The centre of secondary medical care is the Princess of Wales Hospital built in 1985 and situated just within the northern boundary of the town (five minutes from the M4 motorway). The Princess of Wales Hospital continues to be developed along a template style allowing new facilities to be added with ease. There is within the unit a good sense of co-operation and mutual self respect between general practice and hospital doctors. This is due to a number of factors. Firstly the Specialty Training Scheme itself has provided a large proportion of the medical staffing at the Princess of Wales Hospital. Secondly over the last 20 years or so the lions share of the new principals in local general practice have been graduates of the Bridgend Specialty Training Scheme. Thirdly, the fact that the hospital is small leads on to easy informal contact between hospital doctors and those working in primary care.

We're proud of the Specialty Training Scheme we offer in Bridgend. We have 20 SHO posts and 21 places in General Practice. The scheme has always been popular because of a number of things. The Princess of Wales Hospital is an average sized DGH but has a reputation for friendliness and excellent teaching. The jobs offer good general practice training because they are not too specialised.

The three-year scheme consists of 18 months in hospital GPST posts, and 18 months in General Practice. Programme Directors take into consideration each trainee's prior hospital-based experience, then endeavour to offer posts that complement it. This ensures each trainee has a broad base of hospital experience. The General Practice posts are spread between Cowbridge in the east and Porthcawl in the west. 

In addition we run a terrific communication skills course once a year with the Cardiff School of Music and Dance. It is a full day and is run in a local Hotel. Great entertainment AND it's educational!