Foundation Doctor's Guide to North Scotland

The Northern region is significantly the vastest. It encompasses the old cities of Aberdeen and Inverness (considered the capital of the Highlands, near the infamous Loch Ness), and all the way up to the more isolated John O’ Groats, the Shetland Islands and Stornoway. If you’re a fan of the outdoors, there may not be anywhere better in the UK for truly experiencing the great British outdoors. Being more isolated doesn’t correlate to a less social experience, generally, it’s quite the opposite!

In terms of tertiary centres, in the North of Scotland, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary is the main specialist hospital, being a major trauma centre, offering nearly every specialty (excluding heart and liver transplants). It also has on its grounds a dedicated paediatrics and dedicated maternity hospital.

Scotland is one foundation school but split into 4 separate regions: East, North, South East & West. Most of the spots available are in the West (around Glasgow) & South East (around Edinburgh).

Messly wants to help doctors make evidence-based decisions about their careers. We’ve put together a short guide to the North region of Scotland Foundation School to help you rank your rotation programmes. Below is a snapshot of hospital ratings and reviews from the Messly community of doctors together with information about the geography of the region.