Clinical Course Update

Feedback from the PENG Clinical Update Course 2015...

Roberta Forrester

I had a great week at the Queen Margaret University Campus for the PENG Clinical Update Course 2015. The course, itself, was informative, well presented and relevant to all aspects of nutrition support in both community and acute settings. All the tutors were very approachable and presented well researched, clinically relevant topics.

I got on really well with everyone on the Course, with every participant keen to share their views on the topic at hand. No cliques occurred during the Course. I have made some new friends, who I will keep in contact with but felt comfortable sitting with any group.

The campus was an excellent venue. Accommodation onsite was comfortable with cooking facilities and en-suite rooms. The university staff were helpful and friendly. The campus was in easy walking distance of Musselborough with local shops and takeaway restaurants. Although, Edinburgh is a short rain ride away, making it easy to go out for dinner. The site provided us with the use of gym facilities with exercise classes, and there was a 1 km running track on campus, making exercise easy while on site during our residential week.

The content of the lectures was excellent. Presented in a straight forward and easy to understand way. Each topic had lectures followed by a practical workshop. This made absorption of the information easy and allowed discussion between us all. I learnt a lot from colleagues on the course working in different areas.

Every day had a clear set of topics with lecture and tutorials on each subject. It was really helpful to have the larger lectures followed by smaller groups for interactive tutorials. The subject matter covered in the tutorials was relevant to the lectures. The tutorial groups were mixed from different areas and specialities. The discussions we had in these small groups were really helpful; we had community dietitians talking with ward dietitians and those who work on ITU. It was great to get a different perspective.

Each day seemed to follow-on well from the day before. The content of lectures flowed well, but wasn’t repetitive. Day one focused on nutritional assessment and refeeding syndrome. There were some really interesting discussions between those who work in community compared to high dependency units. On day two we discussed fluid and electrolyte management. This was useful to go through each type of intravenous fluid and how it may affect fluid balance. I found the lecture on immunonutrition stimulating, as I had very little knowledge in this area. We also had a workshop on the statistics we would need to use for the post coursework, we were all relived to see how easy it would be to use the computer system.

I would recommend every dietitian to attend the PENG Clinical Update Course. The knowledge I gained will enriched my practice. It was also a great experience for networking. I met dietitians from all over the country that I have kept in contact with. As a lone working locum dietitian these connections are invaluable to me.

PENG Clinical Update Course 2016...

The PENG Clinical Update Course 2016 and registration is now live! The lucky five PENG members who have won a free place on the 2016 course have also just been announced! Congratulations to: Rebecca Coates, Rebecca Halsall, Lisa Hughes, Frances Bayley, Maria Cole.

PENG Clinical Update Course – Tutors wanted

The PENG Clinical Update Course is a BDA validated course which covers the clinical management of artificial nutritional support. The course has now been developed to master’s level with 15 credits awarded by Queen Margaret University.

We are looking for tutors to join our team of course facilitators. The workload of a tutor includes developing course materials, lecturing on the course, leading a tutorial group of delegates during the residential week of the course and marking the post coursework. In addition you will be expected to attend two tutor meetings which take place over two weekends each year. One pre course meeting on the Sunday before the course commences at Queen Margaret University and one post course meeting, usually in November, which may be held in Edinburgh or another location depending on the current tutors’ preference.

Suitable candidates should have considerable clinical experience in artificial nutritional support and preferably have attended the Clinical Update and will be asked to complete the Master’s project. You should be able to demonstrate academic ability of master’s level or above. The person specification is listed below.

For further information about the position please contact the course lead Alison Culkin: alisonculkin@nhs.net

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