Guernsey Medic Network website gets launched

A CHEMISTRY teacher has succeeded in distilling Guernsey’s medical expertise into a new opportunity for supporting local undergraduates and junior doctors.

Guernsey Medic Network members at the start of the project. Left to right, Armina Terriss of the MSG, Julia Rebstein of Island Health, Peter Rabey of HSC, Nathan Collenette of the MSG, Mairi Reynolds of Island Health, Nikki Brink of HSC, Pippa Read and Kate Earl, both of Elizabeth College, Chloe Savident of the Queen’s Road Medical Practice, Andrew Carey of Island Health, Charlotte Hales of the Grammar School and Sixth Form Centre and Karen Marshall and Liz Dudin, both of The Ladies’ College. (32495649)

The Guernsey Medic Network – originally conceived by Elizabeth College teacher Pippa Read in November – is a networking website which has launched to support doctors in training and to encourage recruitment.

It follows close collaboration between Elizabeth and Ladies’ colleges, the Sixth Form Centre, the Medical Specialist Group, Health & Social Care and all the GP practices in the Bailiwick.

As well as finding out more about healthcare in Guernsey and about job, training and work experience opportunities, members of the network can now chat online with each other, share their experiences, and search for a mentor, or offer to mentor another member.

The idea came to Mrs Read after conversations with three local doctors – Island Health’s Julia Rebstein, MSG consultant orthopaedic surgeon George Cooper, and Dr Oliver Collas, a rheumatology and general medicine registrar at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.

‘I’m really excited and really proud to see this come to fruition,’ Mrs Read said.

‘If I hadn’t had all three conversations in the same week, it may never have occurred to me to pursue this but I drew them together and it gave me the chance to work with some wonderful people who are all dedicated to improving health care.’

She hopes the new network will extend the existing support provided to sixth formers, ensuring connections are maintained throughout off-island study.

Membership of the network is open to anyone with a link to Guernsey who is either applying to medical school, already a medical student, a junior doctor, a GP or specialist, or a professional who supports doctors.

‘We would now love to welcome any doctors to the network who have a fond attachment to the island and would be happy to support younger doctors or applicants or just to network with other members of the Bailiwick living or working near to them,’ Mrs Read said.

The MSG provided the funding to get the project off the ground.

The group’s chairman Dr Steve Evans said it would make a significant difference to recruitment.

‘It will help us attract doctors who have a Guernsey connection,’ he said, ‘and it will encourage locally-born doctors to be ambassadors for the island among their UK colleagues, even if they’re not ready to come back themselves.’

Island Health already offers training rotations to medical students – a programme run by Dr Rebstein.

‘This network allows us to get those training opportunities even better known outside the island,’ she said.

The website itself has been developed with support from the Old Elizabethan Association. To join the network, those interested are invited to register at www.guernseymedicnetwork.gg.

A first live networking event is being held at 6pm on Thursday 14 September at Elizabeth College, sponsored by the GP practices, Elizabeth and Ladies’ Colleges and the OEA, registration for which is via the website.