Haematology
Training programme director: Wale Atoyebi
Trainee representative: Sarah Davis
This is an excellent rotation, which gives trainees a good grounding in all aspects of haematology. The main teaching hospital is the Churchill / John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford (2 site trust) which benefits from the purpose built Cancer and Haematology Centre, opened in 2009 and including the bone marrow transplant unit. Trainees will spend the majority of their time at the main hospital but will go out to a district general for approximately 18 months. The district generals attached to this rotation are Milton Keynes, Reading, Stoke Mandeville/Wycombe (2 site trust) and WexhamPark, Slough. Trainees are usually sent to the same district general twice which makes choosing somewhere to live easier.
A typical rotation would include the following:
Induction period
-Usually 1 to 3 months with no haematology on call for at least the first month
District general attachment
-Usually 1 year at the beginning of training and at least a further 6 months later on
Lymphoma
-Minimum 6 months.
-Managing ward lymphoma and myeloma patients, autografts, day unit patients and outpatient clinics
Leukaemia and Bone Marrow transplant
-Minimum 6 months.
-Managing ward allografts and autografts, leukaemia, myeloma and red cell patients, day unit patients and outpatient clinics
Haemophilia and Thrombosis
-Minimum 3 months.
-Working in the largest comprehensive care centre for haemophilia in the UK
-Managing patients with haemophilia, thromboses and other coagulation problems
Transfusion
-Minimum 3 months
-Attached to National Blood Service
-Includes a compulsory intermediate transfusion course
Laboratory haematology
-Minimum 6 months
-Reviewing hospital blood films and marrows, taking ward referrals and advising GPs/other hospital teams
-Opportunity to spend time in molecular haematology laboratory
Paediatric haematology
-Minimum 3 months
-Attached to paediatric haematology unit at the John Radcliffe Children’s Centre
Trainees can indicate towards the end of training what area they’d like to specialise in and do further attachments related to this.
On call is non-residential and usually 1 in 6 – 1 in 8 depending on how many registrars are at the main hospital. The haematology department also contributes to the hospital at night rota at the Churchill hospital. It is only 1st and 2nd year trainees who are expected to take part and equates to a maximum of 2 weeks of nights a year.
Trainees benefit from exposure to clinical trials including an expanding early phase trials unit and from an excellent educational programme. This includes weekly morphology teaching and journal clubs and monthly registrar teaching and haematology grand rounds. In addition there are regular Thames Valley Cancer Network education days and Academic Department of Haematology meetings. Research opportunities are also superb and trainees are actively encouraged to undertake out of programme research and work toward a higher degree. In particular the rotation has good links with the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, NHS Blood and Transplant and Nuffield Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences. It is also possible to undertake an academic clinical fellowship within the Oxford deanery.
In summary, this is a strong rotation that benefits from excellent training including separate, mainly educational, transfusion, coagulation and paediatric attachments. It also has excellent research opportunities and the consultants are all very approachable, involved and supportive. The main disadvantage of the rotation is that although we have the national haemoglobinopathy laboratory, exposure to patients with haemoglobinopathies can be lacking due to the demographics of Oxfordshire.
Sept 2011