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So much of my education is factual or evidence-based about "what to do", "how to manage"; yet so much of my experience of coalface general practice fails to fit those models. To attend a course which seeks to explore, through literature, the experiences of doctors & patients as people within a consultation was so refreshing and so relevant to me. No right or wrong answers. No tick-boxes or protocols ... an excellent forum to hear the perspectives of other doctors. It was a privilege to have two English Fellows involved in the course.
You both provided such a relaxed, friendly and unintimidating forum and I predict that the entire group enjoyed the day! Stimulating conversation which was insightful flowed. Sharing experience, thought, and knowledge is so helpful and enriches our professional lives with all its dimensions. The best sort of learning for me.
A very enjoyable and stimulating course – liberating not to have to feel that you have to try and remember a lot of stuff which one generally feels at a ‘conventional’ medical course.
The perfect antidote to the rest of my PDP… it feels like there’s a real need for this sort of space.
I found the seminar enjoyable, thought-provoking, but perhaps most of all cathartic. How wonderful to meet like-minded colleagues from a variety of backgrounds (and of different ages!)
Another stimulating thought-provoking day – good group size – interesting location – easy parking – love the variety of learning modalities – creative writing exercise very exciting and enlightening – truly never a dull moment throughout the day – have taken the thoughts about space and am aware I have integrated it into my consultations- looking forward to next year.
Another brilliant day! The imaginative and often humorous responses in the group were truly amazing… I now have even more texts I wish to read!...highly relevant to the practice of medicine. Thanks for all your hard work and inspiration.
I much enjoyed being encouraged to read authors that I am less familiar with or too lazy to engage with! It was also interesting to meet colleagues from different parts of the country enjoying the discourse of widely varying patient groups. Your warm welcome and smiling faces throughout the day carried us along in great humour and were a helpful counterpoint to the more painful aspects of the literature studied, and individual accounts of patients’ ‘stories’. Likewise, the pace of the day felt very well managed with plenty of variety in the content. I particularly enjoyed being introduced to new literary terminology and definitions. I can’t think of any suggestions to improve what is already a much acclaimed ‘day of indulgence’ for doctors and which is wonderful antidote to the more mechanistic aspects of our day job.
Congratulations again. I don’t know how you do it. For me another day with people who vaguely understand what I’m on about in my day to day existence. More ‘bits’ of my personal jig-saw as I try to understand General Practice and life in general…and the piece de resistance was Othello.
You work together really well – a double act, both bringing a different perspective. I thought Helen Barr was really excellent and very interactive. She valued all contributions from the floor and her Shakespearean expertise was really useful.
The course was wonderful on many levels: wonderful to have time to think, contemplate; wonderful to meet like minds, and wonderful to be exposed to erudite individuals leading you down avenues never explored & challenging. A wonderful companion to the science of 'Hot Topics'. Keep up the poetry - and I look forward to the next instalment!
Thank you for the wonderful day. I had meant to write some decent feedback nearer the time but the hours and days just slipped passed with something that seemed to be more pressing taking up the time- Which is exactly why the day was so good, as nothing is more important than being reminded of the importance of being human. Literature has always restored that perspective for me and I have neglected poetry - fearing that I would some how interpret it "wrong" or not quite understand it. After that day of course I realise that, as in everything, there is no wrong or right and that my interpretation is just one of many ... The setting was beautiful and it certainly makes a difference to be sitting in the spacious Old Library reading poetry. The pace of the workshop was just right and the willingness of the other participants to engage was humbling. I am always impressed by how quick GPs can gain a high level of trust. There was a sense of space created to explore yet we got through a lot of themes. This required careful and thoughtful facilitation and this was well done . My only criticism would be that there were so many themes that we touched on and I would want to spend more time with!
Despite my trepidations I found it really enjoyable, encouraging and enlightening. I thought the size of the group was just right and you did a great job at making me feel that all points were valid ... I thought the guest lecturer worked really well, and it was a real treat to hear him in such intimate and wonderful surroundings.
The venue was beautiful and your hospitality was so warm and welcoming that from the moment I walked in I felt inspired.
The mental equivalent of a massage at a luxury spa! I came away feeling simultaneously relaxed and invigorated: a great combination.
With the aid of yourselves and other members of the group I had probably one of the best days of education I have had for many a year. I felt safe in the group and I thought that it valued and respected every comment offered. A credit to your skills as facilitators. I would be very excited to attend another similar day. A really refreshing and humanising day for me
I enjoyed the day enormously. Albeit I was unable to put Kafka to bed for some time afterwards!!!! I look forward to what your follow up to the course will be.
A fantastic day. I really enjoyed it on so many levels - the intellectual challenge of words and analysis, meeting like-minded GPs, the poems themselves and the time and peace for some reflection on what is to be human (and a doctor!) I have small kids at home too, so it felt very indulgent to spend a day on something that was neither exactly work nor nappies.
I found the whole experience to be nourishing, uplifting and energising. There is so much I could say and so many metaphors that could be used to describe my personal experience but first I would like to thank you both for the time, careful thought, energy and enthusiasm that you obviously put to making the day such a success.
It was a treat to be able to come to such a wonderful venue and to meet other GPs with a shared interest in an under-explored area of our working lives. The opportunity to indulge in such creative thinking and wondering time is something that I am not sure we find time to do on a regular basis.
On a personal note I appreciated the opportunity to be introduced to some works that I would never normally pick up or think about. In particular I am now reading poetry regularly - not understanding much of it but still enjoying the pleasure of a little awareness about how I may think about it. I felt fortunate to be exposed to your knowledge and enthusiasm and that of the visiting speaker. The day was continuously engaging, stimulating and thought provoking and this effect has continued. I hope that it is not too long before we can all meet up again.
