Wannabe Medic

I don't know why this is happening to me (I do, I get up at 4am and don't stop till 6pm), why is my body betraying me (because you've been in a calorie deficit for 7 months) why is this happening to me now (because you've not had a day of relaxation for 9 weeks)... I'm going down. I feel ill. I felt ill last week and then on Sunday, I felt momentarily better - Hoorah, I thought. Thank god, I have so much to do, practically sprinting out of bed at the faintest whiff of recovery. I was immediately knocked back down again, like a smug punch in the face for even thinking I could just get up and go at the same speed I was at before. I am finding it very frustrating. OSCE's are a month away. I really, really, don't have time to be lying on the sofa for a week. I started Ophthalmology yesterday. I went to my induction, which was actually really well done (note to any speciality welcoming medical students - breakfast donuts go a hella of a long way, +10 if you h...

For some really, really daft reason, we only spend 2 weeks doing Neurology in our fourth year. Despite the fact that there are very very few neurologists in the country per head meaning that most other doctors spend a significant amount of time doing lots of (less complicated) neuro stuff too, we get a grand total of a fortnight. It was the best organised placement I think I've ever had. We had the best of the best teaching us. It was fun, I learnt a huge amount and now seriously consider doing it as a career. It's competitive, can be incredibly tricky and complex and there is still so far to go in this area of medicine, but it is fun.  I said to one of the consultants I was clinic with this week, "I'd love to do it...but it's too competitive...I don't know whether I would be able to make enough sacrifices to do it. Did you have to sacrifice a lot?" I asked, wondering about how things were different when this middle-aged irish consultant trained in Neuro...

A very different specialty to anything i've ever known and yes, I mean different, not, a crock of shit. I was actually very prepared to hate it, the "wishy-washy" (cue every psych consultant rolling their eyes) parts of it but actually for the most part it's an area of medicine that is unfairly ignored for the "sexier" specialties.  It is hard work too. Gone, are the images of sitting in a 3 grand arm chair listening to a patient talk about how being an only child ruined him. Instead, think of a cramped board room filled with more MDT members i've ever seen in general medicine, pacing patients, talking fast and loud,  illogical delusions, not stopping for breath for 8-9 minutes, answers to simple questions taking 24 different tangent. Think, vacant stares, auditory hallucinations, messages of suicide, completely mute patients, patients that require restraining in a 5:1 ratio - it's very  hard work.  It's interesting because you get so many...

Another very busy week for me. I am scheduling private study very intensely around university commitments. Rheumatology is freakin nuts, there are so many possible diagnosis' all with overlapping symptoms and signs that actually nailing a diagnosis is fucking hard! It's also come to my attention that as I failed the last progress test, if I fail the next one, I will be kicked out of medical school. So if I wasn't stressed, under pressure, or seriously fucking worried before, I am now. Found the day case centre for Rheumatology this week where patients with chronic conditions perhaps having a flare up or whatever come in and have some treatment. It's really really good for getting histories and I so wish I had found it sooner. Also met the rheum reg's who are really keen on teaching - it's always that as you just begin to find your feet you know you'll have to up and leave again which is so annoying!! Bit behind on my learning of examinations if we are ...

Weeks 1-3 = learn 4 examinations / week  Review previous examinations every week Review all 12 during week 4 Schedule 30mins - 1 hour / week for Year 3 review Complete all cases every week Review previous week cases (1hour) Review previous fortnight cases (1hour) Review previous month cases (1hour)

I can't remember the last time I felt this shattered. I get up at 6am, I train (75 minutes weight training), I walk to placement to get there for 9am (40 minutes), I walk back (40 minutes), I eat, I study, I sleep. Rinse and repeat. There's not enough hours in the day. I've had my tired eye twitch all week. I'm finding it more difficult than I thought having an additional friend stay with us. I'm going to bed later, I'm having to be switched "on" a lot more... she works full time, she doesn't get my whole training and diet or I-really-just-need-to-study-thing. I'm really, really looking forward to being on my own this evening. I really, really value my peace and quiet and at the moment, i'm not getting any . Not before i go to bed, not when I walk through the door, not all day when i'm a headless chicken on placement....so i'm quite excited how i've got my evening all planned out. Today, as I had such an early start, I did...

At the end of third year, your final placement is a 4 week Student-Selected block. You rank your 7 most preferred along with every body else and you are matched to the highest one, depending on how many others have ranked them in a similar fashion. I really, really  wanted neonatal HDU, but ended up getting Paediatric Anaesthesia. Unbeknown to me at the time, I would be spending a fair amount of time with neonates anyway! Anaesthesia appealed to me for lots of different reasons; it's very hands on, lots of one-to-one teaching, it can be quite varied. Saying that, working with young children rather than neonates didn't really appeal to me, spending a humongous amount of time in theatre also didn't particularly lavish me with enthusiasm and so I was fairly apprehensive about this placement. I needn't worry. I've had an absolute ball. I learnt how to bag and mask tiny tiny babies, attempted (unsuccessfully) cannulation, spent time with some of the most fantastic co...