First Time Doctors

In the first episode we meet Dr. Kevin Harkin who, after five years study away in Liverpool, is happy to be back home and on the wards in Altnagelvin. One of his first reactions to no longer being a student doctor is that on the ward, when nurses and relatives are looking for a doctor, they mean him – and he doesn’t need to go looking for a more senior figure. Appearing alongside Kevin in this episode is London-born Dr Josh Walker, who had never been to Northern Ireland before taking up a placement in the Western HSC in August 2018. Josh relishes the prospect of being 'a wee English boy in Derry' and adapting to his first job in the NHS.

Viewers are introduced to the world and work of junior doctors in Enniskillen’s South West Acute Hospital where the slower pace of life is a culture shock to Hong Kong native Dr Jacky Cheng. Filming over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the cameras capture the young doctors working over the holidays for the first time, the reality of winter bed pressures and the demands of night shift in A & E.

Dungiven-born doctor Adele Heaney take to the wards of Altnagelvin for the first time. She displays few nerves but admits that the long evening shifts, working across several wards is demanding and without any glamour. Soon she’s not just tied to the bleep which means she’s on call to many wards at the same time but working alongside medical students who come to Altnagelvin for practical training and experience.