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Life of a Medic

My journey through Medical School and beyond…

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All articles filed in Hot Topics

Applying for Medicine? Hot Topics30/08/201920/08/2019

5 of the Most Useful Medical Topics I Wrote About as a Medical School Applicant

One of the things I did a lot when I was applying for Medicine was read up on a health topic and then create a blog post to help me reflect on it properly and gather my thoughts together. A few days ago I was just cruising through my site and reading the odd reflection…

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Applying for Medicine? Hot Topics Interviews12/12/201701/04/2019

Interview Hot Topics: NHS Funding

There are many challenges facing the NHS, from an ageing population to evolving healthcare needs. This blog will focus on a key challenge: NHS funding. ‘Underfunded’ is a word many people use to describe the NHS. The demand for NHS services is increasing year on year, so the problem of “underfunding” is actually caused by…

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This is the biggest problem of having nice big empty surfaces...they’re perfect to throw things on top of and before long they end up looking like this. Time to clear this up I think 👀🙈
The end of Surgery is in sight, today we were signed off so just got 2 days left before we rotate again! I’ve loved Surgery, don’t get me wrong, but it has been so incredibly draining that I’m welcoming the next block with open arms. We’ve had to squeeze in an extra theatre on top of existing clinics and ward rounds each week, we’ve started earlier each morning and on top of that we’ve had a lot of more teaching so had full days of being in the hospital every. single. day. We also had our Progress Test yesterday which was quite a milestone exam as it demarcates the halfway point through med school. Of course, the questions still felt bizarre and unattainable, but I suppose the fact that many more words were familiar I can take as an achievement in itself. Aaaand finally....today it’s my birthday! 🥳 A change that it’s not on the day of the progress test though as it has been for the last 2 years!
This was our final break right until exams now and I’m absolutely not ready to go back yet! The holidays have just flown by, as they always do and I’ve been the complete opposite of productive. When do you go back?
I know a lot of you will be preparing for your medical school interviews now, and I know it’s possibly one of the most stressful times you’re having to work though with the challenge of balancing A-levels and interview prep. I’ve got a collection of interview advice posts on my blog which are definitely worth a read, all about how to prepare, what I did for my interviews, advice I can give after being an MMI examiner, a bit about the Manchester interview etc. I’ll link the category of posts on my story, you can also visit my website (lifeofamedic.com) and use the “Applying for Medicine - interviews” tab at the top to read these advice posts. If you have any questions, just drop me a message or submit them anonymously through the “AskAMedStudent” page on my blog!
Cannot believe the Christmas hols are finally here...I’ve never felt so in need of a lie in before! I’m going to give myself some time to really relax this holiday since I know it’s going to be really intense when we go back again. First thing, I’m sitting down with Adam Kay’s new book (which I bought when it first came out but never had a moment to read). Has anyone else read it?
My next block is Surgery which is going to quite varied as it covers Vascular, Upper GI, Colorectal and Urology. We get to choose our own timetable and sign up to the ward rounds, theatres and clinics that’d we’d prefer relevant to our block. I’ve been spending today trying to organise my timetable by making sure I’ve got the minimum number of all the clinical experiences, whilst trying to keep it as varied as possible so I can experience a little bit of everything. As you can see from my provisional timetable on the laptop, the Surgery block is an incredibly busy one and I can see it being quite a task to schedule everything well. My timetable’s still not quite complete as we have to wait till the block starts (i.e. next Monday) before we start adding in any additional opportunities so I’ll have to take another look at it then.
This is totally random, but the other morning after I woke up, I opened my curtains to get my iPad (which I leave charging on the windowsill overnight) and there was a glowing pink light coming in through the glass. The sky was a soft peach colour and my teacup of tiny roses looked so serene basked in the morning light. It was warm and cozy in my room and outside it seemed frosty but I could see a carpet of autumnal leaves below in the garden. Like I said, utterly random but for some reason that ordinary view through my window this particular morning seemed very picturesque. Of course I snapped a photo to capture the aesthetic. It doesn’t seem quite as beautiful in the picture though, as things never do, but it’s those ordinary moments of unexpected appreciation and contentment that we should take the time to notice a little more.
#ad Seeing as I’m commuting this year, the average time I have to leave my house to get to the hospital on time is around 7.30 in the morning (the earliest I’ve had to leave is at 5.30 😱) From being used to living a 15 min walk away from the university for the last 2 years, having to wake up early enough to account for an hour drive this year has really been something that I’ve needed time to adjust to. Mornings are such a rush, but 2 things I have to make sure I never leave the house without are my stethoscope and my iPad! I hardly have time to have breakfast in the morning, or on the rare days I do it’ll be a small unhealthy chocolate crepe or waffle that I’ve managed to pick up as I’m leaving. I’ve recently been trying out Weetabix On The Go though, which is amazing. It’s so quick and easy to grab and it has the plus of being healthy, packed with energy, fibre and protein! It tastes great and it actually fills me up, so it’s been the ideal thing for me to incorporate in to my morning routine. A proper breakfast. Bottled. Weetabix On The Go are actually giving away 50 vouchers so you all have the chance to win a week’s worth of breakfast on the go! All you have to do is... 1. Follow @weetabixonthego 2. Comment why you should win breakfast on the go below! Winners will be selected on the 12th of December and I will contact anyone who wins from my page via DM. Terms: The competition is open to residents of the United Kingdom aged 18 or over. By entering this competition you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions, please see here for full details: http://bit.ly/31WOj1d #weetabixonthego #breakfast #tastetimebetter #breakfastonthego #aproperbreakfast
Cannot believe how quickly 3rd year is flying by, we’re 1/3 of the way through our second block now which feels insane. This Cardiology block is incredible though (I’ve been going on about it since we started 😅). _ The reason why I disappeared for the past couple of weeks is because I’ve been trying to sort out my APEP (Applied Personal Excellence Pathway) which is the project we have to do in third year; and that’s been quite a stressful experience. The APEP is a follow on from the “PEPs” that we had in years 1 and 2 for those of you who’ve followed me long enough to be able to remember me talking about them. This year we get a list of research, audit or service evaluation projects and we have to select projects we want to do, submit an expression of interest and then arrange face-to-face or phone interviews to try and secure a project. Literally any sort of application I do now brings back those stressful memories of applying for Medicine, so this has been quite an anxiety-ridden process especially because when I set my heart on something I feel as though I just *have* to have it. But now...alhamdulillah I’ve managed to secure 1 of my top choices. I’m waiting to hear back about 1 more project, so hopefully after the weekend I’ll know which one I want to register and will be able to share it with you all. 💛
Had a ward round and a clinic today to kickstart my new block which is Cardiology. I can’t believe the first block is over just like that, before we know it the end of the year will be here! My endocrine block was interesting, but I’ve got to admit I’m more excited for Cardiolgy now. For this block I’m also going to be between 2 hospitals so it’s going to be interesting to experience a smaller district general hospital compared to a larger and much busier teaching hospital.
So the reason why I had to set out so insanely early today is because I had my IPE today. IPE stands for Inter-professional Education and is essentially a shift we have to spend working alongside and shadowing the nurses and we have to be there for 7am (which is when the nurse handover is). It was quite an interesting experience and enjoyable too as there were actually things we could do to help out so it felt nice to be a little useful!
I took blood from 4 real patients today, that’s a first I’m going to remember, the sense of satisfaction when the tube fills up! ☺️ Of course the successes were preceded with a couple of failed attempts, but going to the blood clinic was definitely an amazing experience and I guess with procedural skills such as taking blood it’s all about the practice! 💉
Each block we have to do an “on call” shift, which is basically just some time that we have to spend shadowing a doctor out of hours. I did my first one yesterday on A&E, following an F1 around. The environment of A&E is so bizarre and chaotic, but the thing I found the most odd is the number of different doctors that have to see a patient before they’re admitted or discharged, just as part of the procedure. There was also a cardiac arrest during the time we were there, so the F1 I was with was bleeped to go up to the ward. There was already a lot of doctors there by the time we got there and they didn’t need any help so we went back to A&E, but again something out of the ordinary that I didn’t expect.
Here’s the @passionplanner gifted to me by @flipdapp.co. I actually prefer this to the a @weareponderlily one I purchased earlier on this year, so I’ve switched back to passion planner again! I like the fact that the planner lies flat, it’s softcover and the pages are thicker so ink doesn’t seep through. The one above is the classic size which is ideal as well. Have you ever tried using passion planner?
A significant part of third year is about learning to take more focussed clinical histories and then being able to present them appropriately. Each week we have a list of tasks that we have to go and get signed off whilst we are on the wards: 3 patient histories, 1 presentation, 1 physical examination, 1 ward round, 1 outpatient clinic. We also have a list of tasks that don’t necessarily have to be completed in a particular week but must be done by the end of the year.
I had a ward round this morning, and I definitely thought my back was going to break by the end of it from being stood up for so long 😂 I’m now in to my 3rd week of placement and I already prefer year 3 so much more than pre-clinical medicine! I’m super exhausted by the time I get back, but I’m still making time to check personal statements for you all ahead of the 15th Oct deadline. Visit my website if you want to submit yours for review! 😊
Someone recommended I read Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa, but me being a notorious judger of book covers wanted a specific print of the book which I couldn’t find anywhere to buy! 🤣 So instead I decided to try out another book by the same author and read “The Blue Between The Sky and The Water” which was a a really great read (though I do have to say the ending was a bit of a disappointment compared to the rest of the book). I do want to read the original recommendation, but still need to find the particular print I’m after. 😅 How much so do you judge a book by its cover? (There must be some people, who are guilty like me) 📚
This week we’re going to be learning how to do venepuncture (i.e. take blood), which is something I’m really excited for! 💉 Here I’m just preparing for it and completing the pre-session workbook we’ve been given. I always thought that you’d learn how to do this as pretty much as soon as you started medical school and here we are being taught it 2 years later! Do you know how to take blood - when did you learn?
BRUSH PEN GIVEAWAY (Closed) I’ve teamed up with @artezaofficial to give away a set of 48 Arteza dual tipped Sketch TwiMarkers (worth £28) to one lucky winner. The pens have a brush tip and a fine tip making them ideal for calligraphy and lettering. HOW TO ENTER: 1. Like this post 2. Follow @lifeofamedic_ and @artezaofficial 3.Like @artezaofficial’s latest post 4. Tag some friends in the comments (tag each friend in a separate comment) the MORE people you tag, the HIGHER the chance of you winning! (1 tag = 1 entry RULES: - Entrants must be in the countries listed in the second picture - The winner will be chosen randomly, announced on my story and contacted via DM - If the winner doesn’t reply within 24 hours, a new one will be chosen! - The giveaway ends at 9pm on Wednesday 18th of September (BST) #arteza #artezaofficial
Had our first day in our grey scrubs uniform today. This whole week is still induction so we’re learning how to sign up for clinics and ward rounds, being assessed on BLS and learning some basic skills before we go on to the wards next week. We’ve had a lot of lectures on different things as well. It’s surprising how draining this is when in effect we’re not doing any actual work yet (I’m putting it down to the commute 🙃). But I have to say I’m feeling more and more excited about getting started on my first block next week!

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