Landmark training for medical students at Edinburgh Airport

Last week, Edinburgh Airport facilitated a training session for future doctors on dealing with in-flight emergencies.

The purpose of the event, organised by NHS Fife, was to train final year medical students from the ScotGEM programme and Dundee University using realistic medical incidents and simulations.

It is believed the training marks the first time a medical education programme in the UK has collaborated directly with an airport to deliver immersive, aviation-based clinical training.

A total of 16 final year students from the University of St Andrews and the University of Dundee took part.

The idea came from NHS Fife ScotGEM teaching fellow, Dr Charlotte Reid, with the hope of developing an education package based on simulations, where students were exposed to mock real life events outside the NHS which they might encounter as bystanders during commercial flights.

The event was organised in collaboration between Edinburgh Airport and NHS Fife, with Jet2 offering an aircraft and cabin crew for the session, as well as the Edinburgh Airport Fire Service giving access to the airport’s training rig.

Following evaluation, NHS Fife’s Medical Education team plan to share learning, training materials and expertise to help promote innovative medical education practices more widely

Peter Barnes, Chief Operations Officer at Edinburgh Airport, said: “Opening up aircraft and the airport to this kind of hands-on learning is not something we do every day, and it’s been brilliant to see how much the students gained from it.

“This is the first time we’ve collaborated on a medical training exercise of this scale, and we’re really proud to have played a part in bringing partners together to create practical experiences that future doctors can learn from.”

Dr Charlie Reid, NHS Fife Scotgem Teaching Fellow, said: "GMC Good Medical Practice says doctors must offer assistance in emergencies if they are able to do so being mindful of their own safety, competence and the availability of other options of care.

“We don't have any training for out of hospital situations in medical school. One of the most daunting scenarios is being on a plane because there's no equipment, no internet and no ability to phone for help. I wanted to develop this training simulation to prepare medical students for potential clinical scenarios they may face during their career outside of their NHS role.

"This week's landmark training simulation event helped us test the concept and we hope now to expand the idea to incorporate other learners, students and scenarios. We are proud that NHS Fife through the ScotGEM programme, is leading the way and we would of course be happy to share this experience, our learning and our scenarios with other Boards in the future."