Hey guys, I've been so super busy oh my gosh!
So Christmas was lovely but I spent the majority of it either working as a HCA or doing uni work!We have officially finished our third module now and are changing PBL groups next week! :O
I have another set of formative exams, including my first OSCE (practical clinical skills exam) which will involve five minutes of respiratory examination, five minutes of cardio examination and a ten minute history taking session. After a lot of practice with my friends and family, I'm feeling pretty confident for this so fingers crossed!
In terms of my new PBL group, I'm going to be so sad to leave my current group who have been AMAZING...but it will be good to see how other people manage PBL and integrate with some different people. Having found out who our group members will be I've realised that I'm going to have to get over my shyness and lack of self confidence otherwise I will never be taken seriously!
It occurred to me last week that I add 'maybe' to the end of all my statements in PBL- something I really need to stop!! All this does is make others doubt me and leads to a lack of respect for my opinions and answers... not good in medicine!
I hope you guys have all heard good news from med schools if you've applied and good luck for any interviews!!
Saturday, 24 January 2015
Thursday, 18 December 2014
Christmas cheer.
So that's it! My first term at medical school is FINISHED!
It has been amazing and busy and so interesting, but I really do need this break. After the constant stream of work and preparation for each week, I can't wait to just have some time to spend with my friends and family. I do have some revision and a reflective essay to write, but I feel that despite this I will be able to work a bit (student life really is expensive) and just relax :)
I hope you guys have been getting some good news from medical schools and have interviews to prepare for! Have a wonderful Christmas :D
It has been amazing and busy and so interesting, but I really do need this break. After the constant stream of work and preparation for each week, I can't wait to just have some time to spend with my friends and family. I do have some revision and a reflective essay to write, but I feel that despite this I will be able to work a bit (student life really is expensive) and just relax :)
I hope you guys have been getting some good news from medical schools and have interviews to prepare for! Have a wonderful Christmas :D
Monday, 1 December 2014
Life Savers
Last night I worked a shift on 'Step down' which is where patients are sent if they aren't sick enough for ICU but are too sick to go to a ward.
At first the shift was pretty horrendous, the nurses were too busy to really explain what I needed to do and so until I found out what was expected of me I felt very much like a spare part...
But then something great happened... an F2 turned up. An F2 who used to be a GEM and who was so enthusiastic about her job and medicine that she spent a good portion of her night teaching me!
Honestly, I was thanking God all night for her appearance (Step down units really aren't a HCA strong place- there isn't much I can do when the patients are that poorly)!
This F2 allowed me to watch her perform examinations, explained ECGs to me in the most simple, perfect way, explained all the blood tests and liver function tests and then taught me how to take blood! Not bad to what I thought was going to be a write off of a shift!
Doctors who have that much enthusiasm and love for their job are the people who inspire me to work harder and be the best I can be, especially when my GP tutor spends all her time telling me she wishes she'd done dentistry! Medicine is a vocation, and meeting doctors like this F2 give me great faith in my future profession and our healthcare system :) I only hope in 4 years I will be like her and have the ability to inspire and teach a HCA in my position.
At first the shift was pretty horrendous, the nurses were too busy to really explain what I needed to do and so until I found out what was expected of me I felt very much like a spare part...
But then something great happened... an F2 turned up. An F2 who used to be a GEM and who was so enthusiastic about her job and medicine that she spent a good portion of her night teaching me!
Honestly, I was thanking God all night for her appearance (Step down units really aren't a HCA strong place- there isn't much I can do when the patients are that poorly)!
This F2 allowed me to watch her perform examinations, explained ECGs to me in the most simple, perfect way, explained all the blood tests and liver function tests and then taught me how to take blood! Not bad to what I thought was going to be a write off of a shift!
Doctors who have that much enthusiasm and love for their job are the people who inspire me to work harder and be the best I can be, especially when my GP tutor spends all her time telling me she wishes she'd done dentistry! Medicine is a vocation, and meeting doctors like this F2 give me great faith in my future profession and our healthcare system :) I only hope in 4 years I will be like her and have the ability to inspire and teach a HCA in my position.
Tuesday, 25 November 2014
GP placement #2
Today was my second GP placement and it was so good!!
Because we have now done a bit of history taking and respiratory examination, I got to practice my new found skills on real patients! The best bit was that I actually managed to pick up coarse crackles on auscultation without being told they were there, needless to say the GP was quite impressed :D
The more I visit GP practices the more interested I become...you see such a variety and interesting collection of cases each day and get such a huge amount of patient contact. It is something that I'm considering much more now than I ever was before, however I'm aware that I have more than 4 years to make a decision so I'm sure I'll change my mind again!
We have nearly finished out second module already, which seems crazy considering it's only November! Thinking about how much I've learnt in this short 2 months just amazes me...credit to all the lecturers and facilitators!
Because we have now done a bit of history taking and respiratory examination, I got to practice my new found skills on real patients! The best bit was that I actually managed to pick up coarse crackles on auscultation without being told they were there, needless to say the GP was quite impressed :D
The more I visit GP practices the more interested I become...you see such a variety and interesting collection of cases each day and get such a huge amount of patient contact. It is something that I'm considering much more now than I ever was before, however I'm aware that I have more than 4 years to make a decision so I'm sure I'll change my mind again!
We have nearly finished out second module already, which seems crazy considering it's only November! Thinking about how much I've learnt in this short 2 months just amazes me...credit to all the lecturers and facilitators!
Wednesday, 19 November 2014
Life is zooming past...
Wow! I've been so crazy busy that I haven't updated this blog for weeks!
So I had my first GP visit forever ago and have my second one next week (super excited).
The first one was great, the GP I was supposed to be with was off ill so I got re-assigned to another GP at the practice who turned out to be amazing! In the past on placements I have been placed in the corner and forgotten about but this time the GP made every effort to include me in the consultation and allowed me to practice ear examinations and some chest auscultation. Even though I hadn't yet been taught these skills, the GP explained them so well that I felt like I could actually see/hear what i was looking for and actually managed to find the wheeze in the patients chest...score!
The amazing thing about this GP visit was that every single patient (apart form maybe two) actually had the same diagnoses as our PBL topics! Because of this I felt like I could actually discuss the cases with the Dr without looking clueless- a big advantage!
Also since I last posted I have completed my first formative exam....and passed! :D Our exams are done as multiple choice questions (MCQs) and modified essay questions (MEQs) with the pass mark in both being set at 60%. I hadn't really known what to expect question or marking wise so came out of the exam feeling less than great about my performance, but after two weeks of waiting found out that I achieved 73% overall!
In my undergrad degree I would probably have been very happy about this, and still am but feel I could have achieved more if I'd looked at more of the diagrams in the lectures.
From this I've decided to stop writing up notes and have started typing them so I can copy+paste pictures in...hopefully this will help for my revision in this next module.
Time is just going so quickly at the moment, it's crazy to think I'm already halfway through my second module as a medic but I'm enjoying life so much that I'm not even thinking about it!
I hope people's GAMSAT scores were what they wanted, but if not, I know of at least 6 people on my course who had to sit it more than 5 times before they got what they needed - so don't be too disheartened!
So I had my first GP visit forever ago and have my second one next week (super excited).
The first one was great, the GP I was supposed to be with was off ill so I got re-assigned to another GP at the practice who turned out to be amazing! In the past on placements I have been placed in the corner and forgotten about but this time the GP made every effort to include me in the consultation and allowed me to practice ear examinations and some chest auscultation. Even though I hadn't yet been taught these skills, the GP explained them so well that I felt like I could actually see/hear what i was looking for and actually managed to find the wheeze in the patients chest...score!
The amazing thing about this GP visit was that every single patient (apart form maybe two) actually had the same diagnoses as our PBL topics! Because of this I felt like I could actually discuss the cases with the Dr without looking clueless- a big advantage!
Also since I last posted I have completed my first formative exam....and passed! :D Our exams are done as multiple choice questions (MCQs) and modified essay questions (MEQs) with the pass mark in both being set at 60%. I hadn't really known what to expect question or marking wise so came out of the exam feeling less than great about my performance, but after two weeks of waiting found out that I achieved 73% overall!
In my undergrad degree I would probably have been very happy about this, and still am but feel I could have achieved more if I'd looked at more of the diagrams in the lectures.
From this I've decided to stop writing up notes and have started typing them so I can copy+paste pictures in...hopefully this will help for my revision in this next module.
Time is just going so quickly at the moment, it's crazy to think I'm already halfway through my second module as a medic but I'm enjoying life so much that I'm not even thinking about it!
I hope people's GAMSAT scores were what they wanted, but if not, I know of at least 6 people on my course who had to sit it more than 5 times before they got what they needed - so don't be too disheartened!
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