Donna Traves,

Year 5 SpR, Chair of Education & Training Committee

As you will have seen form browsing through the web site there is always lots going on within the Trent training region and we hope you will feel a part of it as you train in the region. The website is designed to give you information on what is happening locally and further afield and we hope you find it useful. If there are things you would like to see on the website please do let us know and we will endeavour to make it happen!

The education and training committee are committed to helping us all get the best out of our training in the region, so if there are issues that you think need addressing or concerns with your training please do not hesitate to contact us – we will do what we can to help. With representation on the School of Paediatrics Board we are able to bring issues to the individuals that can help and also feedback on important changes that are happening in the region with regards to training. We feel that this 2 way communication has helped to create a training environment that we are all proud of and a rotation that we enjoy and is most beneficial to us all.

Helping to ensure that our training is relevant to us all, it is our own trainees that arrange the monthly training days, so if you are assigned a day or you hear a speaker that you think would be great for everyone to hear please let the organisers of the day know so we can all benefit. As we have monthly training days we have regular times to meet up and develop good friendships that last throughout the rotation which I think we all agree is a bonus of the region. The close knit trainee network is always evident at the annual Away day in August where we have a training day that is aimed at team building and we practice skills needed for team working in more entertaining ways!

From a practical point of view, recent surveys of our trainees study leave showed minimal problems in getting approval and leave for the things trainees wanted to do and a survey of bullying and harassment showed very few areas of concern – better than the national average statistics, so it really is a good place to be!

Finally, if you are new to the region or thinking about coming to train here, I would highly recommend it. I have been in the region for the past 5 years and found that I have had excellent training in a wealth of different posts and settings. The close proximity of the hospitals within the region make it very easy to create a base thereby  making the region somewhere you can easily stay for the whole 5 years. The time spent training here has given me a huge experience of all the different aspects of paediatrics both in DGH and tertiary settings and the people I have met along the way mean that its been enjoyable in the process.

We hope that you enjoy your time here as much as we have...