Rheumatology

Introduction

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust Rheumatology Visiting Professional Programme is designed to provide international visiting professionals with the opportunity to experience our highly acclaimed rheumatology service and its specialist clinics, including our award winning fibromyalgia clinic and our Lupus Unit, which is the largest in Europe.

The aim is to provide a unique development experience which broadens visiting professionals’ clinical education and enables them to learn new skills that can be transferred back to their work place.

Programme aims

Our expert clinical leads have designed the programme with the aim of providing insight and information that allows visiting professionals to extend their expertise in rheumatology.

The programme aims to offer the following to visiting professionals:

Direct experience and exposure of clinics and ward rounds
Opportunities to participate in internal clinical meetings, such as clinical research meetings
Interaction with multidisciplinary team members within the rheumatology service, including specialist psychologists
Insight into the academic departments and laboratory to learn more about the research that is currently being undertaken within rheumatology
Exposure of a diverse range of specialist rheumatology conditions, including antiphospholipid syndrome, rheumatoid inflammatory arthritis, vasculitis and lupus

Individual weekly timetables will be created depending on each visiting professional’s requirements.

A Certificate of Attendance will be awarded to visitors upon the end of their programme.

Format

The rheumatology programme is delivered within the hospital work place and it includes exposure to clinics, ward rounds, internal teaching meetings, and tertiary care referrals.

Visiting professionals have the option to choose from an observership or practical programme. If a visiting professional chooses to apply for an observational programme they will be aligned with a supervisor from within the clinical team. The supervisor will ensure that all of the learning and development needs and expectations are met.

The programme gives the opportunity for participants to be totally integrated with the day to day service within our rheumatology team.

Who can apply

This programme is intended for non U.K. qualified registrars and consultants.

Visitors have the choice of applying for a practical attachment or observership programme. Those wishing to apply for a practical attachment must have GMC registration. You can apply for GMC registration directly through the main GMC website, alternatively The Royal College of Physicians run a medical training initiative which facilitates GMC registration and provides sponsorship for a Tier 5 visa. You can find out more about their Medical Training Initiative by visiting the GMC website.

Programme duration

We are able to offer visiting professional programmes for periods of up to three months. The programme’s duration can be tailored to the specific learning requirements of those visiting the Trust.

Fees

A course fee per week will be applied; this fee excludes accommodation and travelling expenses. To find out the fee amount please email [email protected].

Please note

Clinicians are able to offer bursaries or discounted placements on an individual basis. This is at the discretion of the Directorates of GSTT and does not affect the terms and conditions of the Visiting Professional Programme agreements.

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Why Rheumatology?

Kelly Geng talks about her experience as a Visiting Professional on the Rheumatology clinical attachment programme

Video transcript

I’m coming from China and as a scholar visitor and work in the Rheumatology department in Guy’s Hospital.

Firstly, I go to the clinic with professors like Professor Andrew Cope, Professor Bruce Kirkham and Dr Nora Ng and they are all very warm to me, nice to me, and taught me how to see the patient in UK in London in Guy’s Hospital.

Some of the patients, most of them, are arthritis patients and they are very kind to these patients very patient to these guys and they examine these patients very detailedly and give them the specific treatments, very good treatment to them.

So I, through this procedure, see how to see a patient, look after a patient in UK, in London, which is different from China.

Because two of my colleagues from China from my department came here before and they bring me some news, some experience from their visiting period, and they say Guy’s Hospital, the rheumatology centre, is a very good place for them, for us, to learn new knowledge and new technique, yes, in this area, so they tell me it is a good choice to be here.

Okay, I think it is fruitful and it is hopeful.

I think because I have only been here for three months and I have nine months left and very looking forward to learn more things and do more things like some clinical research like that and maybe.

And the last word is fantastic.

Because the colleague in our department, or in most part of China, we’re also interested in the arthritis, this area, this field of the rheumatology, so I know the rheumatology department in Guy’s is one of the best in UK and also in the whole world so I also I’d like to recommend here as their choice to be here as a visiting scholar.

I think the first is maybe the electronic case management in here it is very completely very advanced, I think.

It can provide the doctors with the whole history of the patient, yes, and they can maybe treat with the patient more proper or more fitful for them and maybe in China we do not have very completely one and we should build a good one a better one.

This is the first first thing I think.

And the second, maybe in UK and in London you have more good drugs especially the biologic drugs, yes, which can used in the patient and the patient can get better more early and, yeah, recover more quick.

So, maybe in China in future we will contact with their new drugs and we can apply more and more new drugs and I can learn here before that.

And third, maybe I can learn some methods to do the clinical research like some drug or some new facility in the image, how to apply it in the before it applied in the clinical practice we should confirm the utility of them, yes, so we should do the clinical trial, clinical research first and how to do it in the best way and I can learn it from here in clinic research also and I have some class so I have some course also in King’s College, yeah it is a good experience.

Visiting Professional Programme attendee

I learned a lot and had good exposure to many cases and research and can’t wait to specialise in Lupus back in my country

Doctor from Saudi Arabia