed if you are working at a DGH!

I had a week of paper work at the big teaching hospital with the deanery, then all of it again at the DGH.

Reply 6

wednesburywench

when do most hospitals like to do their shadowing? just trying to plan a holiday after finals next yr but dont want it to clash, i thought they wernt till july?

Reply 7

Renal

Last week of July is one, most have a second but that depends on your medical school I think.

Reply 8

dob86

I have 3 weeks from 8-26th then another 3 days at start of August. You'll have to ask your med school.

Reply 9

wednesburywench

oh right ok, just from the way it sounded on here like people had already started them

Reply 10

wednesburywench

oh hang on, are you talking about the one the med school organises? i thought u were talking about the induction you get before your jobs start.

Reply 11

Renal

wednesburywench

oh hang on, are you talking about the one the med school organises? i thought u were talking about the induction you get before your jobs start.

The medical school sort of organise both I think.

Reply 12

Fluffy

Do they? I got the impression that our first was School organsied and the second is Trust organised (hence the fact some people are being paid for induction and others aren't)... Now if they were both School led, I think we would have some leverage re: getting paid.

Reply 13

Muse

wednesburywench

oh hang on, are you talking about the one the med school organises? i thought u were talking about the induction you get before your jobs start.

Bristol do the job shadowing week in March where they match you with the F1 you'll be replacing within Severn. If you're going to a deanery outside Severn, you may well have to do an additional week with your trust as well as a 'Severn' week with a F1 not necessarily doing the same jobs as you.

I did my PPP week in ENT (which I'm not doing for F1/F2), but have a further shadowing week in London at the end of July. Unpaid as well. Cheek.

Reply 14

Daveo

We got extra annual leave for our shadowing/induction period. All Mancester graduates in NW have to do 4 weeks shadowing. I got out of that by moving south. I did a week at the end of July just before my job started.