Wow! How have we been here for over a month already? Time is flying by. This first month has really been all about settling in and finding our feet here in Northallerton. Things have got off to a great start.
GP life:
My GP is Mayford House based in Northallerton itself and it really didn’t take long to become part of their team. In the first month I spent a lot of time getting to know everyone both in the practice and in the community, with me spending a lot of afternoons with different teams such as the health visitors, palliative care nurses, district nurses, community midwife and the paramedics. This was a great way to fully integrate myself within the whole of the primary care and community setting right from the off. I am now doing 20 minutes appointments during the GP clinics with my GP alongside where I do the history taking and we both talk through the management plan and treatment options with the patients, followed by a short debrief after the patient has left which is time for me to get immediate feedback and to ask any questions. Within the next few weeks this will be changing. I will then be seeing the patients alone and the GP will join us after 15 minutes to talk through what I’ve done so far and then onto managements. As we progress through the year my knowledge will grow and I will hopefully be able to come up with a lot of the management plans and treatment options by myself. I look forward to seeing how this goes and improves through the year.
I have already had the chance to follow a few patients through to the Friarage Hospital and to some outpatient appointments at the clinics. I can already see the benefit from seeing the patients right through from primary to secondary care, and then back to primary care. I currently have 2 longitudinal patients, both have been very keen to have me follow their journey which feels great.
Free time:
Life in Northallerton is very chilled. Lots of time to explore the area as Emily has mentioned a few weeks ago. As well as this I’ve started road cycling and jogging and I’ve found that to be a great way to see more of the area and meet some local people. We have tried a few of the restaurants Northallerton has to offer and some of us even given blood! And of course, I’m really enjoying spending time procrasti-baking lots of sweet treats!!
All in all the first month or so here has been both fantastic and tiring and we are all looking forward to what the rest of the year here has to bring!
Until next time!
Becca 🙂 x