Training in Severn Postgraduate Medical Education
Rheumatology training in Severn Postgraduate Medical Education consists of 11 posts; all are prospectively being converted to Rheumatology and General Internal Medicine. Some trainees are completing singly accrediting training in pure Rheumatology.
The hospitals involved in the rotation are:
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Swindon
North Bristol Trust (Southmead)
Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (RNHRD), Bath
United Hospitals Bristol Foundation Trust (UHBFT)
Weston Area Health NHS Trust
Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
The posts in General Internal Medicine and Rheumatology will usually rotate between 3 Trusts, spending 2 blocks of 18 months in more DGH settings, and 1 block of 2 years in a larger centre, where they will have a year of protected pure rheumatology and the opportunity to become more involved in research. Each trainee will have between 18/12-2 years protected pure rheumatology although this may on occasion be split into 2 blocks.
The available expertise in these Trusts means that all trainees have ample opportunities to encounter every disease needed to complete the requirements of the curriculum and become confident future consultants. In most of the Trusts the Rheumatology training is complemented by combined clinics with other specialties including dermatology, renal medicine, respiratory medicine and orthopaedics.
In all the hospitals on the rotation there is a weekly Postgraduate Programme in Rheumatology, complemented at some centres with medical rounds as well. Once a month the Rheumatology Postgraduate Programme takes place in either UHBFT, RNHRD or North Bristol Trust. All trainees are encouraged to attend this combined meeting.
Since many of the consultants on this rotation sub specialise, it is possible for the trainee to explore any single subject in greater depth if they so desire.
All trainees are allocated an educational supervisor at each leg of the rotation.
The hospitals within this rotation are generally close to each other such that those in the southern part of the rotation will tend to rotate within the hospitals in the southern half of the region, and similarly for those in the northern region. All trainees are allocated an educational supervisor at each leg of the rotation.