Experience of a psychiatric trainee by a general practitioner

Extract

When the idea was first proposed to our practice that we should have a doctor from the York Psychiatry Rotation attached to our practice as a trainee we were all enthusiastic. As the start date approached and it became more obvious that I, as the trainer without a trainee for the six months in question, would be responsible for him I became a little more apprehensive. What if he wore strange clothes? What if he upset all the patients? What if he exposed all my ignorance on matters psychological? When I first spoke to Simon he mentioned that he had not done any acute proper medicine since house jobs, five years previously; I do not know who was more apprehensive – him or me. In the event, of course, I feel the placement was successful and I hope that Simon came away learning a lot about general practice and a significant amount of psychiatry in a different setting.