Physician associates.JPGA group of Physician Associate students are enjoying their placement in West Cumbria.

The UCLan Westlakes Campus, near Whitehaven, has taken students for five years and has trained 35 students in that time. The campus has an exceptional success rate, with many graduates now employed in trusts in the region, including NCIC.

At West Cumberland Hospital (WCH), there are currently five Physician Associates working in various wards of the hospital: two in EAU (emergency assessment unit), two in Ward 2 (which housed the COVID patients during the spikes) and one in Ward 4 (houses frail and long-term patients). One of the PAs is doing a preceptorship that involves clinical time in both GP practice and the hospital setting. 

The students began their first clinical experience in June.  Half of them are currently in GP practices in Penrith and Workington; the other half are on WCH inpatient wards. 

Jane Rutt-Howard, UCLan course leader said: “I am delighted to welcome our new cohort of student Physician Associates to UCLan’s Westlakes campus in Cumbria whose predecessors are already making a positive impact on the local healthcare sector both in primary and secondary care.”

Professor Cathy Jackson, Executive Dean, Faculty of ClinicaPhysician associates2.JPGl and Biomedical Sciences, said: “The National Centre for Remote and Rural medicine in Whitehaven was set up to look at ways to address workforce issues and health outcomes in remote and rural areas. The literature has always suggested that students who train in these areas enjoy the experience and look to stay for employment in the area. “We are delighted that this is being demonstrated so soon with our own graduates and that they are already making such a very positive contribution to the workforce of the area and to the health of the communities in Cumbria.”

Dr Tim Smith, Consultant in ICU & Anaesthetics, Associate Director of Medical Education at NCIC, said: “We’re delighted to welcome this group of student Physician Associates into the Trust and we have already seen such positive results from our partnership with UCLan, working together to improve healthcare in our region.”

Laura Singleton, Physician Associate student, said: “It's great to be on placement locally yet see such a variety of patients at Workington Primary Care Centre. Being local makes travelling times manageable and the staff have been very welcoming, approachable, and supportive. It has been the perfect introduction to a clinical environment for my first placement."

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