New university deal to help boost unique doctor training scheme helping tackle rural GP shortage
Medical students on the ScotGEM course will now have the chance to use facilities at University of the West of Scotland in Dumfries
Trainee medics enrolled on a unique course designed to help tackle Scotland’s GP shortage are benefiting from a new scheme to cut their gruelling commutes.
University of the West of Scotland has teamed up with St Andrews and Dundee universities to teach ScotGEM students on its Dumfries campus.
Known as the Crichton Cohort, the group of 17 will no longer have to make the near-six hour commute and instead will study in UWS.
ScotGEM is a four-year medical degree for postgraduate students set up in 2018 to boost the number of GPs working in rural parts of Scotland.
While students are placed around Scotland, they still must attend Dundee and St Andrews for clinical simulation practice.
However, UWS’s Dumfries campus has a state-of-the-art simulation healthcare facility, developed with NHS Dumfries and Galloway.
And this will now be used by ScotGEM.
Julie Orr, UWS campus lead in Dumfries said: “The aim is to reduce travel for students and potentially encourage them to stay and work locally, given our community’s healthcare needs.
“This has also opened up opportunities for interdisciplinary teaching, collaboration with the NHS, and potential community projects or joint research.
“While we can’t guarantee everyone will stay, having local placements reduces travel and makes the program more feasible for people with families.”
One student in this year’s cohort is a 43-year-old former pharmacist who, as well as raising a young family, was commuting to St Andrews twice a week for the course.
Now she will be able to learn solely in Dumfries and plans to become a GP remaining in the community.
Dr Fiona Graham, ScotGEM Programme Director, said: “ScotGEM is a mission-led medical program, designed with the ambition of producing high-quality graduates who are prepared and enthusiastic about working in rural Scotland.
“We focus particularly on training generalists—clinicians with a broad base of education and a holistic approach to practice.
“While general practitioners are a key focus, there is also a need for secondary care generalists in rural areas, particularly in fields such as paediatrics, general medicine, and emergency care.”
The Scottish Government put out a call in 2016 for universities to pitch to run the ScotGEM - Scottish graduate entry medicine - programme.
Every medical school in the country put in a bid to create the new medical school with Dundee and St Andrews making the successful pitch.
As well as the two universities, the course works with four Scottish health boards - Highland, Tayside, Fife, and NHS Dumfries and Galloway.
Students must have at least one previous degree, which can be in any subject area.
Dr Graham says one of the programme’s strengths is its diversity of students, who come from a wide range of academic backgrounds.
The course has previously attracted music teachers, engineers, and lawyers.
The usual five-year degree programme is condensed into four years and takes an innovative approach to learning, such as the creation of Generalist Clinical Mentors (GCMs).
These are experienced GPs who dedicate one day per week to teaching clinical skills and communication, and then integrate students into their GP practices to apply what they have learned.
“This begins from the very first week of the program,” Dr Graham said, “Giving students early patient exposure, which is essential in a four-year course.”
In third year, students are based in a GP surgery, usually in rural areas, and work two and a half days a week there.
Nearly 90 per cent of graduates from the course have remained in Scotland for their foundation training.
Dr Graham added: “It is too early to tell how many will stay long-term or become general practitioners, but early indications suggest that the experience and links built during training may encourage them to remain in Scotland, particularly in rural areas.”
Abbey King is now a GP in training after completing the ScotGEM course.
She completed a Master’s degree in biochemistry but realised halfway through the course that it wasn’t something she wanted to pursue as a career.
“I was much more interested in something with direct patient contact,” Dr King said.
“I wanted a vocation where I’d be interacting with different people on a daily basis.”
Medicine, she said, was something she had thought about studying when she was at school but “for a variety of reasons I went down different paths,” she added.
The desire to study medicine never quite went away so when ScotGEM was launched, Dr King leapt at the chance.
She was one of the first students on the inaugural year of the course.
She said: “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a bit daunting. But I had a very good support system around me, and when I thought about it rationally, I was still in my mid‑20s.
“I saw it as a short-term challenge for long-term gain. Weighing up the pros and cons, it felt like the right decision.
“Otherwise, I think I might have gone through life wondering ‘what if?’”
Dr King is currently based in Dumfries and Galloway and says having the Dumfries campus would have been a huge bonus.
She said: “One of the more challenging aspects of ScotGEM, particularly in year two, is the amount of travel between different boards across Scotland.
“From my perspective, having the option to be based in one location for longer would be very appealing logistically.
“It would also help students feel more settled, which in turn allows them to focus more fully on their studies.”
Students spend their first year at St Andrews University, with sessions led by GCMs in NHS Fife.
In the second year, the program becomes more dispersed: 50 per cent of students remain in Fife, 25 per cent go to NHS Dumfries and Galloway, and 25 per cent in NHS Highland.
In the third year, students spend their clerkship in one health board, with NHS Highland hosting the largest number of students.
Dr Graham said the UWS facilities in Dumfries give students access to “world-class clinical skills training, supporting our ambitions for multidisciplinary teaching in rural areas”.
She added: “Having a campus facility in a rural area helps support our goal of retaining graduates in their communities.”
The scheme also allows local college students and healthcare trainees to meet medical students and “see medicine as an attainable career”.
In their third year, students also undertake volunteer placements in local organisations, such as youth groups, which “helps demystify medicine and strengthen community connections”.
Ms Orr said UWS sees this as a real bonus to the collaboration.
She added: “It introduces our own students to ScotGEM, giving them another pathway into medicine.
“It’s a win-win for everyone, and I love working with stakeholders to support our community meaningfully.
“It’s exciting to work with like-minded people. The students are thrilled to use our facility, and the staff teaching them are equally enthusiastic.”
The University of St Andrews was contacted for comment.
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