Welcome to the North of Scotland and specifically to Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Raigmore Hospital, Inverness. We are delighted to have you join our programme and look forward to supporting your through your training.
Currently, trainees spend 6 out of the 7 training years in Aberdeen, with one year in Inverness. This allows us the opportunity to really get to know you as an individual and help you develop the skills that you wish to be an Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) consultant. There are so many different areas of O&G and we are keen that you have exposure to all the relevant areas but can then develop specific skills in later years of training through Advanced Training Skills Modules (ATSMs) or subspecialty training.
When you start here as a trainee, you will initially be on a general O&G rota along with foundation year doctors and GP trainees. There will be specific sessions during this first year for you to gain practical skills such as caesarean section lists, shadow the charge midwives and attend gynaecology theatres/clinics. As you progress through basic training, we support your transition to the registrar/intermediate level training by a block of LW acting up where you will have around 4 weeks of daytime labour ward to get directly supervised training. This allows you to develop the decision making skills associate with obstetrics in a safe and supervised way. 
Trainees rotate to Inverness in ST3 or ST4 year. By this stage, trainees will have worked on the middle grade rota in Aberdeen. We have a ST6-7 on night shifts along with the ST2-5, so this year in Inverness is a great opportunity to develop more independent decision making skills. On return to Aberdeen, there is consideration of progression to advanced training and we are able to support the RCOG ATSMs within our department. 
We have a complement of 27 ST trainees. We are approved for Reproductive Medicine and Gynae-oncology Subspecialty training. We have a strong academic presence within the department and aim to offer a SCREDS lecturer post at all times. You are encouraged to take part in research and attend educational sessions on offer through the Centre for Women’s Health Research. Less than full time training is supported.
We hope to move into the new Baird Family Hospital in 2023 which is an exciting chapter for us here in the North.
I very much hope that you enjoy your time in the North of Scotland. There are lots of wonderful things to do in the area and our relatively small department is welcoming and supportive. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.
Gail Littlewood, TPD North of Scotland
This page was last updated on: 04.11.2021 at 11.47
