Project Title
Title:
PGVOD – 160 Dowsing
Duration:
2.25 mins
My name’s Teresa Dowsing. I’m a Physician Associate in geriatric medicine. I
work at the George Elliott Hospital which is in Nuneaton.
I studied at the University of Birmingham for the postgraduate diploma in
Physician Assistant Studies and I graduated in 2010. The role is relatively
new in the United Kingdom and we have about 200 Physician Associates
working across the country and essentially we support doctors in helping to
treat patients and manage their long term conditions within the NHS, either in
general practice or in hospital. So the course that I attended at the University
of Birmingham really prepared me in order to provide a service for the NHS.
I was recommended the course by a student who was currently studying at
the Physician Associate Studies at the University of Birmingham and she said
that from the first week you were actually going out into general practice,
meeting patients, learning about common conditions and the course was very
integrated. Some of the Physician Associate programmes are one year of
teaching and learning in a medical school and then a year of placements in
the second year but I really wanted to integrate and give a reality to my
learning and that’s why I chose the University of Birmingham because I could
see that I was having my experience clinically in a GP practice, or in hospital,
very early on.
My top tip for people that are thinking of applying to the Physician Associate
course is to have a think about what your learning style is, research the
programmes that are available to see how they might meet your needs. So for
example, myself I knew that I needed my learning to be clinically orientated
1
Project Title
and related to patients so I could have a real good understanding and make it
all real for me. So that’s why I chose the University of Birmingham.
The course provided a very firm foundation for the work that I’m doing at the
moment. I learnt a lot about general medical conditions, I learnt a lot about
supporting patients, I learnt a great deal about communication skills which is
very important for me at the moment – I work in care of the elderly which is an
area that I really enjoy working within – and I think the course provided a very
good environment for me to learn and then I can take that learning and then
develop it further on in my career.
END OF RECORDING
2