- Sat 1st – Sun 2nd February 2014
- Alumni Auditorium, The Forum, University of Exeter
- £45 for BGS members (£90 for non-members). Evening meal £25.
- For more details and to book click here
The annual essential weekend for all trainees in geriatrics! Organised by trainees for trainees – building on the successes and feedback from previous years, we are aiming to offer something for all trainees, whatever your stage of training.
For those in their early years – this weekend is the ideal starting point to meet others training across the country in geriatrics – compare experiences, get ideas, meet future peers and will see at conferences time and time again! It is also the starting point to get involved with the BGS! There will be inspiring core curriculum talks from eloquent practising clinicians, covering national guidelines, the latest evidence-base for treatment. with practical tips in areas such as dementia management and video cases in Parkinson’s
For those approaching their Specialist Certificate Examination in geriatrics – this weekend has become an invaluable date in the calendar for anyone preparing for the SCE. Timed to be a month before the exam (5th March 2014), to help jog your memory aid revision – the content of the weekend is carefully geared around covering the core and lesser topics of the exam. Plus that all important recap of the exam ethos, design and format, and the mock exam under exam conditions – with brand new questions written specially for the weekend and to reflect the content mix of the exam. Answers will be given out at the end.
For those in their later stages of training and approaching consultant applications – as well as the opportunity to recap some of those curriculum areas you may not have visited for a while – there is a facilitated geriatrics service development workshop running parallel to the mock exam, which may help kick-start your thinking for interview preparation and beyond – and of course the opportunity to have a formal mock interview with experienced interviewers from out of your region. This is first-come first-served – advance sign up is essential, and you will be asked to send CV prior to the interview. The more “political” or thought-provoking talks may be useful fodder for interviews – and dare we say it, “networking” for potential job opportunities and finding out about how things work in other regions may also be helpful!
For everyone – new for this year: on Saturday afternoon you will be able to choose two out of six options of small group sessions, which will cover some of the basic principles in practical clinical geriatrics. These will be led by local enthusiastic experts in areas we feel essential to know but which are patchily covered in training across the country – this will be your chance to just ask those really basic questions, plug those little holes in knowledge and help you talk to patients more confidently:
- What frame to recommend for who?
- What height should that walking stick be?
- What benefits are people entitled to?
- Who would you actually refer for urodynamics and what can it tell you?
- What are the basics of DEXA scanning and what are the pitfalls?
- Just how do you do a swallow test properly?
- Why is that laxative best?
- And yes, we all know polypharmacy is bad, but which drugs should we really be looking out for?
Topical issues – in a year or two of multiple significant headlines and reports pertinent to our work – we’ll ensure we talk about these and the BGS reaction to them, eg the Francis and Keogh reports, the Future Hospital Commission, and Shape of Training document.
Non-geriatrics trainees – although designed specifically for the training needs of registrars in geriatrics, others are more than welcome to attend! Core medical trainees or foundation year doctors who may be considering a career in geriatrics, got MRCP approaching, or just want to improve knowledge of our core patient group in hospitals will all benefit. And GPs and GP trainees who care for an increasing number of older patients in the community will find this weekend offers some good core revision or knowledge – lectures given by local experts who are inspiring speakers!
FINAL PLUG – AMAZING VENUE!
So come to sunny Devon (can’t quite guarantee this in February mind) to enjoy this great weekend the state-of-the-art Alumni Auditorium lecture theatre (as well as free wi-fi it also features twizzly seats and power sockets at each seat) in the award-winning Forum building (this year’s winner of the Higher Education and Research Category at the World Architecture Festival), on the beautiful Streatham Campus (nominated for green campus of the year!).
We’ll have a fun night out in Exeter on Saturday, with a meal in a characterful restaurant on the waterfront and for those who are keen afterwards we’ll walk you past the historic cathedral and show you more of Exeter city life.
Please come along – and spread the word to your colleagues. See you there!
The Exeter Organising Team: Carrie, Suzy, Yvonne, Jane and Kim
British Geriatrics Society 