Meet Silvana 

Silvana Caiulo, from Italy, completed a six-month Observership in the Endocrinology department at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in 2017. She is now in her final year of residency in Paediatrics at San Raffaele Hospital, in Milan. We find out more about Silvana’s experience at GOSH: 

What was your role at GOSH? 

I did an Observership in the Endocrinology department under the supervision of Professor Mehul Dattani. I attended the endocrine clinics with the consultants, and worked on the ward with the Congenital Hyperinsulinism team. I undertook research on the rare diseases we saw in the clinic and I discussed these results with the consultants. Overall the experience was very educational. I also prepared presentations for video-conference meetings.  

What did you enjoy most about working at GOSH?  

I very much enjoyed the discussion of the cases. The consultants discussed the difficult and rare cases to decide together the best management and these discussions were extremely didactic for all the junior doctors. I had the opportunity to see very rare diseases and all the consultants of the endocrine team explained everything in a lot of detail.  

Can you tell me what your ambitions are for the future? 

I would like to work as a Paediatric Endocrinologist and continue to do some clinical research projects.

Do you have any advice for anyone who is thinking about doing an Observership at GOSH? 

Just go as soon as possible! I think that every period of time spent at GOSH is a learning opportunity, however I would suggest an Observership of at least five to six months in order to start a research project.