How to … be a jolly good fellow

Elinor Burn is a Department of Medicine for the Elderly (DME) and Quality Improvement (QI) fellow at the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, in this blog article reflects on her year in post.

Taking a step off the conveyer belt of medical training can be a daunting move for trainees, who have become accustomed to the continued encouragement for career progression. It’s a choice that is not actively encouraged, but does allow(s) space to refocus through dedicated time doing a different kind of work.

After crawling to the end of my core medical training feeling exhausted, I took on this year as a chance to change gear, step back and remember why I enjoy and chose to do medicine. By filling this fellowship post I accepted the challenge of taking forward a service design programme. This has been in the form of a surgical liaison service, a project still in its infancy. It was a steep learning curve – service development is something that I’ve never actually been taught to do.

The Geriatrics “Profanisaurus.” Volume 2 – The diagnostic myths that do not die

Dan Thomas is an ST5 based in the Mersey Deanery (HENW) and is the Clinical Quality Representative on the BGS Trainees Council. He tweets @dan26wales

In 2013 Professor David Oliver wrote a blog, the Geriatrics “Profanisaurus”, a list of words and phrases that should be banned, he encouraged other ‘BGS-ers to join in the fun and add their own “unutterables”.

My contribution to this list is some frequently encountered diagnoses that should be approached with scepticism.

‘Bilateral cellulitis’: If both legs are infected then the person should be unwell. Usually red legs are caused by a combination of underlying pathology; acute lipodermatosclerosis, venous hypertension, venous stasis dermatitis, lymphoedema or panniculits. The legs are hot and swollen but in the context of someone who is afebrile with minimal inflammatory response. The reason they are not responding to antibiotics is because they do not have an infection.

‘Geriatrics for Juniors’ is 5! Where, when and what next for AEME?

Dr Nick Saxton is an ST5 in Geriatric Medicine living and working in the North East of England. He attended the first ‘Geriatrics for Juniors’ conference as a core medical trainee in 2013. He began specialty training in 2015 and joined the Association for Elderly Medicine Education as treasurer in 2016. He tweets @saxton1986

Who are the AEME and what is G4J?

The Association for Elderly Medicine Education (AEME) is an organisation set up by trainee geriatricians in 2012, to provide educational tools and experiences in elderly medicine. The aim was also to attract more trainees into the specialty. You can follow us on Twitter and on Instagram @elderlymeded. AEME’s flagship event is our annual conference, ‘Geriatrics for Juniors’ (G4J), which is now in its fifth year. It’s a one-day conference aimed at foundation doctors, core medical and GP trainees and also specialist nurse practitioners who work with older patients. This year it is being held on 4^th November 2017 at the Hilton Hotel Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne.

MDTea Club and Podcast – Join the conversation

MDTea is by Dr Joanna Preston @GerisJo and Dr Iain Wilkinson @geriatricsdoc, consultant Geriatricians at St. George’s Hospital, London and Surrey and Sussex Healthcare Trust respectively.

MDTea offers free education on ageing for the whole MDT. We produce fortnightly podcasts on common topics encountered in clinical practice, critically looking at what evidence bases exist and which do not and applying practical solutions. The aim is to upskill a diverse workforce by discussing each topic from multi-disciplinary view points, not just one profession. We work and learn in teams in real life to solve problems so we aim to translate this to a shared format.

We have released 30 episodes over the last 18 months with funding for 20 more at the moment. Our 4th series started recently with an episode on Theories of Ageing. Others include mouth care, pain, delirium, falls prevention and management, interventions in early dementia, identity and nutrition, to name a few. Our most recent episode was on Sex and older adults – a largely neglected topic.

Who’s our jolly good Fellow?

The Editorial Board of Age and Ageing is delighted to announce the launch of a Fellowship attached to the Age and Ageing Journal.

This opportunity is intended for trainees who plan a career in geriatric medicine who are interested in medical publishing. The 2-year appointment will run concurrently with the Fellow’s usual clinical post (or during period out of programme for research).

The Fellow will learn about manuscript preparation, peer review, manuscript editing, and journal production.

Roles will include involvement in general Journal business including handling submissions (under the supervision of the Editor or Associate Editor).

Arise, Geriatricians of tomorrow! – A specialty rising to meet the challenges of the modern NHS

Dr Vicky Gibson is an ST5 Geriatric medicine/ General Internal Medicine trainee in North-East England. She is secretary of the Association for Elderly Medicine Education (AEME), whose recent paper “Why Geriatric Medicine – a survey of UK specialist trainees in Geriatric medicine” has recently been published in Age and Ageing. She tweets at @gibsonvmvicky

The Association for Elderly Medicine Education (AEME) was founded in 2012, by a group of trainee geriatricians with the aim of improving elderly medicine education and promoting uptake into the specialty. You can follow them at @elderlymeded

I’m still inquisitive when I hear more junior trainees spontaneously say that they want to do Geriatrics.

“Well, you know. Previously Geriatricians were in the shadow of the other -ologies – now everyone wants a piece of them when things get complicated with their older patients. They’re like the knights in shining armour.”

Top 10 things we can do to improve care for older people right now

Mitsuko Nakajima (CMT1), Mary Ní Lochlainn (FY1), James Maguire (Registrar), Myuran Kaneshamoorthy (CT2), Jen Pigott (CT2), James Manger (CT2), Elizabeth Lonsdale-Eccles (CT2), Nivedika Theivendran (CT2), Laura Hill (CT2), Maevis Tan (CT2), Thomas Bell (ST3), Mark Lethby (CT2) & Alvin Shrestha (Clinical Fellow).

On February 6^th-7^th the BGS (British Geriatrics Society) Trainees Weekend took place in London. At one of the workshops, a group of us looked at how we can influence our colleagues to improve care for older people and also how we can conduct QI projects in non-geriatric settings. The workshop aimed to empower doctors who were not yet on a geriatric medicine training scheme to make a difference, especially where patients were unlikely to be seen by a geriatrician.

At the end of the workshop, the group put their heads together to come up with a Top 10 list, of things we can do to improve care for older people right now. Here are the results:

So here is our top 10 (+ a half) things we can do to improve care for older ppl right now #bgsconf @GeriSoc pic.twitter.com/oESro79E5E

— Dr Shane O'Hanlon (@drohanlon) February 7, 2016

Book Review: Essential geriatrics (Third Edition) by Henry Woodford

Shane O’Hanlon is a geriatrician in Reading, and Digital Media Editor & Honorary Deputy Secretary at the British Geriatrics Society. He tweets @drohanlon

As a trainee I often dreamed of a single book that would cover everything a geriatrician needed to know! In reality, I had to consult a wide variety of volumes depending on my question so my shelf was weighed down with Lecture Notes, Case Histories, Law & Ethics, Physiology, Cardiology, etc.

The first edition of Essential Geriatrics was published during my training, but somehow didn’t register on my radar. That text has since been updated and revised, and now a third edition has just been published.

Why Geriatric Medicine?

Dr James Fisher is a final year Geriatric Medicine trainee working at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; he tweets @drjimbofish. Here he describes an ongoing project that seeks to understand more about career choices and recruitment to Geriatric Medicine.

Geriatricians of tomorrow: We need you! As the number of people living with frailty grows, geriatricians are increasingly in demand. Already, in terms of consultant numbers, Geriatric Medicine is the biggest hospital medical specialty – but to meet the needs of the ageing population, further expansion in numbers will be needed.

Collaboration and training: life as an ACF in Geriatric Medicine

Jenni Harrison is a Clinical Research Fellow and Junior Doctor, who has just started a PhD at the University of Edinburgh following completion of Academic Core Medical Training. She tweets @JenniKHarrison

I still remember opening the email from Dr Conroy, which simply said:

“Would you like to write an article about frailty with Professor Young and I?”

As you’d expect like many things during my time as an Academic Clinical Fellow (ACF) in Geriatric Medicine it was met with an enthusiastically prompt reply. Only a few weeks earlier I’d had the opportunity to participate in a Frailty Workshop in Leeds run by Dr Andy Clegg and Professor Young, discussing their Frailty Index using routinely-collected GP practice data. Professor Young had challenged us on that occasion to think about frailty not simply as a descriptive term, but as a long-term condition.