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ME4019 Reproductive & child health - Block 1, Aberdeen (2026 - 2027)
Schedule Comments Summary (optional)
What helped you to feel welcome?
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I was really excited about this block beforehand but my experiences made me start dreading every day. I think because my first day didn't go to plan, it set a bitter tone. I arrived to my first ward placement to find no member of staff, so a nurse brought me to another ward where the doctor was too busy so brought me to yet another ward where the doctor made me watch them do admin. They were too busy/disinterested to answer my questions to understand what they were doing. No supervisor allocated for block. It would've helped me feel more integrated, just to know someone's keeping an eye on us. Maybe even providing a basic guide on what we're supposed to do Would've loved a tour of the Maternity hospital (even basic things like bathroom and where to fill up bottle) on the first day Often I had no one to supervise me and felt like I got in the way. I may as well be a pot plant. Absolute basics like staff introducing themselves by name would have gone a long way. Staff were generally too busy to have me tagging along, or already had a student so I couldn't shadow them too
Kind staff that were happy to teach
Some of the junior doctors were chatty and kind. It made us feel like we weren't just a burden to them. Also after a few placements i was thanked for being helpful- that really really made me feel welcome because again it made me feel like i made a difference.
The clinical staff and administrators were very helpful and very accommodating
All the staff were friendly and willing to help me.
Generally very receptive staff, included me where patients consented and were keen to teach and help meeting learning requirements
There were some really keen doctors who were more than happy to teach. I also felt incredibly welcomed by the wider healthcare team including nurses and midwives.
Comment on your interaction with patients on this block
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Got to take some histories. Not as much examination as expected since patients were often in pain so doctors didn't want me to examine them
Felt that I should’ve see slightly more patients to practice my history a examination skills
Really really brilliant for Repro. But i must say Child health was disappointing in it approach because we really had nothing to do most days. But we had to be there from 8.30am to 5pm most days. Some days felt like a massive waste of time
Not loads of opportunities to take histories and examine - mainly in repro, but those that were available were very good
"The block provided the opportunities to practise the skills required in the course" - This block was great for meeting patients and talking to them and their families, however, due to the nature of the patients themselves (children, labouring patients, etc) the opportunity to do typical practical procedures (particularly bloods and cannulae) was not possible, which does make me feel somewhat behind my peers in other blocks. However, I am aware of the reasons behind this, and it is not necessarily a criticism, rather an observation.
Generally very good, was concerned about ability to carry out speculum as a male but had various opportunities
I got to see patients in a variety of settings both inpatient and outpatient. I had the opportunity in both pediatrics and gynecology to see patients on my own then report back to a doctor. I found this to be so useful for my learning because it really made me think about possible conditions that a patient may have.
I had many great interactions with patients in this block. Many women in the reproductive block who were encouraging of me staying in on their intimate procedures or conversations for my learning. I was also able to be involved with a birth. I was also very grateful of the parents who let me take history from them about their child.
As this block contains different specialties, please make it clear in your comments which specialty you are referring to. Please note any particularly good educational experiences and state why:
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Neonatal week was really good because we got hands-on experience and a member of staff who was allocated to teach us. I learned more in this week than the other five weeks combined
Particular learning experiences- Elgin. I mean it taught me i don't want to work in a small hospital but that is still a learning experience. Plus the staff were really kind. Neonatal was amazing too. Dr Saul Satas, did a lot of actual teaching and it felt very very good for the consolidation.
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Midwifery shift-I really enjoyed getting to spend the whole day with one patient and I found it so interesting to see what midwives do and the challenges they face. I feel like I really learnt a lot about pain relief in labour and how to assess cervical dilation. Obstetric theatre- getting to assist in Caesarian sections and seeing the whole process of consenting patients and preparing them for theatres and seeing the anaesthetist do their spinal was really good! It was really useful to see all the team work together and I felt really welcomed by everybody, especially the parents, it was really lovely to get to share that experience with them.
The education in the neonatal block was exceptionally useful. I really gained a lot of knowledge and was challenged on this placement.
Please suggest any improvements to this educational experience.
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1. Give students a tour of the Maternity Hospital and RACH on Day 1. Even a pre-recorded video would be useful 2. Remind staff to introduce themselves by name 3. Get the hospital to pass on information if out-patient clinics are going to start late, so we're not told to come for 1pm for a 2:30pm start 4. Provide timetable in good time (ideally 6 weeks in advance?) NB: These suggestions may apply to other blocks too! Please fix it before we have to suffer it again the next two years Also, inform students in Year 1, 2 or 3 that not all students enjoy placement, but it doesn't mean medicine is not for them. I felt so isolated at first and thought something was wrong with me. Why are we told to be realistic when talking to patients, when the university weren't realistic with us?
More teaching in ward rounds by consultants. I felt they would do their jobs but not take time out to explain the history of the patient and their illness. More work could have been put into explaining the pathophysiology of the disease and reason through the management options.
Maybe clarify the purpose of the child health block? I agree it is difficult because they are children and we are not allowed to do much. Yet because we were doing nothing at the hospital- we couldn't even leave to do some studying at home
More opportunities to talk to patients in Repro
Timetables could have been given with more time- we received finalised timetables less than 2 weeks before starting child health, and the same for reproductive. This meant for myself I was unable to work one of my normal work shifts one evening during the week each week as I didn’t have enough notice with timetabling to offer my boss an available evening I had
-sometimes assumed knowledge/experience of how things work e.g. theatre (when we have no idea or experience)
Lunchtime repro teaching was always scheduled when I had something else mandatory to go to. There was a lot of timetable clashes but I think it was clear which placements we were meant to prioritize so it wasn’t too challenging but it was a shame when I had to miss some tutorials and things.
Would you like to tell us more about the concern related to discrimination, bullying and harassment?
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Please comment on the quality of tutorials across this block. Please identify any specific tutorials which you would like to highlight for positive feedback or for improvement.
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Tutorials were cool. Reminds me of lectures in year 1, 2 and 3
The tutorials were absolutely wonderful. The FY1s and the consultants in the child health block were amaizing. However i had clashes with EVERY single Repro tutorial. Which was very annoying because i had acctually really wanted to go. I recommend doing that the way you had organised the Child health tutorials
The Child health teaching sessions were well run. The neonatal section was very well taught
The repro lunchtime tutorials were useful, however because they were online I often struggled to find somewhere to take the call/struggled to make it to Suttie with enough time. If they could run both in-person and online at the same time this might be helpful.
Generally tutorials were good.
The tutorials were useful from this section. I think the child health ones school be kept just for those on child health’s and the same for the repro ones to avoid to much mixing/confusion.
We wish to recognise those who have excelled in your learning experience, e.g. quality of teaching, student support. Staff may be based in the University or the NHS. If you wish to nominate any member(s) of staff, please do so and state: 1. Who they are 2. Where they work 3. Why you have nominated them.
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Dr Saulius Satas in Neonatal Unit. He's a brilliant teacher - patient, funny, asks loads of questions to test our knowledge, and when allocating a topic to us for presentation he asked about our academic interest so the subject could match what we want to do (thought this is such a clever way of making us enthusiastic and giving us autonomy)
Dr Adam Obs and gyne Extremely kind and helpful. Explained anatomy during surgical placements in a way that was easy for a fourth-year medical student to understand. Also had great communication skills with patients and made them feel comfortable and well informed.
I want to nominate 3 people. 1. Jacob 2. Surgical ward child health 3. Because he was very kind and really helped make a day which was quite quiet pass by more interestingly. I learnt a lot about FY jobs and the pay contracts which is very useful practical information for us. 1.Dr Saul Satas 2. Neonatal Unit 3. He was exceptionally good at teaching. He belped show us the way of thinking and how to make connections in medicine. He did his best at trying to keep atmosphere light especially when we were seeing really sick babies 1. Josie 2. Elgin, paediatric ward 3. I nominate her because she has been very very helpful. Not only in answering questions, but also she fully explained the NIPE. However, the main reason was because there was one time when i had let the other medical student go for this clinic round, and only one of us could go. It was a very quiet day on the ward. And everyone was incredibly busy. Josie was really busy too, however, she put on a lecture on the computer so that i study and would not waste time doing nothing. It was incredibly understanding and something no one else had done. In addition she answered my questions on Retrieval medicine and ED, and really provided clarity.
Dr Abigail Wright Obs and Gynae, ST2 Her kindness and perseverance with teaching me was most appreciated. Despite being busy on the wards/in theatre, she was always happy to answer my questions and teach me. Dr Ambreen Butt Sexual Health Her tutorial was very engaging and useful. My afternoon with her in clinic was great and she pushed me to take histories and perform practical procedures, which was a great learning experience
-Dr Jamie Motion (was very kind and provided great teaching in theatre) -Dr Andrea Woolner (was very supportive on placement and also advocated for learning opportunities wherever possible)
