Medical students have been taken to the Cairngorms to tempt them into considering a job in a rural community to help address the GP shortage.
Many non-urban areas face having no family doctor in the near future due to the declining number joining practices in less-populated areas.
Aberdeen University sent 14 first year medical students to the Cairngorm National Park and the surrounding area so people working in rural practices could try and sell the idea to them.
Dr Linzi Lumsden, a GP and senior clinical lecturer at the university, said: “Currently there are fewer medical students choosing to become GPs than we require and even fewer are joining practices in rural areas.
“We know there’s a few key things students feel are important such as early exposure to specialities so we’re trying to show them the benefits of choosing this path.
“Many of them won’t know there are these practices out there and that there’s an opportunity to manage patients in a ward setting.
“I think they really valued the one-to-one chance to speak to the GPs and hear what life is like living and working here and as the trip went on, people who were a bit unsure, or more on the fence had certainly warmed up to the idea of General Practice and the possibility of doing it in a remote location.”
Student Alice Jones enjoyed the opportunity to get involved in outdoor activities that wouldn’t be so handy for GPs working in cities and towns.
She said: “It was great to do all these activities like mountain biking and canoeing. Here, it’s right on your doorstep. Having that access to the outdoors is definitely a big plus.
“I also learned that there’s much more to being a rural GP than I realised. The facilities were bigger and better than I’d anticipated and the role seems very varied.”
