I drink Soya Milk~ a lot of it!

Cardiac Surgery: Triple bypass

2012-02-08T08:20:00.006Z

Last Friday i had one of those moments where i honestly felt truly privileged to be a medical student, as i was given the opportunity to stoop over the operating table and watch a triple bypass being performed.

I've clerked so many patients with CABGs (Coronary artery bypass grafts) and valve replacements before, but i never really thought about the process of having it done, and seeing the sternum cut down the middle with a saw, the ribs retracted backwards, and the heart pumping in the surgeons hands... I'm definitely going to appreciate what goes into a CABG!!

Whilst Mr S. (the consultant) and his registrars were dealing with isolating the LIMA and the heart itself, others were at the legs isolating the veins. This was one of those "team work moments", and what was 5 hours standing at the head of the patient, felt more like 2 hours. I was just so fascinated by how resilient the body was.

I'm not sure when i started thinking this, but i always thought the heart and the lungs were quite delicate, but this was obviously not so true, as the doctor brushed things aside, and rotated the heart in his hands, sticking bits of "towels" (i have no clue what the technical name would be) around the heart to get it into the right position and to clear up whatever blood spilled over.

The surgery had no complications and as fresh i was coming into the theatre in the morning, i left that afternoon with a new appreciation for CABGs. The next time i come across a patient with a CABG, i will definitely think about the pain the patient must have gone through post-surgery.

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Only 1.5 weeks left on my Cardiology firm! - and i feel like i havn't learnt enough cardiology yet!!

Viva, SBAs and some pharmacology end of firm exam next thursday...

and i have no idea how to revise for it.. i don't even think i can... meh.

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Random fact.. but i've heard on the rumour mill, that dissection is now going to be made a core component of the medical course at Barts! I'm JEALOUS! Why are they only implementing this the year after i finish my pre-clinical medicine :(

ECGs and the Cath lab.

2012-01-21T20:36:00.005Z

ECGs remain hard and still manages without fail to send me into a sinus tachycardia when i get them passed onto me on the ward rounds (!!)

When a doctor picks up the patient's folder, and start clicking the binder open... i know the ECG is on its way !!..and is shortly followed with a: "So... medical students.. what do you think this is?"

I planned to have an ECG cram day today and have myself read ECG made easy.. but alas.. that didn't happen...tomorrow it is!!! - eeks.. i know i really shouldn't leave it too late.. as i only have 4 weeks of cardiology left.... and a viva exam at the end of the firm > . < (i have a feeling..they will slip an ecg in there!)

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Cath lab - Yesterday i had the opportunity to sit in the Cath lab and observe a few angiograms and angioplasty being performed..which were pretty cool. The last time i sat in a Cath lab was when i was 17 for a spot of work experience... that was ages ago!

I sort of wish i started bugging the registrar a bit earlier.. as the other 2 medical students and myself just stood there looking at the screen and trying to work out which coronary artery was which, and if there was any narrowing among ourselves. We didn't really get much teaching until i started asking him questions.. it's really important to be pro-active on these firms... as if you don't ask... you sometimes just don't really learn anything from just being there.

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4 more weeks of Cardio left.....

CCS & CardioRespiratory 3

2012-01-15T11:27:00.004Z

After a short 2 week winter break, which basically involved me gaining 2kg of Christmas and New Years weight... we started the year bright and early (3rd Jan!!) with Cardiorespiratory (CR) teaching!

- this was extremely intense! perhaps the toughest week i've had in terms of the amount of lectures we had to sit through since starting medical school. It was spread out over 5 days, with 33 lectures to be covered... 4 of which was done over that week.. and the last one .. i have tomorrow.

The amount of lectures wasn't the hard bit, but more to do with the content.....

...this is where i admit.. i HATE ECGs! I find them so difficult, and i get a tad depressed when people around me are shouting out "It's a right bundle branch block", "Supraventricular blah blah" .... when im still looking at the rhythm strip bit to work out the rate > .< ...*sigh*...this will take a lot of practice! The picture below depicts it will:

Sadly...time is limited.. as i'm let loose on my Cardio firm this Tuesday!

Last week we also had CCS and i fail to remember what it stands for.. but i think its clinical and communication skills - possibly? This had a good mix of communication skills practice with interpreters and difficult racist patients, but also a bit of clinical skills (my favourite part)!

We worked on these simulation manikin sort of things.. i can't really describe it.. i wish i took a photo, but they were essentially manikins, wired up to a computer.. you can take vital signs like it's pulse and breathing rate, a blood pressure, sats and even do an ABG, and then administer o2 etc and access the patient's response. It was pretty cool actually!!

End of term, and a surprise result (yay!!)

2011-12-16T12:12:00.001Z

Yayeeeeee!!! Finally the long awaited 2 week holiday is about to begin!!

I'm looking forward to hibernating under my duvets, eating lots of festive food, seeing some old friends... and generally just having some time off ^^

CSP week 2 was challenging.. not so much because of the content, but more the freezing cold lecture theatre, and the inability to switch the heating on.. or switch the air conditioning off!!!! Everyone is sat here with coats, scarves, and hats still on.. and I've even had to put my gloves on too! It's so cold in here!!!

But yay! That's the 1st term done and almost dusted, ICA results to follow in January, and to end it all on a high note.. I got some fantastic news this week!!

We had an email sent out to us randomly about an exam board meeting with instructions to check blackboard for rankings, deciles and distinctions..... And I checked my results and was lucky to get a distinction for preclinical medicine ^^ - yay!!!!!!!!!!

(One of the best random emails ever!!)

Now ... Xmas and general relaxation till CR in January!!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

MET3B End of Firm + ICA exams

2011-12-12T18:48:00.005Z

Last week was incredibly slow at the hospital.

All the other medical students had already moved back to London, and it was just the 4 of us doing Met3b... and to be honest, at this point i was pretty burnt out from all the late night revision for the exam looming around the corner.

I tried to keep myself busy during the day, and made lots of visits to the EAU. I did the usual thing, and introduced myself to the sister, and asked if i could help them take some bloods and put in a few cannulas... the sister was VERY enthusiastic... but her enthusiasm was more towards telling me to sit in the staff room and eat cake (literally - carrot cake).

From experience, bugging the HCAs are the best way forward...they know all these nifty tricks!! I stayed a few hours every day, took bloods, clerked a few patients and managed to bug a respiratory registrar to let me do my first ABG.

Doing my first ABG - i was instructed to find the pulse with the tips of my index and middle finger, to then lift the index finger and insert the needle in its place. It sounds simple..but the tricky bit here.. was not being able to feel or see the vessel (compared to venepuncture). I was pretty lucky and managed to get the needle in on the first attempt, and instantly got the pulsatile flashback (probably the coolest thing i saw that week)!!!!

BUT i did feel incredibly guilty during the procedure, as the patient was moaning quite a bit and telling me how painful it was whilst the blood was being drawn out. However, we took the sample to the blood gas machine.. and whilst i can be honest here and say i had no idea what i was looking for on the print out.. the registrar said the patient was good to go home.. excellent!

Whilst it was fun, I couldn't wait for the end of the week to come, and when it did.. i got my logbook signed off and swiftly moved back to London for the BIG CRAM!!

Met3B ICA EXAM

I was literally freaking out last weekend, trying to cram every bit of information i could get out of each lecture, forgetting it the next morning and trying to learn it again in the evening.... and my room is currently a dump.

In hindsight (having sat the exam this morning)... i could have probably relaxed a bit.... but more importantly i could have revised for it more efficiently!! i didn't quite believe the transition of the ICA papers from pre-clinical to clinical years... it's VERY DIFFERENT!

We won't hear the results till after we come back in the new year... so for now.. it's one more week of CSP lectures... and then freedom!

End of firm OSCE

2011-12-03T07:43:00.003Z

I LOVE OSCEs!

I panic, worry, and get so nervous just before it, but once the first 2 stations are done, i start enjoying it and just have fun!

Stations:

Cannulation

Radiography interpretation

ECG interpretation

Cardio exam

Respiratory exam

Thyroid exam

PNS exam of upper limbs

First station: Cannulation

- Okay..this was not expected....i just didn't expect there to be a cannulation station! I walked into the room, and was greeted by a nurse stood next to a plastic arm on the bed, and with a tray of random things right next to it (i think some things were there to confuse us.. or er.. i just didn't know what i was meant to do with it!).

I was given the instructions, and off i went to gather my equipment.... and there was a lot to choose from.. i didn't really think much of it at the time, and just picked up what i knew was "the normal stuff".

I was rather lucky with this station, as i've just cannulated 2 patients recently (one patient just the day before!), so i was feeling confident with it. It was a bit of a weird artificial situation, talking to a plastic arm and gaining consent, but i got on with it.. and finished well within the time limit.

Then came a few questions which were quite straightforward.. "what else would you do now?" "how long can the cannula stay in for?", "why did you choose that cannula size", "what is the flow rate?"

Second station: REST station

- This was definitely a lucky draw, i had an easy first station, and my second station just involved me sitting on a chair, reading magazines in the waiting area... !

Third station: Radiography Interpretation

- Again another station i didn't quite expect. I've never had to do this in an OSCE before! I just walked in, and there was a familiar FY1 sat at the desk and a 5th year medic in the corner who was going to record my answers.

I was faced with a computer screen showing a KUB with contrast compared with one without contrast (calculi in the ureter), then one of a pancreas with several calculi within, and lastly a pretty obvious chest radiograph with a huge pneumoperitoneum. I just had to sit there and talk about each radiograph, and i'm sure they've made the exam easier for us, by choosing pretty obvious abnormalities...because i've had to do the same thing on a ward before and never been able to spot anything!

Fourth station: ECG Interpretation

This was a question paper sort of station. I just went in, sat on a desk, and had a list of questions, a pen, and a blank piece of paper to record my answers on.

Thankfully, there were more questions on management of the patient than anything on the ECG in particular, the questions sort of eased me into it, and gave me clues on what to do.. and following from my last post.. the first ECG and set of questions were for a patient with AF! - okay this wasn't so bad, i had a PBL on AF last year, so the management side of things just came from some 2nd year regurgitation...

But with 2 minutes left.. i was stuck with the 2nd set of questions... with an ECG where i couldn't even identify what was wrong >.< .... this went badly. I could only work out the rate and that was about it......... i later found out it was an ECG of a patient showing a complete heart block.. i wasn't going to get that!

Fifth station: Cardio Exam

Everything was going smoothly, until i got to the murmur. I finished off the exam and when presenting my findings to the examiner (one of my favourite FY1s) i just panicked and got so confused. This wasn't helped by the fact that the bell had gone.. and i had to move on to my next station....

examiner: quick quick, tell me your diagnosis

tofu: err errr... er... its an ejection systolic murmur.... er.. er..

examiner: so what is it? quick quick!

tofu: errr ... *first thing that comes into my head..always a bad idea* mitral stenosis?

examiner: are u sure?

tofu: errrrrr errrrrrr errrrrrrrrrr.... no? i dunno!

examiner: so what would you do?

tofu: an echo!

...and then i had to move on!

mitral stenosis is a diastolic murmur, and from what i gather.. it's pretty uncommon >.

eeks! I know this.. but under pressure, it all goes out of my head :(

Sixth station: Respiratory Exam

This was a relatively straightforward station, the patient had a right sided pleural effusion... BUT i found the exam so so so scary, simply because my FY1 was the one marking me! I just got anxious before i started examining the patient!

Seventh station: Thyroid Exam

I walked into the room, and before the examiner explained the station to me, i was pretty confident that it was going to be a thyroid exam. It was probably the first time i've seen exopthalmos in a patient, other than in a textbook.

This was a pretty good station, and i finished well within the limits, and even had time to discuss the findings with the examiner (FY1 from my ward!), investigations and management with time to spare!

Eighth station: PNS exam of upper limbs

This was the first time i've actually done a complete PNS exam on a patient with signs, with slightly reduced tone in all aspects, slightly reduced power, co-ordination was fine, was able to elicit the supinator reflex, but unable to elicit the bicep and triceps even with augmentation. Sensory was fine (tested DCML and spinothalamic tracts).

I gave a list of differential diagnoses.. and the examiner kept asking for more..this was when i mentioned inclusion body myositis.. and then remembered.. i should never mention anything i don't know a lot about!!! Thankfully i was saved by the bell - and didn't have to look stupid again!

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The OSCE was purely for our learning purposes, and after that OSCE i definitely feel a lot more confident now, and know what i need to work on before i hit the real end of year OSCEs next summer!

One more week left!

Irregularly irregular

2011-11-29T07:49:00.005Z

I was at my last day of my GP placement yesterday, and i took an observed history of a patient with atrial fibrillation.

I asked about his palpitations, he told me how he feels odd irregular beats across his chest, and with all that in mind, i then did a cardiovascular exam, and what seems logical went out of my head..

i just went with my "routine" comment, feeling for the pulse and commenting: "the pulse is of sinus rhythm, regular, HR within normal ranges, symmetrical on both arms, there is no radial-radial delay.." this was when the Dr looked very worried and stopped me...

"Tofu... are u sure?! this man has AF!"

.. this was when i snapped out of my stupid routine and realised how stupid i was! i was almost day dreaming, and just repeating a routine... so so so stupid >.<

AF - is irregularly irregular! i should have known that from the history alone!

This was embarrassingly stupid, but in a way im glad it happened in hindsight. It annoys me how silly it was, but i guess it's a good time for me to realise i need to REALLY pay attention to things... to look, listen and feel for signs.. and not just assume patients are "normal".

I will take it as a learning experience.. going to never do that again!

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Okay.. it's now croissant and coffee time, then off to my ward! (with a more serious approach to clinical examinations, no more relying on my safety routine comments!!)

Random Happenings

2011-11-23T08:14:00.014Z

Random happenings:

I put in my first ever cannula!

the elderly lady was so lovely, and kept reassuring me the entire time... telling me how she was used to having needles stuck into her arm, and it won't hurt her at all. The fact that she was so nice, really did make a big difference, as i was relaxed and took my time to make sure i had everything where i needed it...and yay it went in first time! As soon as i stuck the cannula in, i got the flashback, and in it went!

I know in a few years time i will probably think "whats the big fuss in putting in a cannula" it might just be second nature in the future.. but for now, it's an entire new learning experience, and i just need to keep practising it.

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Mitral Regurgitation

I heard my first mitral regurgitation with radiation to the axilla last week too, i was pretty excited!!

I've recently been converted to start listening at the mitral valve first, and then move through the different areas...and as soon as i placed the stethoscope onto the mitral valve position i noted the murmur! (this was when i realised i forgot to place my other hand on the carotid pulse to time it!)

I placed my other hand on the carotid pulse and identified a pan-systolic murmur.. i moved my stethoscope more laterally, and there it was! it radiated to the axilla region!!!

- i know it sounds so odd, but i've learnt the cardiovascular exam, more or less as a routine, and ive tried listening to the axilla many many times before, and never heard anything different, and nor did i expect to... but when i heard it there.. i can't explain it.. it was just different.

i told my bf about my experience and how interesting i found it... and he had to kill the moment, and tell me its nothing special and he's heard like 5 on his firm already ¬.¬ !!! ... well it was pretty exciting for me!!

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Met3b OSCE!

My firm is quickly coming to an end, and i'm sadly going to really miss this place!

.... and on that note my firm has organised a mock OSCE for us this Thursday, with real patients from the hospital, with real signs to elicit and present back! This is a big BIG change from my first 2 years of OSCEs, where we've basically been examining healthy individuals.... it's going to be an interesting experience! .. i'm pretty sure i will moan about how difficult it was in my next post!

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Endocrine firm is almost over...

My endocrine firm is almost over.. and in some ways it seems that way already..

My FY1 has nights this week, my reg has nights, the other reg has taken annual leave, and last but not least my consultant is going to a conference abroad on friday too... so it's just going to me and the locum this week.. it's going to be an interesting week..but hopefully.. it means a lot of random jobs for me to do!

the nurses like to joke, and call the medical students "vampires" and i guess they aren't too far off... the other student on the ward and myself always offer to take bloods... and its fun!

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.... ok back to revising for ICAs!

Renal Firm over.. and now Public Health

2011-10-29T12:45:00.005+01:00

Just as i've become really settled in on the ward, and struck a nice rapport with the doctors and the nurses, who saved chocolates and lemon sherbets for me.. and promised to find a urinary catheter for me to put in (though this never happened) i'm done with renal and have to move on! :(

.. and what could be worse.. i'm moving back to london for a week of.. PUBLIC HEALTH lectures! (zzZ) BUT i'm glad to be home ^^ - can't beat laying down on my own bed, and drinking tea from my favourite mug at home.... but annoyingly i've left my keys and oyster card in Essex, so i will have to be the annoying bum who needs people to open and lock the front door for me everytime i leave the house >.<

I really REALLY enjoyed renal medicine, and i know i will probably say this for EVERY firm i do... but.. i might even consider nephrology as a future career!! - in fact, i like it so much i arranged an SSC on renal transplant.. i may regret this.. but for now.. i love kidneys!

(i know i should be more open, and i'm sure i only love this so much, because it's my first ever taste of clinical medicine... but meh.. right now.. i'm loving the kidneys!)

Next Week: Public health lectures

Next Firm: Endocrine

Clinical Examination: Feeling & Hearing "abnormal" for the first time

2011-10-19T07:58:00.008+01:00

For my year 1 and 2 OSCE exams i more or less learnt a "script" of what needs to be done, without really knowing what i was suppose to be feeling for, hearing out for or eliciting when i do a certain clinical examination.

(Well, i knew the exam, in that i know i can hear murmurs for different valves at certain points, feel an enlarged kidney if i balloted and can percuss the chest to look for areas of dullness etc..But i didn't really "KNOW" the sounds, or the feeling... since we only ever practised on healthy individuals)

BUT, slowly slowly now, i've had the opportunity to feel and listen out for different signs, and have started to collect a small collection of ideas as to what "abnormal" feels or sounds like... and hopefully i will pick up more of these "sounds" and "feelings" throughout the year. It sounds so odd, but i when i do a routine examination as i would in an OSCE exam and feel something for the first time, it really surprises me, and in a way in which i think i will never be able to forget "the first time"

Examples:

"the man in the side room with aortic stenosis"

- i approached the chest with my stethoscope, and first placed it at the 2nd intercostal space on the right of the patient's sternum and listened to the aortic valve (i've been taught to go A-P-T-M) and heard a wooshing sound... i wasn't sure if it was abnormal, and continued to place my stethoscope at the P position and so on, and then all of a sudden i realised.. A was definately abnormal! I timed this with the pulse, and the abnormal sound occured with systole, this was aortic stenosis!

"the lady with malaria, and hepatomegaly"

- i was on a ward round with the team, and when we got to this lady, my FY1 told me they had found something on an abdominal examination, but i had to go find out what it was myself. I started feeling all 9 quadrants, and they all felt pretty much the same to me, soft and non-tender. Then i continued to find the borders of the liver, and this was when i first suspected the liver may have been enlarged, and to confirm i continued to feel for hepatomegaly and there it was, an approximate 3cm enlargement. The first time i've ever come across hepatomegaly.

I've had many of these "firsts" so far, and hope to continue adding more experiences to my collection.

Taking bloods and wearing scrubs

2011-10-15T21:42:00.002+01:00

Although we're in hospitals now, we can't really escape the GP placements, and neither do i want to escape from them either.. i actually really enjoyed them last year.. and i think i love this gp practice even more!

Dr D. sat on the corner, and gave me his seat behind his desk, and for that morning, i took the history for every patient that sat in, including a deaf patient which was definitely an experience to remember. I gave a handful of flu vaccinations, did a few examinations, and felt lymph nodes the size of £2 coins (this was a patient with CLL, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia). I also had to take blood from an 83 year old gentleman, who despite his age, had lovely veins which i managed to take blood from on the very first hit... Success!

This was however, very different to my first attempt at taking blood at the hospital...

Whilst heading to the doctor's office to grab my bag and head off home, a random FY1 stops me, and asks "are you a 3rd year? wanna take some bloods?".. this was so random.. as i had never met him before, but as i've never done it before so..hell yea! This enthusiasm was however shortlived, as he took me to a very ill patient who was sat up in bed and very short of breath. The patient was more than happy for me to take his bloods, but his veins were very hard to bleed, and after 2 attempts, the FY1 had to take over :( This was a bit of a downer, and i felt awful for having tried to take blood from him and failing twice, when he is so ill.

I'm not going to lie, but on a few occasions, particulary in the first week i did feel really lost and even a tad down. I simply just did not know what i was meant to be doing there as a medical student. However, what they say is really true.. if you don't ask, you don't get. With that in mind, i randomly asked a dialysis nurse if i could go watch a fistula being done.. and it was as simple as that.

Friday morning, 8am i was in some rather comfortable navy scrubs and some comfy crocs, standing in on a minor surgery, but surgery none the less =) I do have a surgical firm at the end of the year, but this was good enough for now, seeing that otherwise i was going to spend friday morning on the ward which i do everyday anyway... this was a nice change!!

Artichokes

2011-10-04T22:59:00.002+01:00

I absolutely love love LOVE clinical years so far!

(Fair enough it has only been 2 days in.. but so far, it has been excellent!)

I'm currently on placement on an out firm, and it's been more than i could have hoped for. I'm not even sure where all the rumours about how bad the accommodation for this firm is comes from.. (then again this is my first firm so i have no parameters to compare it too... but so far... i'm really enjoying it!)

First off... the rooms are all ensuite, there is a common room with freeview tvs, on site parking (free), accommodation is on site to the hospital, the entire block is for medical students,.. and albeit a bit of a problem with the internet.. everything is pretty good! Hmmm okay i guess some would be unhappy with how far it is from anywhere... it took us around 20 minutes to drive to the local big tesco for our groceries >.<

When it comes to ward placements.. all the students are allocated to their own FY1 mentor and a consultant each.. and there's only 2 of us to a ward, so no overcrowding!

It's getting a tad late, but i really want to write about the sort of things i've got up to this week, (i will make another post this weekend!!), but just to end this abruptly.. this is a funny random conversation i had today whilst i sat in on my consultant's clinic, where he sprung a question on me:

Consultant (C) Tofu (T)

C: What tests are useful in assessing renal function

T: GFR?

C: How would you do that?

T: Gold standard would be using innulin, a carbohydrate derived from jerusalem artichokes, it is neither secreted or reabsorbed, and is freely filtered and not metabolised...

...a few sentences later....

C: What's the difference between a jerusalem artichoke and the other ones? How do you eat jerusalem artichokes?

T: er... well i like to boil mine and dip the ends in butter..

C: I have only ever had the preserved ones

Packing for my first firm!

2011-09-29T17:47:00.007+01:00

YAY!

My first firm finally starts on Monday! - and to kick it all off, it's an outfirm... which means a spot of packing of the essentials to keep me alive for the next 9 weeks - along with a few set of smart clothes, and random bits and bobs to clutter up my room!! AND NO MORE daily 1.5 hour commute to and from uni each day!!!

... and here comes my moaning..

We were originally to collect our keys on Sunday so we can settle in before Monday, but due to some issues with the housing, we now have to register at the hospital at 10am on Monday and attend the intro talks and all.. but we won't be given our rooms until noon on the very same day!

So i will now have to wake up extra early on Monday morning to get myself out of London, and lug my suitcase of "essentials" with me for 10am..and sit in a talk with my pyjamas packed in the case sitting next to me > . < i was looking forward to no more 1.5 hour commutes!

Not really sure what i need to bring to be fair, it's my first time going to do a firm, and i really have no idea what an attachment involves...

- Will i have a lot of work - or should i bring something to read?

- Should i bring some relevant year 1 and 2 notes so i can revise the relevent bits - or will 3rd year be more clinical?

- Do i need a stethoscope (im bringing mine anyways) ?

- Will i be bothered to come back down to london on Wednesday for sports.. or will i just become even more unfit?

- How much coffee should i bring with me?

All very important questions =P

.... hmmm.... i guess i will soon find out!

Yr 3: intro

2011-09-10T11:54:00.005+01:00

It's definitely more clinical this year!

I've been back at uni for 2 weeks now, and we're just about done with all the introductory lectures, communication skill classes and clinical skills refresher sessions... and lets not forget the fun bits which came in the form of practical skill sessions!

Practical Skills:

This is where we get split into smaller groups and practice either on models, or.. each other! We had four sessions altogether, and managed to refresh ourselves on previous skills, like taking a blood pressure, and measuring blood sats.. and all the new stuff:

- Taking blood

- Putting in a cannula

- Inserting a catheter

- Opthalmoscopy

- Otoscopy

all in all.. a lot of fun! Although i seemed confident doing it on a plastic model.. i'm sure i will be less so when i actually have to take blood from an actual patient for the first time... only 2 weeks till im off to my first firm!

Clinical skills:

This was embarrassing! On our very first session we got split into pairs within our small groups, and had to take a patient history. I was taking the patient history, and my friend acted as the patient. This was fine, i asked all the appropriate questions starting with his name, age and occupation, and took a full history....

....now here is the embarrassing part...!! >.<

The consultant who was taking the class comes to our group, and gathers the "students" and asks us to present the patient.. I was picked first...and so.. off i went:

T:"This is *insert friend's name*, a 21 year old... " - Consultant stops me here, "NO!, next" and looks at the person next to me.... (eeeks! what? what have i done wrong?!) he goes around the group asking questions, and gets back to me:

C: "Tofu, what is the occupation of the patient"
T: "He is a medical student"
C: " NO! he works in a supermarket!"
T: " But the patient told me he was a medical student.."

- this was when we all looked at my partner...and he fessed up... he basically didn't read the scenario properly, and didn't realise he was meant to be Mr Jones, a 23 year old supermarket worker!!

Haha, in hindsight it was pretty funny, but at the time i was just cringing at getting all the simple things wrong in front of everyone >.<

Communication skills:

In communication skills we learnt how to take a patient history, and then practised doing so with pretty convincing actors! It's a lot harder than it looks!! It seems easy in principle, to go through the checklist and make sure you ask all the appropriate questions, but i found myself closing down my open questions as soon as i've asked them...

The most embarrassing moment was when i had to ask the "patient" if she had recently had sex. I'm unsure why i found it so awkward (Well the tutor and the entire group was observing me) and it went "er..... when was the last time you er..... er..... er..... *10 seconds later*... had sexual intercourse?"

Next Week: CSP

7 lectures a day... every day apart from Wednesday...

coffee?.. YES PLEASE!

Y3: 10 days away ^.^

2011-08-25T17:36:00.014+01:00

I can say i want a longer summer and i don't want to go back to uni.. but who am i kidding...

i'm super super SUPER excited about starting 3rd year...

......and it's only 10 days away!!

I sound too keen (and that can never be good), but i am the overly enthusiastic type when it comes to a lot of things, and starting clinical years is one of those things i'm currently really excited about!

I know that i am also the whine-y type, and thus i may moan my way through the next 3 years, but ... hey... for now i am living in bliss, with the excitement of being able to finally learn to put the theory to practical skills ^.^

(i will have to worry about adapting to a new method of learning, scary consultants, and the lack of sleep later..)

To make things even better, my friend is joining my year group (direct entry), and we're even lucky enough to have one placement together!

Roll on the 5th of September............... 8am!
(8am.. why oh why..?!?!?!)

Year 2 Results: 2/5th of a doctor ^^

2011-06-17T19:42:00.002+01:00

Have to admit, this was a scary scary wait!

I wasn't sure if i had passed the spotter and i was just constantly biting my nails the whole week! I even woke up at 4am this morning (unintentionally) and decided to check my results!! (..as if any admin staff will be up at that time updating our results..but i had to try!).

I just randomly refreshed the browser every so often until 9am when the random page refreshing turned into an every other minute spam... and finally.. around 10 something ish.. the results were out!!

Paper A - 86%
Paper Bi - 78%
Paper Bii - 75%
Paper C - 70%
Paper D - 74%

Outcome: Pass with Merit

The results aren't as great as last year, but i'm not complaining!!
(particularly since i'm now free for the summer and not having to worry about that nasty spotter ever again! ^^)

2/5th of the way there - YAYeeeee ROLL ON CLINICAL YEARS!

Paper C: Spotter

2011-06-13T12:42:00.003+01:00

This exam Sucked.

(tempting as it is to end this post here, i think i should probably ramble on a bit more...)

That was perhaps my biggest nightmare... my revision tactics had obviously failed.. as not only were the questions difficult.. they were all completely new images..!!!! DAMN IT!!

i just sat there, half-falling asleep.. thinking:

"oh crap!!!!! oh crap oh crap... what the hell is this blob... why does it look just like the freaking blob right next to it... wait.. am i suppose to be looking at this blob or the weird stringy thing right next to it?" - i hate histology..!

So yes... that didn't go well at all.
Im sad to say.. of all exams ive ever sat.. i've never felt this crap at the end of it..!

Results out --> Friday 17th

*all phalanges crossed*

Paper D: OSCEs

2011-06-09T19:58:00.003+01:00

Writing this in a bit of a rush, as i have my spotter tomorrow, and have only 13 hours left to start cramming lots of photos!

(That sounds odd.. but that is literally what a spotter exam involves: sitting up all night and trying to remember what different photos are showing.. and then praying the same photos come up tomorrow on the computer, so i can conveniently scroll down and click the correct answer and scroll on... )

BUT thats enough about my plans for tonight, today... i sat my 2nd OSCE exam.. and i have to say.. i'm no where as excited as i was when i wrote about it last year. Sure it was fun, and it was a little different from having to pick up a pen.. but i guess i'm just too tired to be excited about anything. i've never been this tired ...ever...

i really dont know what it is, but im really exhausted now, i've worked so hard throughout the year, and in a way i feel like i may have let myself down with the exams this summer. Sort of feels like i've worked hard and sort of just not performed as well as i could have when it came to the exams that actually did matter....

hmmmpphhhh... all the whining and feeling annoyed about it can come after, and back onto this osce exams today:

The exam was sat in the same pathology museum at Barts Hospital, as it was last year, and i was in the exact same circuit, but this time they chucked in a whole range of different stations.. this year the circuits involved:

-Thyroid examination
- Cardio. examination
- Resp. examination
- Abdo. examination
- Shoulder examination
- Hip examination
- Cranial nerves examination
- Vision examination
- Upper & Lower limb sensory examination
- Taking patient history

Don't really know what to write about, just really annoyed with myself at the moment, and just going to do some cramming for the last exam tomorrow.

im so tired now. Can't wait to have my first night of proper sleep tomorrow.

Paper Bi: EMQ

2011-06-07T18:25:00.003+01:00

HA! Skin and i have had a poor relationship... and it could have got ugly today but luckily C came to my rescue! ^^

She gave me a quick cram session on skin just before i went in, and as soon as the EMQ paper started, i frantically flipped through the booklet to locate those skin questions and unleashed my short term memory.. pure luck! - those questions came up!! Take that liver spots and hemangiomas!

The questions were quite fair, and my pbl write up from HSPH came up as a 5 marker: ethical arguments for Liver transplant.. which was again a bit of good luck, as i was struggling to keep myself motivated to revise HSPH ... ><

So that was EMQs...

OSCEs on Thursday, and the spotter on Friday... ^^

I WANT MY SUMMER HOLIDAY NOW!!

Paper Bii: SAQs

2011-06-06T15:01:00.007+01:00

That was it, my last ever SAQ paper at medical school! =)
(let's not jinx it.. but hopefully this will be the last, and not the re-sit in August >.<)

It started with a few predicatable questions on bronchiolitis and miscarriage, and then the SLE ones were sort of okay.. until i got asked to draw a hair follicle..... WHAT?!

- i ignored skin for the last ICA and that haunted me for a good day or two.. and now this for my end of years! ARGHHHhhhh.. dermatology is definately not for me!! I have no idea why i thought i liked it (as i clearly can't spend more than an hour looking at it...). To top the whole poor relationship i have with skin.. i don't know what came over me, but i randomly organised some shadowing with the dermatologists at Barts this summer.. this sounds like torture now!!

It then got worse with the unseen PBL... (according to D, it was on malignant hypertension..i did a google, and he's right! i didn't even know that term)

...thankfully it got better from then!
(but..that was already over half the paper worth of marks!!)

B&B - Migraine
CR - Heart Failure
Met - Steroids
Loco - De Quervain's Tenosynovitis
HSPH - Relative risk calculations and questions on studies

EMQs tomorrow!!
- time to cram all the drugs, infections and random obscure conditions!!

Revision belly + 3rd year firms allocations (oh, and 1week till exams!)

2011-05-30T11:23:00.001+01:00

Revision belly... =(

Copious amounts of inactivity sitting at my desk, sugary snacks, energy drinks and altogether laziness has caused my belly to grow... Damn it! I wish I could be more healthy, but apparently the occasional Orange or bit of cucumber doesn't balance it out. (sad times)

3rd year placement allocations are finally out!

2 out firms (one is literally in the middle of nowhere ... I hear the closest supermarket is 30minutes walk away .. I should have done my research beforehand ><), and 1 in firm ... its all getting so real now, I really can't wait to hit the wards! but until then... time to mention the exams.. eeks!

This time next week I will be sitting my first exam... the dreaded SAQ (but to also be 4 days from freedom)! Revision has been slow, and "the fear" is here! This was not helped when my friend called me to initially ask me an obscure BB question I couldn't really answer.. and then tells me he has practically finished revising, and is doing random questions... how?!?!

Left to revise: HSPH, Loco, and met.. ><

11 days till Y2 exams!

2011-05-26T13:21:00.005+01:00

Yay the last ICA results came back, and its been my best ICA to date, 86% average! ^^... but then again the entire year average was pretty high this time round with a few indivuduals getting 100% in the HSPH component.. crazy(!!) So really it's not that special BUT on a good note, i calculated my Paper A mark (ICAs, Medsoc, Epc, Essays) and i've comfortably passed the threshold to sit the MBBS Y2 exams =)

Despite that, i think most of us got into a little panic when we received mail from uni subjected "Entry to MBBS Part 2 Exams" eeks! *PANIC OVER* - it was more of a good luck sort of email!

11 days left till finals.. and i've only covered B&B and HD properly.. i now have 11 days to destroy CR, MET, LOCO, HSPH.... and the 2 seen PBLS...this doesn't look good!

BACK TO CRAM!

Ooh... and placement results should be out tomorrow! Can't wait to find out where i'll be placed next year! ^^

Last week of Y2 and Random things stopping me from revision

2011-05-20T15:31:00.004+01:00

All the stuff from uni is finally out of the way now, and its just 2 weeks of revision until exam week, and HOLIDAYS!

Manual Handling session:
- This was basically a flash back to my HCA gap year days, learning how to move a patient from one bed to the other.. and being the girl in the corner randomly sipping away at my ice latte i didnt think i would be picked as a "willing" volunteer to demonstrate.. but i somehow was. (This wasn't so bad, im not too shy, and i enjoy getting involved, even though its just a make-belief scenario.) This was all fine, until we had to move the patient, i had somehow forgotten how easy it is to move a person once you have the sliding sheet tucked under them, and forgetting this, after shouting "1,2,3 GO!" i tugged the sheet as hard as i could.. and had the other 3 students involved having to balance it out and not let the guy in the middle slip off my corner. .. this was met with my friend in the corner saying to my bf "Wow, shes macho! you don't want to mess with her"... haha .. oops!

Basic Life Support session:
- This was just basically a CPR session, and to be fair, i wasn't too keen on going, as we've already done it the year before and i didn't think i would gain much from it. BUT okay, in hindsight im really glad i went.. i learnt a lot of random facts, and actually really enjoyed it... it was a good break from revision anyways.

New Printer:

I destroyed my printer during year 1.. i still remember the incident very well.. i came home from uni and made myself a giant mug of citreon tea, a seriously HUGE mug of it... and the size, and more so the quantity of the tea was what went on to kill my printer.

Being a clumsy idiot, i chucked my folder onto the desk, knocked over my mug, and the contents then ran down my desk and into my printer..and yep.. goodbye. After not having a printer for an entire year.. i finally went and got a new printer today! YAY.... and this time i bought insurance for it. I usually don't.. but for £17 this included accidental damage to the printer.. i doubled checked with the store assistant.. tea spillage is covered!

So now armed with a new printer, and a starbucks mocha latte, its time to get started with some revision....

Edit: so i thought... i was about to start my revision, but D came over and demanded i vacummed my staircase (!!).. to be fair he had a point.. it was rather dirty.. but not to justify his point: "You're probably going to get TB if you don't!!".

OKAY... so now finally.. with a new printer, a coffee AND a freshly vacuumed stair case.. its time to crack on!

3 Weeks left till Y2 Finals!

2011-05-16T19:53:00.003+01:00

Wishful thinking, but i hope the summer exams go a little like this:

Just 3 more week till i'm faced with this:

- 06/06 - Paper Bii (SAQ)

- 07/06 - Paper Bi (EMQ + SBA)

- 09/06 - Paper D (OSCEs)

- 10/06 - Paper C (Spotter)

Time for 3 weeks of ~~revision~~ CRAM !

But before i can get on with it, we've been annoyingly assigned to have basic life support, manual handling.. and worse of all... progress testing this week!

Progress testing - this was painful, very very painful, over 2 hours worth of 120 questions set at the USMLE level, and not being able to answer any of them.. that sort of painful.

We weren't expected to pass this exam, and its purely formative to monitor our progression through medical school (we sit this exam at the end of every year from Y2). I sound a bit of a geek here, and despite hating every bit of the 2 hours, im intrigued to see how i would do next year sitting the same exam with one year of clinical experience. (YAY... can't wait to start clinical years!)

Just manual handling and basic life support left this week... then thats finals and bye bye year 2!

HSPH ICA CRAM, a likely fail

2011-05-11T01:18:00.003+01:00

Why are we meant to remember the name of different theorists?!?!

Argggghhhhhhhhh~ i will eat a PFC chicken wing off the floor of whitechapel the day a patient stops me mid interview and asks me who invented the trait theory!!

I didn't hate the module as much as others, and i thought i could probably blab myself through the exam (most the lectures have been things like "ethnicity and health", "old age and health" etc etc...)

I then took the practice test available to us on the blackboard system last night.. and got a grand score of 3/11....... DAMN IT!

HSPH/LOCO ICA on friday........... I'm simply going to fail.. there is no way i can possibly fit all this extra stuff with just 2 more days to go!

Suturing Chicken Thighs

2011-05-08T01:20:00.003+01:00

This was possibly the best practical session to date..!!

To be fair, i say that a lot about practicals, particulary those where i get really involved.. but i can't imagine doing anything more fun with a chicken thigh, than to make an incision and to suture it back up again.. (okay, eating a roasted one could top that).

Here's a shot of my first few sutures:

We all gathered in the MDL @ mile end, and each sat around a placemat with a thigh on it. It sort of resembled a cookery class, with knives (scapel) and other equipment at the ready, all laid out for you. Each table was led by a dermatologist who gave us the low-down on how to get it right.. and we were then given 30 minutes to get as many sutures into that chicken thigh as time would allow..

...before we got kicked out, and the thigh recycled and re-used by the next set of students. (Lucky i squeezed myself into the first session, and got to destroy the chicken thigh first).

All in all.. a nice bit of fun for a friday afternoon, before the last ICA of the year next friday -

Bring on HSPH/LOCO ICA! (eeeeeks~!)

40 Days till Y2 finals

2011-04-27T12:11:00.004+01:00

Okay, so 10 days on from my last post, and despite my crazy plans to have finished revising:

Met, HSPH, 2 weeks of Loco and 2 weeks of BB..

i've only just finished revising Met.. so that gives me an efficiency rating of 25%! Damn it!

- some things really don't change... and you would think having been at uni for 5 years now i should be good at setting achievable revision targets.. or actually sticking to them! (Wow.. i never thought of it that way.. but 3 years Bsc + 2 years of my MBBS!! ARghhhhh - i hate making myself feel old!!)

Just a few more days left, until we go back to uni.. and finish off our 2 weeks of Loco, hand in my last essay of year 2, and.............. panic!

Random:

4 teaspoons of nescafe in a mug washing down a huge bowl of rice to keep my energy levels up.. and 15 minutes later i fall asleep at my desk >.< FAIL!

Feeling Old

2011-04-19T22:11:00.004+01:00

I'm getting old =(

I know i'm no longer the early tween as when i started this blog, and i was reminded of this when i went to the GP yesterday with my collection of ailments. He suggested i have a routine blood test..

..and thats when it hit me..

"ah you've turned 2x, i think we should start including your serum cholsterol levels too" DAMN IT! - nothing wrong with checking everything.. but i'm not sure why i've always just associated serum cholesterol levels as for the middle aged.. (obviously this is not true!) and i know im not quite there yet.. but ah... it made me feel old.. and i dont like feeling old...

ok.. random note over.. back to revision!

50 days till Finals!

2011-04-17T11:57:00.004+01:00

Easter holidays has finally started..... this can only mean .. 2 weeks of ~~BLISS~~ REVISION >.<

Well begining on Monday (i've given myself the weekend off ^.^)... but still.. that's only 50 days till our first exam.... FIFTY DAYS! Eeeeeks!

Scary thought that... but at the same time, it's my last set of exams of my Pre-clinical years...!!

I can't wait to hit the wards, i've worked so hard to get here, and finally i'm almost 2/5 of the way there! So .. it's time to kick my lazy ass into action, and start some revision!!

On an encouraging note, both my friend and i got an email from uni to go to the student office to collect a letter... and when i did open it... yay.. it was a really encouraging letter about our progress from the head of year 2 .. they do care (I LOVE BL!) ^.^!!

Ok it wasn't very personalised.. the letter was a carbon copy of the other, apart from the names where they've changed it, but either way.. it was encourgaing! - Going to cram even more now ^.^

(i am a nerd at heart)!

First day of Loco2 and my dodgy TMJ

2011-04-04T18:49:00.008+01:00

1st day of the last module done... and im starting to get scared! Partially scared of the amount of work i need to cover again before finals, and the fear of my dodgy TMJ.

I've had TMJ issue for years now, (i blame my dentist and my wisdom teeth removal! - it's probably not him..but i'll just blame him for now) and i've always just not been too bothered to do anything about it.. it clicks now and then, dislocates, i've been referred to see a specialist and meh.. i've just left the referrel letter at home and continued to let it be..

..and now fast forward a few years.. and finally at medical school i start to get scared about things.. and yeh.. wish i got it seen to now as it seems increasingly willing to take every opportunity when i yawn or take a bite of my sandwich to want to pop out of place and leave my jaw in an awkward position.

This is rather cheeky, but i take the opportunity to volunteer for clinical skill sessions so i can get my different ailments seen to... saves time from going to the GP! Today was no exception, my friend went to ask the lecturer today about his dodgy knee.. and i took the opportunity to ask about what i can do about my dodgy TMJ without having to go visit my GP.. and simply put..

"Nothing..... it's just going to get arthritic in the future, might get some pain"!!!

i didn't see it as a problem until the FY1 started scaring me ... so..Okay.. i hate to admit this.. but Easter i might go to the gp just to see if i can get that referal letter again

End of HSPH , Locomtor Next !

2011-04-02T10:42:00.006+01:00

It's a love-hate relationship with HSPH.. i love the 3-week semi-holiday mode, but at the same time it's made me into a super lazy bum.. i feel no urge what-so-ever to do anything!! I could have used this time more efficiently.. but nope i've baked cakes, slept a LOT, caught up on tv, saw some friends and then ate some more cake..

I can see how the lectures could be interesting, but it's just a module so untimely placed.. would have been better right at the start of the new year, or before Christmas... as now with one week left. i've literally just acquired the skills to critique a paper with a bunch of annoying stats., and have until friday to whip up a critique!

(weird as it sounds.. i've actually learnt more on how to critique a paper, and use stats through HSPH on my MBBS course now, than all 3 years of my BSc put together!)

---------------------------------

Locomotor starts on Monday....

(this mean 4 weeks of Anatomy with an Easter holiday in the middle! >.<)

Anatomy has always been my weak point..

.....this is rather embarressing, but the other day my head went completely blank and i couldn't remember which side of my arm my radius and ulnar was on. In hindsight, im such an idiot, as i always used to remember where i would take the radial pulse, and that would be the side where my radius sat.. but i don't know what happened.. i really couldn't remember at the time! Just so happens, like it does, the module lead was passing by whilst i was telling my friend.. and she comments:

"Tofu, i really don't know how you managed to get a merit last year!" haha.. okay that sounds harsh... but really she said it as a joke, and shes by far one of the friendliest lecturers out there! But i do worry myself sometimes.. as i know i really should put some more time into my anatomy... okay.. time to get Gray's out the library!

---------------------------------

65 days till End of Year EXAMS! --- EEKS! Ok in days and months, thats over 2 months... but i like to see the number in days.. it sort of adds to the stress factor, and should hopefully kick me into revision mode soon enough (well i sure hope it does!! only 65 days left!!)

------------------------------------

Update on the pizza... im happy i did well in my last ica, 81% average yay, but..i lost out on the pizza by 0.5%... but then again my friend still owes my 397/400 meals from last year.. so i don't have to worry about buying the pizza just yet ^.^hahaha... we sound competitive.. but we really aren't!! we just like having excuses to eat out and celebrate random things!! in fact today we're going to the have a pub lunch and watch the cricket world cup ...

...................................... i can't choose between the two teams.. as i'm not from either country, and my closest friends at uni are from both... it's like choosing to side with mummy or daddy!

HSPH, and free pizza?

2011-03-25T09:26:00.001Z

STATISTICS!

ARGHhhhhhhhhhhh.... I thought I saw the last of you at AS-levels, but alas you have made it back into my life.. and this time you're ten times more boring, and with every little bit of you, there's a whole paper to critique! (>.<) PBL sessions have never taken this long to prepare, and this dry to sit through!

HSPH stands for ... Damn it ... its quite a fail on my behalf really ... can't remember what the H and the S stands for, but the PH definitely stands for public health. (okay, I'm currently in a lecture as I type this and asked my friend .. its Human Science and Public Health) ... 2/3 weeks in ... and yeah .. it's been a lot of psychology, and just general epidemiology .. not looking forward to sitting this ICA!

on the topic of ica, half the results for the recent ica are back, just waiting to hear about the SAQ now, but so far I've not failed ^.^ yay! I have a bit of a bet going on with D, we both thought we flopped the exam, so we put a bet on, the person who does better has to buy the other a large vegetarian hot pizza from pizza hut (okay again .. I just like tofu and veggie pizza, I'm jot a vegetarian!) ... and so far ... unbelievably.. we have the exact same mark for both our spotter and emq/sba papers! So its down to the SAQ ... pretty sure the pizza is mine .... cervical cancer I hate you.. but at least you got me a free pizza ^.^

SSCs, BB+HD ICAs, Firms.... and medsoc

2011-03-15T09:51:00.002Z

It's been almost 3 months since my last post, and since then.. I've:

-Dissected a cadaver and found what we thought was a giant cyst, but further investigations (poking at it and removing it) revealed a "cc" quantity on it and yep, it wasn't an abnormal growth, turns out to be a very early breast implant (teaching assistant: "they don't even make them like this anymore")...okay we really didn't expect to find that!
Dissection really was an amazing experience though, it was the first time I've ever done it, and I definitely want to do it again! I can't even begin to explain how different things are compared to an anatomy text book.

- SSC2c, okay this was my first attempt at anything arts-y since gcse art, and this time round I'm not even that ambitious! I chose the easier option and took medicine in photography.. my intentions were a tad cheeky... I have a dslr and just wanted someone to teach me how to use it... and that was that :D

Just sat the BB + HD ICA last Friday and that was a HORROR! Okay I always complain about exams, and the last exam turned out pretty well.. but I'm not too happy this time, I didn't really revise cervical neoplasms and boom... they hit me with a CIN double page SAQ special..... ouchies! Damn it!
It was also the first time they've introduced single best answer question type, and they are definitely a lot harder! All the answer choices seemed plausible, and it was hard picking the best option! >.<

And now...... I'm sitting in an empty gp practice typing this post up on ky phone.. this is exactly why I hate my medsoc placement.. they send me around hackney and expect me to be at these random places by 9am, and 8/10 times the nurse doesn't even turn up till 10am, and then I sit for 3 hours to see 1 patient ... then I have a dirty commute to my afternoon session at some other area.... ! To be fair my medsoc was amazing last year, my friends have awesome medsocs this year ... I've just been really unlucky :(

Ooooooo and to end on an exciting note... I submitted my firm choices last night! Clinical years feel so close now, I really can't wait!! ^.^ it was really difficult choosing where to go for each module... .

Now the wait for the practice nurse continues ......!

CRAM CRAM CRAM

2011-03-08T12:14:00.002Z

"A colposcopy, not to be confused with a colonoscopy"

-Ah.. that made me giggle, i'm a little immature, and dead lazy when it comes to scribing down my bits and bobs at medical school....
i'm supposed to read this blog once i've graduated so i can look back at my journey, through medical school, and i've just left a whole big chunk out of 2nd year, since i've been too lazy to write things down, and lately it's just been crazy revision!!

Exam this Friday, and i've never felt this un-prepared!

Chocolate, coffee and redbull....
CRAM CRAM CRAM

Toodle-pip CR/MET

2010-12-05T22:50:00.003Z

Like every exam there is something i come out annoyed about, and this time is no exception. I was pretty happy with it all, came out, and went to the bathroom.... and thats when it hit me...!!! To measure GFR, urine needs to be collected for 24 hours... how could i forget to mention that in my answer.. how how how?! ironically it only came to me whilst i went to the loo... ah if only i went during the exam itself! damn it!

Ahhhh, so this time round the exam was held in a giant hall, a semi-frozen one - my hands were literally shaking, and i found it so hard not to just ask them to turn the heating on.. the place was COLD! - But hey that kept me awake i suppose.. ^.^

Not too sure how the exams went this time round, im happy about the saq.. apart from the 24 hour urine collection point ARGhhhhhhhh, EMQs were a real hit and miss, and well... spotter was as always... hard.

But for now, that's goodbye to CR/MET and hello... Dissection of the thorax and abdomen, i look forward to finally getting a go at dissection tomorrow!

Revision

2010-11-20T12:34:00.009Z

13 days before my first ICA of the year, and my panic mode has sort of semi-kicked in.. and since we've recently been learning about the actions of cortisol, i predict my cortisol levels to be reaching new highs.

I tried starting the first evening of revision crams last night, with the whole mmmmmm i need coffee and sugar thing, and then ended up wasting my excess energy on youtube and repeats of friends on E4.... this was all whilst i was chomping through late night chinese take-away... so if exams dont go too well, at least i will now have more adipose tissue to keep me warm at Christmas.

But seriously, i keep telling myself, revision really does have to start! So the cram begins today! and then it will have to take a quick diversion tomorrow as we've been annoyingly set a PBL write up due in next week, a week before our ICAs!

Are ICAs not stressful enough without having to do a pbl write up too? - now that i have to do my write up..Please please please for the ICA let there be a SAQ on spontaneous pneumothorax...! :/

Nov - Catch up

2010-11-14T20:05:00.006Z

Ok so from when i last posted, MedSoc has only gotten worse!

This week i've moved on from measuring waistlines to spend my tuesday afternoon from 1.30pm to 5pm observing a technician take photos of the macula and the optic disc of patients... it was like watching a robot work on a factory line!!

A patient would walk in, she would ask the patient to sit, snap of the right eye, snap of the left, tells the patient they'll hear in 2 weeks, and repeat. I don't understand why i had to stay there for so long (>.<). I even tried to take a learning moment and ask her to explain what was shown on screen, for me to then discover that her answer to everything was "the patient has too much sugar" and she had originally applied for the job as receptionist, but they needed a technician. So yep... I HATE YOU MEDSOC!

That aside...... many more exciting and fun things have happened since then!

- Kumar lecture take 2!
Everyone, and i mean everyone loves her! (some a little too much, some people even went to get her to sign their K&C's after the lecture, though if i lived closed enough to uni i might have done the same - that book is too heavy for me to just throw in my bag!), though to be honest i preferred her lecture last year. The layout was pretty much the same, she would give an awesome intro, and then her students would follow with clinical demonstrations, and she ended with her "rules of kumar". Love her!

Since my last post, the CR module has also finished, and we're half way through metabolism now.. I actually REALLY enjoy Metabolism this year, it was amongst my fave modules last year and it's not failing to keep me happy this year either - what can i say.. i have a huge soft spot for bits of biochemistry that spring up in this module.

And.. last but not least.. just 3 more weeks till the first set of ICAs for Year 2! >.< i'm not feeling ready to sit exams again just yet! i miss my holidays, and seriously can't wait till X'mas!

But before i get to put my feet up and sip tea all day, i have SSC2b in my way.. and this year, i won't be complaining, as i've managed to get my first choice:

1009 - Human Structure by Dissection: Thorax and abdomen
YAAAAAAYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Now... back to finishing my PBL for tomorrow (>.<)

MedSoc: too many waistlines

2010-10-26T18:23:00.006+01:00

Supplementing all the science from the lectures, we now have EPC which has nicely substituted what used to be called Medsoc from last year; and what is supposed to be medsoc this year has now turned into a bit of a whiney topic for me.

I've been allocated an Okay-ish placement which itself is of interest to me, the location (a hospital in london) isn't too difficult to get to either, but today.... i literally just spent the morning waiting for the dietician to turn up late, 3 of the 5 expected patients to not turn up at all, and then learnt about how many hobnobs the remaining patients have had for breakfast (literally).

This was then followed by a logistical challenge in the rain to dash to another hospital site, which is where it did get slightly better... the fact that as soon as i got back i got taken into a room with free sandwiches for lunch! Woooooop, there was some sort of talk at the clinic earlier, and all the uneaten bits of food were free for all.. and having nothing but 3 jacob crackers i managed to grab this morning.. i picked up a plate and said thank you.

The afternoon just consisted of standing at a stall at the front of the hospital measuring the waistlines of randomers...and out of boredom i got my blood sugar and blood pressure taken too when i ran out of waistlines to measure.

Okay.... so it could be worse.. but this time the grass actually is really greener on the other side.. especially when i learnt of my friend's placement in renal which finished at 12pm, and he gets to go see kidney transplants in the upcoming weeks, whilst i have more weeks of measuring waistlines coming up (> .<)

Extended Patient Contact

2010-10-10T13:39:00.003+01:00

So since starting 2nd year, i've been introduced to a new component of the course, Extended Patient Contact (EPC).

To be fair, i've had my first EPC session this week, and i'm still pretty unsure what the purpose of EPC is (other than what's suggested by the module name)... i could easily read the module handbook, but that requires too much effort at the moment, and so i will just go with the flow for now.

I wasn't too keen on the location of my placement... its a tad further than my last placement.. in fact its on the tube map (the ends of it), but esssentially, it falls into ESSEX! ... so on a fortnightly basis, i will be trecking it into Essex for 9am starts >.< (travelling to MedSoc last year seems like a treat now).. but i might actually start to look forward to these EPC sessions.. particulary since the first one turned out to be really good (unexpectedly)!

EPC is pretty much MedSoc from last year, with more hands on experience and teaching. I'm not sure if its because of the GP i'm placed with this year, or its just the module itself, but it is defiantely a LOT better! The fact that we're a smaller group of just 4 students also means we get more opportunities to get a go at everything.

This week, we managed to sit in through 3 consultations, asked the patients a few questions, each do an ecg on another student, practised taking each other's blood pressures, watched 2 CR examinations, and got quizzed on drugs. All in all... a fun day!

Lecturer's Youtube link

2010-10-06T00:26:00.002+01:00

Our Clinical skills lecturer sent this youtube link to our year group.......
"Doctor Dances to Hip-Hop Heart Rhythms-Arrhythmias "

Starting Year 2 - Cardiorespiratory

2010-09-22T19:40:00.005+01:00

Finally i'm back, and safe to say i made it through 1st year, and am currently already a week into year 2!

Couldn't have asked for more this summer, had an absolutely amazing summer holiday - went to see so many different places, got some part time work done, and managed to do things i would have never had the chance to do if i hadn't come to Barts and made the friends i've made here, i LOVE BARTS!

.......and now onto CARDIORESPIRATORY, a big dose of it; in fact its a chunky 6 weeks worth of it! Not exactly how i wanted to start the year, but hey.. i'm glad it's not B&B!

So far the lectures have been "okay" bordering on the lines of "dull", it's all been a big chunk of anatomy revision with a few new diseases chucked in... *Fingers crossed for more interesting lectures soon, before i actually fall asleep in a lecture (again)* Ok, perhaps i'm being unfair, we did have one interesting lecture moment on ECG interpretation this week; however the intersting part came from our lecturer's slip up, answering a student's question about AF along the lines of - "atrial fibrillations don't exist" ... ¬.¬ (They are amongst the most common arrythmias - we even had a 2 hour pbl session discussing it!)

Hmmm ok, i guess i did enjoy the ecg practical this week - finally made sense of Einthoven's triangle, and i know this sounds so so silly, but i now know what they mean by a 12 lead ecg! A bit embaressing, but throughout the entirety of first year, i thought it meant literally 12 leads/electrodes attaching to the chest to acquire 12 seperate readings, when leads actually refers to the readings, and only 9 electrodes are required.... i always wondered where the other 3 missing leads attached!

And finally a bit of an annoying revelation and not so CR related, is that according to the welcome lecture we had at the start of the week, it is required to be in the top decile to get a distinction, whilst all along i was under the impression we just had to obtain a merit in 2 consecutive years... grrr i knew it was too good to be true!!

Summer Break

2010-07-28T19:39:00.002+01:00

So i'm finally back from my summer trip, and am now just stuck between occasional shift work for my part time job, and heaps of lazing around...
....a tad random, and very non-medical school life related, but TOY STORY 3 was ....... AMAZING! It even had me shedding a few tears towards the end of it, damn you evil Lotso!

Anyhoots, i learnt that second year doesn't start again till the 27th of September, so thats literally just 2 months away! YAY to long summer holidays, but NAY to the occasional boredom that comes with it.

I know i should be glad to have any holiday at all though, its a a really odd feeling, but when i meet up with my old uni friends, or just call to catch up, its odd to hear how everyone is now getting on with their lives, some getting engaged, and most are working a monday-friday, 9-5 job, whilst i'm still living the student life. Its another one of those, "the grass is greener on the other side" moments for me, but what keeps me motivated, is the prospect of going into the final year of pre-clinicals, and being able to hit the clinical years after next summer!

Ok back to lazing around until september!

Do i regret choosing 5-year over GEP?

2010-06-04T03:48:00.002+01:00

Its finally been a year at Barts (well, not quite the 365.25 days, but its been an academic year) and it seems a fitting time to review my ucas decision. I also get asked this question now and then, so a post would probably be good.

I suppose until i complete my MBBS, i'm not really going to know if i regret it or not, as it is with this post, my mind sort of flickers now and then between yes and no. BUT at this moment in time, and indeed throughout the entire year so far (apart from funmed... that even had me thinking of quitting... crazy, i know!) i have no major regrets..but i do have a few.

It would be a lie for me to say i have no regrets at all, being able to graduate a year earlier and start earning a salary would have been nice, but i suppose some things are worth more than money, and if i try to look into the future, the experiences i've had at Barts more than makes up for a year of lost earnings.. though i really could do with a regular income right now!

With a 5 year course there's simply more time to absorb the material, more time to take part in sports and societies, and just generally more time to myself to get on with other important things in my life. I didn't really cherish any of these opportunities during my Biochemistry degree, but it's never too late to get involved... and especially at barts, which is very mature friendly (~40% of my year are grads!!)

However, being in London, my home town, really did sway the decision for me, if the 5 year offer wasn't in London, i think i would have chosen the GEP, i'm 90% certain.

Yes, London is expensive, but as a Student it's the cheapest time to live here, my family and friends are here, and i simply had some issues which meant i had to be in London often, so going to Barts really did tick more boxes than a GEP outside of London. Indeed, i would have probably gone for a GEP in London, but i didn't want to wait a year for my deferred GEP offer at Barts, and at the time of making my ucas decision, the fear of failing medical school meant i chose the easier option. So that's how i ended up where i am now.

Although i sometimes do have a "what if" moment, it's probably out of curiosity, rather than regret and wishful thinking.

Year 1 Results: 1/5th of a doctor ^^

2010-05-26T23:30:00.006+01:00

The student office decided to release the results a day earlier than stated, and it came as a bit of a shock! (but kudos to them for releasing them so soon - exams finished on Friday, so thats less than a week) I felt so unprepaired to see the results, and as overly dramatic as it may sound, my hands were actually a tad shaky when i had to click the button and load the results page...

But... YAY! It finally feels like all the coffee, and sleep deprivation during the cram has been worth it - though it probably knocked a good half, if not a whole year off my life expectancy >.<

Paper A - 79%
Paper Bi - 80%
Paper Bii - 71%
Paper C - 79%
Paper D - 78%

Outcome: Pass with Merit

1/5th of the way there - Roll on year 2! ^^

Paper C: Spotter

2010-05-22T02:11:00.001+01:00

The lack of sleep, caffeine over-use and general tiredness all crept up to me last night, and all i wanted to do was sleep!

In fact i managed to sneak in a good 6 hours worth before waking up at midnight to start the 8 hour cram, and going in to uni to sit 2 hours worth of identifying gross and microanatomy images... this was scary, partically since it was 8 hours to cram the entire year's worth of it!

I took the "just keep doing the past papers" approach, and that definately paid off, i recognised a few of the images as soon as they came up, and as per usual as soon as i left the place i realised some of the silly mistakes i made. Meh... at least first year exams are all over now ^^!

Just "the wait" now!

Paper D: OSCEs

2010-05-20T17:47:00.005+01:00

This was why i wanted to come to medical school!
Odd as it may sound, but i don't think i've ever had so much fun in an end of year exam before ^^ (i can't wait to get to clinical years!)

I was among the lucky half of the year group, who got placed in the archives room at Barts (not sure on the official name for the room) - it was a grand room, with tall ceilings and specimens preserved in bottles placed around the room! In fact i couldn't help but stare at the spots on the face of a sagitally dissected head in one of the jars, as i shaded in the boxes of my emq sheet.

The room was beautiful, almost on par to the Gordon Museum at GKT (ok, im not going to be bias the Gordon museum does have the edge!)

We rotated around the room, going to various stations and performed various tasks, and although i know i missed quite a few marks here and there, it was genuinly a lot of fun! (Gargh thinking back, i have no idea how i managed to get Varum and Valgum the wrong way round!).

Glad it didn't turn into the nightmare i thought it would have been!
Now just the Spotter left for tomorrow....!

- edit:
How am i going to learn all these images tonight?!!?!?!?!??!?!!

Paper Bi: EMQs

2010-05-18T20:57:00.006+01:00

EMQs were nice today!

I left the exam early, and by then half of my pbl group and the majority of people from the exam hall had already left too, with almost everyone wearing a smile ^^. (a big contrast to what happened after the SAQs yesterday!)

Compared to the past ICAs, they were actually pretty 1st year friendly, apart from the questions on the brain nuclei, and.. well i can only blame myself for getting the antibiotics and antifungal drugs wrong! - had a feeling they were going to come up, but last night i just wanted to sleep, and i did... a good 12 hours!! (the most i've had the night before an exam)

As it's 50% of Paper B, im hoping its going to pull up my abysmal mark from yesterday! - then again... we still need to pass all Papers to progress to next year hmm... will just have to wait and see if i'll be resitting that one next week.

OSCEs to tackle on thursday and Spotter on Friday!
Bring on the cram!

-------------------------------
The new London hosp, had to take a photo of it! It's so modern looking, and such a big contrast to the current hospital!

Paper Bii : SAQs

2010-05-17T23:34:00.003+01:00

OK, todays paper was HARD!
- not impossible, but definately not a nice one!

I had some how hoped it would be pretty similar to ICA standards... but nope, it was so hard that after the exam i felt that all my revision and last minute cramming has been in vain, as i wasn't going to get the answers even if i had an extra day to revise for it.

A few questions felt rather ambigous, and i only have my poor vocabulary pool to blame for not knowing what "Corroborating" meant (i came home and did a google..), and so probably babbled along the wrong lines!

EMQs tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Exam on monday

2010-05-15T18:51:00.003+01:00

Exams start on monday....
....... i've never been so annoyed with myself for not having started revision earlier! GARGhhhhhhhhhhh~! (and yet i come on here to waste even more time!!)

PBL cramming now, and still not had a look at CR since.. er.. since the last ICA... will i be able to cram a whole module tomorrow....?! errrr...things are not looking good at the moment!

Back to ~~revision~~ cramming!

SSC update

2010-05-09T02:57:00.007+01:00

OK, i take back what i said in the last post - the accelerated learning SSC did actually turn out to be a huge daily revision session, with 2 power naps! Fair enough it's not exactly the most exciting of SSCs, but 3 weeks before the exams.... it turned out pretty useful afterall.
(So... am i still jealous of those who got dissection or surgical sscs? .... er....... YES! Ah the grass is always greener on the other side =P )

And.. Finally, just a week left until the end of the year exams, typically the internet at home has to go down! So im currently sitting on the floor in the corner of my cousin's room, typing in semi-darkness whilst he snores away (very loudly!), and i scramble to put together some information on the 3 seen pbls for paper Bii!

Not sure why, but i felt like taking a photo of the scene, so meh:

.... 7 days left to go!

Accelerated learning ssc

2010-04-28T00:30:00.002+01:00

It's ironic how slow and little work we actually get done on this SSC!

Having read the course brief i was expecting to have a whole day to do revision, and be given the occasional command to take a break..or maybe have a few revision techniques taught to us (i even thought i was one of the lucky ones to get a ssc based on revision and improving on it.. oh .. how wrong i was!)

Instead we were put through 2x 30minutes of "hypnosis sessions" where she would try and take us on a wonderful journey to success...
- all i remember was "repeating the word success as you count down", and "success..blah blah.. see the green light" . The rest of the day just consisted of sitting in a cramped room, a 1.5 hour lunch, and too many breaks in between.

I suppose i'm glad i don't have a hectic SSC, but nor is this SSC turning out to be the amazing revision cram sessions i thought it would be.. meh the grass is always greener on the other side!

I'm hoping it would get better towards the end, but im not optimistic.

Exam Timetable

2010-04-20T15:27:00.006+01:00

OK, the feeling has completely changed from yesterday..!!
- I have "THE FEAR" now!

I went into uni and had a talk on our upcoming end of year exams.... and whilst it doesn't count towards my ranking (MTAS final year blah), i need paper A to go well if i want to have a shot at getting a merit (top quartile - quite unlikely, but it's good motivation to work!). Grr~ so .. this ICA is sort of important-ish afterall >.< !

On a plus note, the talk did get my "fear" going! Plus i had my last PBL today too Yahey~ no more PBLs or PBL write-ups until September!(well ...sort of... we've been annoyingly given 3 pbl scenarios to prepare for the summer exams on our own... ¬.¬).. accelerated learning SSC doesn't look like such a bad allocation anymore!

Ok so this is how my Summer Exam timetable looks:

17th - EMQ
18th - SAQ
20th - OSCEs
21st - Spotter (A possible flop!)
27th - Results

Over in a week, and results the following.. i like the efficiency!
BUT until then...

B&B / LOCO ICA on Friday! lets do this!!

Lazy

2010-04-20T01:31:00.003+01:00

Simply put, i have been so lazy!

I worked out from percentages, that i've already passed paper A, and since it doesn't count towards the final year grade, i really lack motivation to revise for the upcoming ICAs on Friday >.<

So meh, time to update my blog instead of some hard-core revision (despite all this, i'll give revision another try tonight). I am scared of the upcoming exams, but i dunno.. i think i'm just tired from the whole year now, and i can't wait for the summer holidays!

On another note, i can't believe the year has gone by so quickly!!!

- had my last learning landscape, microanatomy and practical today, and technically i'll have my LAST LECTURE of the year on Wednesday, ending with a B&B lecture on neural control of emotional behaviour..

...i say technically the last lecture since next week i'll be braced with another 2 weeks of SSMs.... and i'm not sure which is worse... my first SSM, or my upcoming SSM in "accelerated learning" hmmmmmm...!

Revision Begins!

2010-04-04T11:25:00.009+01:00

18 Days left until B&B/Loco ICAS
42 Days left until End of year exams!

feeling: PANIC!
----------------------------------------

Revision officially begins today!

...Well for 2 days, then im off on holiday to europe for 4 days (away from my notes), before im back to uni to face 2 more weeks of B&B lectures, the B&B/Loco ICAs, and 2 weeks of SSCs! Ahhh i wish i got my act together earlier, but now im into revision mode, im sending myself out of the country and away from my notes! this is not good!!!

-the television has been moved out of the room
- msn will be uninstalled
- and ... facebook.. well nothing yet.. im too much of an addict to disable that ^.^

Revision to-do list:

Funmed - 0%
Human Development - 0%
Cardiorespiratory - 0%
Metabolism - 0%
Locomotor ~ 20% completed
Brain and Behaviour ~ 50% completed

PBLs - 0%
Practicals - 0%
OSCEs - 0%

Anatomy ~25% completed
Microanatomy - 0%

... by x% completed.. i simply mean read through it briefly. I'm going to have to spend a lot of time in the library as soon as term starts.

Easter Break - No revision yet

2010-03-31T23:48:00.004+01:00

23 Days left until the B+B/Loco ICAs
47 Days until end of year exams!

Feeling: Ummm lazy.
-----------------------------------------

With the afternoon lectures cancelled and the library closed at 1pm (so i didn't even have to feel guilty for not going in to do any work) ... Easter got off to a very good start!

In fact since last Friday i've refused to wear anything but pyjamas, and have eaten an unhealthy amount of cereal whilst dossing around the house. This..... is NOT good!!!

... particularly since for the last 2 years of my biochemistry degree Easter always resulted in a revision frenzy; however this year i'm just not feeling it. I've done some notes, but nothing in terms of revision and although i know the end of year exams are only 47 days away, i've just lost the motivation.

Nerve Block: Best Practical Ever!

2010-03-23T03:59:00.005Z

Today's practical was rather painful, but SUPER FUN, and definately falls into the category of "Unforgettable"! (i'm even tempted to say i want to do it again, despite the pain i was in!!) .

I volunteered to be the subject of the experiment today, which involved sticking my arm into a sphyg cuff, and have it there for 35 minutes at 180mmhg! (i thought "meh, it can't be that painful" .. i was wrong!). My friends would then come and poke and prod it with an array of different bits and bobs to test my sensory response at 5 minutes intervals.

Initialy the pain was from my friends jabbing the lance into my arm with force, but my arm started going numb rather quickly, and by 20 minutes i had lost the ability to feel a few things; i couldn't even fully extend my fingers, and my arm just flopped about. As friends do, they took advantage of this and just laughed as i struggled to control my dead arm to pick up a pen. (fun aside, it was rather scary!)

By 25minutes all i wanted to do was to get the damn thing off, as my arm had now turned a very odd shade, and er.. it was uncomfortable to say the least! However when the 30 minutes were over, removing the cuff didn't give instant relief, instead my arm shot red with intense pins and needles.

Ok, it just sounds like a giant moan, but i genuinly really enjoyed the practical today!!
(However i suspect this may be the only bit of B&B i enjoy)

End of Loco

2010-03-21T10:36:00.004Z

Friday's lecture theatre happened to be really empty.... it was the Dental Beer Race!!

A lot of people stayed home designing and putting the last touches to their costumes... and i was impressed! With a first year's naivety, I genuinly thought my team's costumes were pretty good, this was until we got back to whitechapel and saw teams of lego men, doughnuts and highlighters! I think next year i'll go easy on the beer, and spend more time on the costumes.

Also on friday, B&B started without my acknowledgement of it untill i sat down in 2 hours worth of lectures on the brain. Sadly locomotor has finished, and whats i've seen of B&B so far isn't too bad, but i've been told by many upper years to expect it to get a lot worse!

Locomotor -
Likes: was enjoyable-ish, most of it was just upper and lower limb anatomy, so its just about remembering what fits where.
Dislikes: i'm really going to suffer with learning those dermatomes!!!

One more week until Easter holidays (wooohooo 2 weeks off! ^^), but then.... 8 weeks until summer exams!!

Ragged out

2010-03-06T20:25:00.005Z

Rag week finally drew to a close yesterday, and I'm feeling confident we've managed to hold the record as London's top ragging medical school once again!

-It was an excuse to walk around in scrubs and ~~harass~~ persuade the general public to give generously for the entire week. I managed to get myself into weird situations including being told off by traffic police, called a beggar too many times, and got invited to sit next to orthopaedic consultants during their morning meeting, before showing them my bucket!! (i watched the junior doctors present the different scans and x-rays, then to be grilled exessively by the orthopaedic top guns - it's scary to think in 5 years time i may have to face a similar grilling)

but now that Rag is over... it's back to dressing normally, and sadly time to get back to work !! (don't think i'll miss seeing the black stuff when i blow my nose... who knew the tube was THAT dirty?!)

Locomotor has technically just been heap loads of upper and lower limb anatomy - So it's not really all that bad, seeing i quite like sitting down with Gray's; in fact i far prefer using a text book and rarely enjoy learning landscape. However it was really good last week, particularly the station with all the X-rays!

I think locomotor will easily be my favourite module, and although i've not experienced it yet, i have a feeling brain and behaviour to follow will be my least.

to end this post on a positive note, the results for the hd/cr/met exams are back, and i'm happy ^^

Almost back to lectures

2010-02-25T12:31:00.007Z

My first taste of SSCs felt like a half-term, an unproductive one.

Now for a final ssc assessment tomorrow, a week of Rag fun to look forward to (managed to blag ourselves some random scrubs, not too keen on the unidentified stain on it, but finally i can say goodbye to the disposable ones!), and back to normality (lectures!!).

- i didn't think i missed lectures, but after speaking to some friends last night, it just seems so odd to be so lazy (its been a fantastic and well needed break after what was hd/cr/met!), but i think its time to roll on the locomotor!

Lazy SSC

2010-02-16T11:53:00.007Z

Woohooooo, the ICAs are over!
thinking about it, i'm probably just over half way done with 1st year now! ^^ time does fly!! (there is always the obstacle of the summer exams, but i'm trying not to scare myself just yet)

The spotter this time was a lot better, i felt so much more prepaired, and for once i looked at the image and actually knew what the arrow was pointing to! Can't say i felt the same for the SAQ/EMQ paper though, my mouth dropped open as i tried to recall as much info as i could from a CR practical session on the ... VITALOGRAPH.. oh and the question about the ECG lead! (this will haunt me for quite a while!), i didn't revise the practicals and that probably hit my chances of passing pretty hard.

Well, whats done is done now, just a relaxing wait for exam results, whilst i enjoy my 2 weeks of self-study SSC lazyness.

I managed to get Membrane Transport, not so exciting, but a well needed break from 9-5 lectures. Not much to talk about really, i literally went into uni to pick up a self study pack, went home, and now have an exam on it next monday and friday, and thats simply it. I'm tempted to do a spot of travelling!

Can't say i'm not jealous of those who managed to get Dissection though! I spoke to a few people who are complaining about their 10-5 shedule, and wish they had the 2 weeks off (though they are in the minority, most people seem to be loving it!); whilst i wish i got a spot of "cadaver juices on my lab coat" and have "hands that smell of formaldehyde" >.<

I'm definately putting dissection as first choices for both sscs next year!

Ah Poo!

2010-02-04T10:17:00.002Z

Ah Poo! for 2 reasons:

1) Our last PBL was quite literally on diarrhorea.

- one of the objectives was to look up the different types/causes of diarrhorea, and all of them were pretty much the norm., apart from Factitious!
A bit of a random find from the K&C, but it was quite a: -- "REALLY, people do that?? O.o" moment for me when i read that some people would dilute their faeces with urine or with tap water to make it seem like they have diarrhorea. A tad random, but because its so odd, it'll stick in my head.

2) HD/CR/MET ICAs panic!!

I thought i was scared for Funmed, but that seems so much easier now compared to what's coming up next Friday!

I have barely touched Met, and CR is a bum of a module (i've always had to try really hard to get my head round physiology), and well HD.. that just seems to never end!
......and to make matters worse, i've got MedSoc the day before to keep me away from a last day cram!!

I don't usually complain about MedSoc; although the placement is really far, the gp teaches really well, and lets us have a go at different things. Just last week she whipped out a few spygs, and let us practice taking blood pressures on each other (it was a bit random, seeing that the topic for the week was diabetes!! - but i wasn't complaining!), and for the first time i finally managed to take a blood pressure, so i was happy. BUT the fact that its literally the day before the exams is a pain!

OK.... now back to some revision!

Meeting Kumar

2010-01-27T19:43:00.005Z

I always loved clinical demonstrations, they're not exactly very sciency, but it gives us the opportunity to learn a bit more about relevent diseases, and to hear it from a patient's perspective. What made the session even better today, was having Prof. Kumar!

Ok i sound a little star struck (i was!!), but she was so down to earth, and funny.

At the end of the lecture, she asked us what the rules of Kumar were, and from what i remember these were it:

1st rule of Kumar.... (i missed this one >.< )
2nd rule of Kumar ... Listen to your patients
3rd rule of Kumar ... Don't be arrogant
23 b) rule of Kumar ... (along the lines of work hard!)

So with Rule 23b in mind, its time to kick start the revision for the upcoming HDxCRxMET Exam! >.<

Although content wise, it's only 9 weeks worth (similar to Funmed), but this time round, it feels like it's 3x more work!

Thanks to Super idiot for reminding me:
"she asked someone how much poo they make!! and the guy said 400-450 grams and she started laughing :D"

Anatomy: Body painting!

2010-01-22T00:58:00.003Z

This week's learning landscape and practical session was by far the MOST ENJOYABLE anatomy session so far; as we swapped pens for brushes, and prosections for torsos during a session of body painting (!!), and played around with spirometers during the practical.

Thankfully some of the boys were happy to take their shirts off, so off we went following a booklet of instructions, and painting on the bones, muscles, and arteries of the thorax. It sounds a bit odd, and at first i was like "hmmm interesting....", but it was actually really helpful to see where the different things were in relation to each other, and it was something different for a change ^.^

CR module finishes tomorrow, and Metabolism starts on Monday.
It's taken me so long to get into medical school, but i'm actually sort of glad there'll be some sort of biochemisty coming up, i know i may regret saying this later, but..... i miss learning pathways!

Clinical Skills

2010-01-16T21:45:00.000Z

On Monday i had my first clinical skills session.

We were seperated into 2 rooms (one for boys, and the other for girls), and then given 2 hours to turn the - CV examinations lecture into a touchy feely session.

I managed to locate the radial, brachial and carotid pulses, and failed from then onwards to find the apex beat and any of the other pulses below my waist (>.<), i'll keep trying, but having tried a couple of times at home, i'm still in search of my apex beat!

Oh and we finally got to do something with a stethoscope, but to be honest i had no idea what i was doing or trying to listen out for. Thankfully, i have a few people who have agreed to become my guinea pigs, and i have until the summer to work these things out.

Until then, its time to start stressing about the next set of ICAs!

Snow Days Cardiorespiratory

2010-01-09T22:14:00.007Z

Firt week of CR is over, and of the 5 days i was late on 4, and the only day i turned up on time, the facilitator couldn't make it in. Travelling in the Snow, is definately not FUN!

That aside, consistent lateness has led me to stumble across a new route to uni, which although involves a few more stops, actually ends up shaving a good 5, possibly 10 (on a good day) minutes off my travelling time!! Will give this route a good trial over the remaining 2 weeks of CR.

Fun fact i found whilst writing up some notes:
The blood vessels in humans stretch for 100,000km through the internal body landscape!!
-My RBCs have travelled further than i have in the past year, im pretty jealous.

So hows CR?
Hmmm well on first impressions, CR anatomy is more friendlier than that of the pelvis from HD last term (pelvis anatomy stole many of my evenings). Though i suspect it might just be down to familiarity with the heart, afterall the heart has some how been on my syllabus almost ever year since GCSEs! BUT that doesn't make it easy, in fact im DREADING all the ECG lectures!

New Year + HD notes over

2010-01-03T01:35:00.001Z

Just about finished with the HD note writing/revision marlarky (but in actual fact i've skipped a few lectures >.<), in time for the start of term. It has been a massive drain over the short 2 week X'mas break, and im not all that refreshed and ready to take on the upcoming CR module, but hey 'ho thats life~!

What HD has made me realise is... wow did my mum go through a lot to give birth to me! HD has definately made me think of pregnancy a bit differently, I'm sure most people in the year will do too (varying amounts, i'm sure), and i know this just from listening out for the "Ewwww"s (probably a photo of a dilated cervix with a head popping out of it), and "Awww"s (Video of the kid growing up and learning different abilities) throughout the different lectures.

So with a fresh (hardly feeling it) start tomorrow, it'll be the simpsons movie followed by an early night tonight ^^

p.s i hope muesli is healthy, ive been eating a lot of it! (not for a health regime, but just because its so damn tasty!)

Xmas Holidays

2009-12-28T11:42:00.002Z

One week left till i go back and face another new module; this time its Cardio-Respiratory.

In good timing for this, my parents have done the unoriginal, yet amazingly sweet thing of buying me a stethoscope for Christmas. I'm sure i won't get to fiddle with it much, or even understand what I'm suppose to listen out for till 2 years down the line, but its a nice gift and I'll cherish it. Currently i've only listened to my dog's heart, and the amplified sound of my finger tapping on the diaphragm.

So, other than eating a lot and catching up with friends, the remaining week will be to finish of these HD notes and sleep lots so i'm feeling fresh for the new start!

Funmed moving on HD

2009-12-12T12:24:00.002Z

Funmed has finally been drawn to a finish with the last of the section results out. Slighlty miffed by my B, (esp. when i'm only 2% from an A gahhh). Well it will only serve as some motivation for the next set of ICAs in feb.. but until then, its relaxing time.

After funmed exams i was like: "OK this it it!" and I was so keen on keeping notes up to date and learning as i go along; but once again i have fallen back on my lazy ways. So far i've done notes for 1 lecture in the last 2 weeks, and i've probably spent more time out ragging on the one day of rag, than i have on reading through text books. So whilst im relaxed now, i'm going to have to work during this X'mas break (officially a week away! ^.^)

Generally, i would say HD isn't very difficult (it is, when compared to funmed), but its definately a case of a LOT of information, in a very short space of time. >.< (... and i always feel like i don't have enough time)

End of Funmed

2009-11-29T20:32:00.001Z

On Friday i sat my first exam at BL -> Fundamentals of medicine '09

It's been 3 years since i've sat any EMQs, and i had forgotten what a pain they could be; though no pain can even come close to the spotter exam !!

Flicking through the microanatomy slides before the exam, in combo with my stupid "fingers crossed" ritual, had come no where close to preparing me well. I predict a flop.

At least i now know i really need to work on my anatomy!

The final kick of the day came in the form of my SSC allocations >.<
(though i'll try and keep an open mind)

So... that brings Funmed to an end..
..........................roll on human development!

Funmed

2009-11-20T16:53:00.006Z

Being a science grad on an undergraduate course, I get the:

"you'll do fine, you've done this all before"

comment quite a lot, and if i'm being honest, i'm sure i've muttered those words among the grads a few times myself. It's a bit of a weird feeling, even more so now that the.....

FUNMED assessment is in 7 days time!!

OK i don't really know the exact weightings, but i think its worth like 27% of paper A overall.... and the spotter component makes up 5% of the 27%....
so its decided, im giving up on the spotter!

(well i'll revise a bit of it, and have my fingers crossed for the bits of anatomy and microanatomy i like to pop up, but im not going to stress over it too much....now lets hope i've made the right decision!)

new experiences

2009-10-08T00:43:00.013+01:00

Med-Soc: GP Placement

I HATE the hour long journey to uni, and from next week onwards, i'll have to add a 2 hour journey to my fortnightly rota, as we start Medicine in Society >.< Luckily for me, its still within the zones of my travel card (I would be even more whiney if i had to pay anything ontop of the £81/month travel card!!) BUT, travel pains aside, i'm actually genuinly quite excited about med soc; in contrast to some of the people i've spoken to, i quite like the idea of being in a general practice.

PBL: isn't so bad.

If i have to choose one word to define my first session of PBL, i would choose: Awkward!

It really was a bit odd, none of us actually knew what we were meant to do, and i think the chair had a hard time getting everyone involved. (the tutor pointed us in the right decision throughout, and finally got us there)

However, the follow-up PBL session went a LOT smoother, we went through the objectives quickly, and onto the next case scenario. This time we knew what we had to do, and it actually wasn't so bad (actually i quite enjoyed it). I think it will just take some time to get use to.

Anatomy

Anatomy consisted of walking around to different stations, looking at specimens and seeking help from the demonstrators; asking one of the demonstrators a question about the brain was probably the best decision i made of the day.

Whilst answering my question and describing the different features of the brain, the demonstrator whipped out a pair of pink latex gloves from his lab coat pocket, handed them to me and told me to pick up the brain "Go on pick it up, i know you want to", and he was right.

The smell of formaldehyde was bearable, but I did feel a little queezy.

First Week

2009-09-27T12:35:00.005+01:00

I did plan to update after the first day at BL, but i think i've already slipped into my old student routine of pushing things back for later... so i'll have to settle with blogging about my 1st week instead ^^

Things on a whole have been going well, theres not really that much going on as its the typical induction week; however there was this GREAT welcome lecture on friday (i don't want to go into great details in case i ruin it for others) which was a combination of shock, fear, laughs and feeling stupid right at the end for believing it all from the start ^^, if this is BL, then i think i'm going to love it!

Freshers fayre was another highlight of the week (!!) - a concise medical dictionary, highlighters in the shape of syringes, and random pens were nice gifts, but i think the free mini oxford handbook of clinical medicine was the cherry on top! (especially since i was planning on buying it!).

Roll on week 2, and my first session of PBL on Tuesday!

Welcome Pack

2009-09-05T00:17:00.006+01:00

Despite how much economic sense it would make to go for the unexpected 4 year GEP offer, i've decided at the end to stick with the 5year..... so roll on enrolment!

(Thank you Sengcheek and Lily for the supportive advice, but my fear of failing and flopping med school has both hands shaking me and telling me to stick with the less intensive 5 year course... and as seng put it, its still a win-win situation ^.^ )

**My welcome pack arrived this afternoon!**

OK, to be fair the excitement only lasted through the receiving, running upstairs to my room, and the careful opening part; after that it sort of died down as i flicked through the paperwork. Nestled inside the A4 sized envelope was a letter from BLSA, a book list, a two-day timetable, the pre-enrolment form (this just means i have to go to the student office next week and show them a few certificates), and few other bits and bobs. On a plus note, theres advice on getting myself a new student oyster card (i need one of those!), and real excitement in knowing i'll finally be starting on the 21st !!! (even if its a horrible 8am start to the day >.<)

GEP upgrade?

2009-08-27T10:23:00.006+01:00

Received an early phone call this morning from an unknown number. Instantly i thought it was going to be telly-sales, though surprisingly rather than having a chatty lady trying to upgrade my mobile, it was a call from Barts saying i can go onto the GEP course (!!!)
.....BUT starting 2010!

Its a VERY tempting offer, and one i have to make a decision on by next tuesday!

Pros:

- GEP funding (less debt!)
- Graduate the same time as i would if i start on the 5 year this September
- No need to reapply on ucas, as it will just be deferred

Cons:

- Not sure if i can manage the workload
(a BIG worry, as i rather do the 5 year and pass, than to do the 4 year and fail at the first hurdle!)

- Was really geared and ready to start this September
- Not sure what to do with another gap year

Currenlty finding this a really difficult decision to make!

- on a random note, i have an interview tomorrow with kaplan, for a part time teacher of the UKCAT! (randomly found the job advert online!)

Summer

2009-08-07T14:28:00.003+01:00

My plans for a holiday never happened at the end, no one can ever predict an accident, and neither did i expect my mum to fracture her spine and break a rib after a slip. So since then its been a major operation for mum (2 plates and 8 screws), a bit of an emotional rollercoster of a summer, and putting all the HCA skills to good use looking after mum post-op. Thankfully she is gradually on the mend, and just a checkup in September to make sure the screws havn't loosened, so its fingers crossed until then; but as the surgeon told us, "if you have to have another operation, then you have to have another operation, thats the way it is".

Medical school wise, track finally changed to Unconditional a few weeks ago, and as my mum's friend made a visit yesterday i quickly went over (it was still the hour plus journey!) to the Whitechapel student office, showed my documents and got my CRB sorted. So now £41 poorer, its just a wait until September!

Last Day Tomorrow

2009-06-28T23:18:00.002+01:00

Final day as a full time HCA tomorrow, and i really can't wait!
(i say "full time", as im signing up to an agency, and if the interview goes well i'll hopefully be able to fit in a few shifts here and there during the summer or whilst at uni).

i think i've been quite fortunate in that i've met a lot of different people, managed to have quite a good time at work, and learnt not only a lot about the different jobs roles within a hospital, but also really random bits of Tagalog (sp?). The most useful i've found to be - "Atei maganda, gusta gung tea, salamat" - i've probably spelled it quite incorrectly, but it should mean - "Beautiful sister, can i have a tea please "... at which point the phillipino nurse or tea trolly lady will let me go on my lunch/dinner break or thrust a tea into my hands.

Tomorrow i'll be having a leaving lunch at work - we've decided to all cook something, and have a lunch in the staff room. I've decided to make curry chicken.

I really couldn't think of anything i could make, i usually have a trusty sandwich, left over dinner, or er something random i can find around the house for lunch, and so when left with the task of cooking something, the easiest option i could think of which also happens to taste alrite, is curry chicken - easy! (though of course mine is probably, actually i am certain it is not authentic at all - as mine consists of chicken boiled down in supermarket bought curry paste and sauces).

June

2009-06-22T10:54:00.004+01:00

Its been quite an emotionally and physically draining month, but glad things are gradually on the mend.

On a whole its been a month with more downs than there are ups, and i'm just glad theres only 4 SHIFTS LEFT!! ^____^ Roll on the summer BBQs, random day trips, and lazy days in the park and travelling fun!

The rest of the month in short:

- worked a crazy 5 shift week

- after emptying endless catheters from the word go, i finally observed urinary catheter insertion and removal (it's not as bad as i thought it would be, i'm not sure why but i always imagined it to be really difficult ~.~)

- got sent over to work in acute surgical admissions for the day - it was probably one of the busiest days of my short HCA career! I don't mind helping patients onto bedpans and all, but this patient felt the need to constantly remind me her son was an injury lawyer ..even if its just a glass of water she was after!!

- returned my occupational health and completed my CRB form for uni, now just a long wait for that ucas track to change to unconditional firm.

No accomodation

2009-05-17T21:58:00.005+01:00

I received an accomodation email from Barts friday afternoon, had a good read on whats on offer, submitted my online application.... and 2 minutes after that i received an automated email which basically declined my application as i lived too close to the uni ... (within london..but by no means close!).

I will still keep my fingers crossed as i hope to hear off the accom waiting list early october, but most probably i will have to settle with living at home and making the dreaded long travel on a daily basis (i could always just read on the tube, prepare for the lecture, or er.. take a nap). Alternatively i could rent near the uni nearer the time, though it does seem a waste of money to rent near the uni when i live within london, but then again im not too keen on the 2.5hour journey each day! I'll think about it over the summer.

--- 17 shifts left!

Barts - Firmed

2009-05-08T21:21:00.004+01:00

- Firmed on ucas: Bart's A100 here i come!

When i first told my friends they were all a bit shocked i hadn't gone with the gep - but i think its a decision i won't regret. (i gathered they work out costing about the same, so i might as well take my time and make the most out of it, afterall i only get to do medical school once ^^)

Now just 21 more shifts as a HCA, 4 days of annual leave, and a summer break to go!

How important is having a go at dissection?

2009-05-07T12:41:00.004+01:00

Received an email from warwick today to remind me of the offer, and i suppose it was a poke to tell me to hurry up and make a decision, i hadn't really realised how long its been, as its already been almost month, and i still havn't made a decision.

Hope someone with experience could let me know how important having the experience of dissection or even pro-section is at medical school?? - i suppose this is the last bit of the decision process for me.

I'm even starting to find myself annoying, at how long its taking me to make my mind up!

End of UCAS 2009

2009-04-30T18:14:00.004+01:00

All the waiting for kcl has resulted in a big rejection, and whats worse is im still having to wait for ucas to send me an email with an afternoon notification to rub it in even more (damn my own random ucas checking routine)!

The final results:

I was slightly sad as going back to kcl would have felt like home, and could have been the cherry on top of the ucas application sundae, but on the other hand i'm ready for a new change - and to be honest, im already over it, and super glad i'll finally be going somewhere this september on my 3rd ucas application (!!) - although i'm slightly scared and super excited mixed into one!

now back to mulling over the decision of qmul 5 year and warwick gep >.<

I've also handed in my resignation letter to the ward sister, and had quite a funny moment at work the other day when out the blue a FY1 came over to me to ask "can paracetamol be given to a patient up the bum?" - her exact words. I honestly didn't have a clue.

News from Warwick selection centre

2009-04-17T22:39:00.004+01:00

The "wanting and waiting" from last night worked!

I felt the selection centre (especially the written component) had gone quite badly, plus UCAS hadn't sent me a status update email; but following on from my daily ucas track checking ritual this afternoon there was a conditional offer from Warwick - YAY .....and NAY

YAY because i really quite liked the campus feel of the uni, i've never lived outside of london before, its another option, and plus theres the benefits of a 4 year GEP course to consider, but... NAY as its going to be really tough deciding between Barts 5 and Warwick 4 year courses..... and theres still the wait to hear from the kcl waiting list (though i know my chances of getting an offer from the list are extremely slim!).

Theres a lot to consider, with lots of factors to take into account; i obviously really like london, but a shorter and cheaper course could be better financially, but then again i'm not sure if i can get use to living out of a city... i know i'll be dwelling on this over the next few days!

wanting and waiting

2009-04-16T01:08:00.003+01:00

Wanting a change, perhaps some traveling, and waiting to hear back from the two remaining unis on ucas track!

Only returned recently from a short trip abroad and everyone seems to be getting ill around me, myself included. The trip was short and sweet, relaxing and now makes me want to make the transition from the hca-ing part of my gap year to the travelling part!! I was also sort of hoping i'd come back to london from my mini trip with results from the warwick interview, and from the kcl waiting list, as it's already mid-ish april; but nope, nothing at all. So the waiting continues!

The job is fine, there are some patients who make the job really enjoyable as they are great to talk to, and you see them trying really hard to get themselves mobilised and out of there, but it has started to get a little bit boring now (i believe its probably the high turnover ward im on, rather than the job). It is a really worthwhile gap year job, but i just dont get so excited or worried by the same things anymore (evidently, as i still have an angry appetite for lunch, even if its to be straight after clearing up soiled beds, or from measuring the volume of vomit using a cardboard bowl with indented markings), and i think i'd like a change.

The main issue i suppose is if i quit the job too early i lose out on posible earnings and may come back from my travels with nothing left but a handfull of pennies, being jobless and have nothing to do for a few months before uni starts ..but the longer i leave it, the more expensive it gets, especially with the summer air fares! - i ought to just get a move on with the planning.. perhaps its not even travelling im looking for, maybe a new ward, a new hospital.. ahhhhh i don't know!

night shift boredom

2009-03-30T14:24:00.007+01:00

Just finished my 5 consecutive days of night shifts (effectively 62.5 hours!!), and i don't think i intend on signing up for anymore than 4 night shifts again in a long while!

They are really quite tiring, but not in the way you would expect a day shift to be. Most of the patients are asleep during the night, and once i complete my list of tasks, i don't have much else to do and have no patients to chat to - instead i clean and stock up some equipment, and then just sit at the nursing station watching the patients sleep, whilst resisting my own desire to join them in snooze land... well until a patient calls for attention anyways.

No news from kcl waiting list nor from warwick selection centre yet, but both have told me to wait until mid-april, so i think i'll just try and forget it until then, and keep my mind on more important things like... holiday! ^^

Warwick Selection Centre

2009-03-26T08:57:00.003Z

The rumours were true... the chocolate muffins, doughnuts, and plenty of tea and coffee were there to greet us in the common room... and that i really couldn't have prepared for the selection centre. (Sadly i never got to try any of the sweet treats in the morning, and by the time we went back for a short break, they had all dissapeared >.<)

The selection centre was actually quite unusual, and some parts (group excercise) were actually really fun (!!) - the video-based interview was very similar to the Bart's interview i had in 2007 (i got rejected that time).. and the written task was a complete fail for me (ran out of time, and basically didn't answer the questions well). So all in all, i doubt i will be at warwick next year, as the selection centre didn't really go too well for me... thankfully we've been told we will only have to wait till mid-april to hear back.. so not too long left!

time not well spent

2009-03-22T09:00:00.004Z

The ward sister gave me a good few days off to allow me to prep for the warwick interview, but since my shift on wednesday i've fitted in a game of badminton, iceskating, went out for dinner twice, watched a film ( The Unborn - it was RUBBISH!) and did very little in the form of interview prep (apart from having chosen what i'm going to wear).

Hopefully i'll get some prep done today, before i take the coach up to leamington spa tomorrow morning, but to be really honest i have no idea how i can prepare for the selection centre - as its still quite a mystery to me as to what actually happens (i've read the forums - theres a group task, an interview, and something about nice chocolate muffins). What i do know.. is my friend has a lot of activities planned for after the interview (yay), which is then sadly followed by 5 consecutive night shifts starting on the wednesday night i return to london.

Other gappers

2009-03-21T14:56:00.007Z

I met another gap year A100 applicant lately (rather randomly on the lift), i can't remember the exact name of his position, but he gets to pick up patients from the wards and take them to the theatre where he gets to observe the surgical procedures, and then deliver the patients to itu, and then to wherever they need to go after that. It sounds like a rather interesting job, but the grass is always greener on the other side. When discussing our different roles, he told me he wished he had the opportunity to work on a ward - i also wished i had the opportunity to observe surgical procedures; we settled on the idea that we'll hopefully get to see these things next year.

The HCA girl i started with has also left the job now, and will soon be off on her 3 months of travels. Initially time went by really slowly, but now time seems to have gone by too quickly, and i will soon be off on my travels too at the beginning of April..... sadly only for 2 weeks, before i have to come back to the working life - its a short break, and hopefully will be worth the annual leave i had to take.

Friendly/Scary FY2

2009-03-07T23:55:00.004Z

Had a very quiet shift today (weekend shifts tend to be) - generally i was just making several trips to pharmacy, did a lot of obs, and i had a really interesting (but some-what scary) conversation with a FY2.

The FY2 himself wasn't scary, in fact hes really friendly, helpful, and ever since we found out we had both done an undergrad in biochemistry at kcl before applying to med as a grad (what a coincidence!), hes been happy to find out how im finding the job and to teach me random things (today he was explaining the ecg belonging to a patient on the ward - though to be honest i didn't really understand that much of it - too many new technical terms). What was quite scary however, was the conversation we had today where he told me about how he thinks the courses are getting easier, and medical students are now less prepared for their foundation years than "back in his days" - and he feels he doesn't know as much as his peers when they were SHOs. Maybe i am just a bit pessimistic, but this is definately something i am worried about - not that i don't think the teaching will be good enough when i eventually start, just that i worry about not knowing enough.

Im sure i have a lot of time to worry about this in the years to come and i should just enjoy what i have left of my gap year. Afterall i am now into my 6th month as a HCA (feels like its gone very quickly!), and if following my previous plans, this would be by last month before fitting in some travel. However, with the current economic crisis, i think i'm going to work for a few more months, possibly till June/July before setting off somewhere for a few weeks. Although its less travelling time, I think the little extra cash will be helpful next year (!!)

Swapsies

2009-02-25T23:35:00.003Z

Managed to cut down on my warwick interview costs by arranging a swap for a "good" amount of instant noodles and random snacks, in return for a space on my friend's bedroom floor the night before the interview! (i decided i don't want to risk relying on the national rail to get me there "on time" for 8.15am on the day!!)

Im sure she would have been happy to let me take up the spot - even without the edible bribe (!!), but she also plans to show me the campus and take me on a tour of the local shops - and if theres time.. even a mini outing to birmingham! - so i think random edible bits from london to help her pass the easter exam revision period, and buying her lunch is a must!

Nothing interesting lately, i finally forked out the 44.99 and purchased a lomography fisheye 2 camera, have been playing around with it, and am close to finishing the roll of film (36), can't wait to see how the photos end up!

So i'm alive then?

2009-02-12T21:36:00.008Z

There was a bit of a sticky situation on the ward the other day, a patient had mass doses of morphine and was still in severe pain and was starting to moan really loudly; and all the doctors on call were really busy elswhere and were unable to answer their bleeps straight away. The bp, heart and resp rate were on the up, and in the middle of the situation i got told to quickly do an ECG on the patient...and i didn't know how to.

I obviously made the team aware of this, as although i've had nurses and other hcas teaching me how to do it before, but when i saw the patient in so much pain i just didn't feel confident. i fetched the machine over, plugged it into the mains and then felt useless as i watched others members on the ward attatching the sticky tabs and the relevent leads. The doctors finally arrived, and i watched their diagnostic process, taking bloods from the patients, feeling around the area, asking the patient to describe the pain, and discussing among the team the possible cause of the patient's sudden pain. Alas with no obvious signs from the bloods, a bladder scanner revealed urine retention - and after a swift insertion of a urinary catheter by the nurse, the patient slowly but surely began to feel better, and a few hours on was happily sitting up talking to the visiting family

- i was really happy to see the patient recover from the bout of pain so quickly; but was not so happy when the FY2 doctor thought i had thrown his tourniquet away, and made me dig through the bin to see if it was in there... it was later revealed, that the FY2 had left it on the patient's bed ~.~

--------------------
"so i'm alive then?" - The first time an elderly male patient asked this after i had taken his temperature, i found it quite sweet, but now i just find it cringey - as every patient seems to be saying it these days... where did it all start?!!
--------------------

A few people at work know i have an offer now (only because they sussed out the reason as to why i was there and had asked me about it, or they are among the gap year applicants), but generally most people still think im doing this because i can't find a lab job - and i prefer it this way, as i get to avoid having some of the weird looks some of the other gap year hcas get.

BL post-offer open day

2009-02-06T00:53:00.003Z

The day passed between long queues during the tea + biscuit breaks, and a mixture of talks held in the Perrin lecture theatre; these varied from the typical welcome speeches - to the really fun speakers (i am really looking forward to rag week!), and then to the dull (funding). I also thought there were going to be a lot more attendees today, but when we all filed into the lecture theatre i think we hardly even filled a quater of it (possibly it was just a big theatre? - or just not many people turned up).

Most of the information given today i could have found online, but visiting the medical school, and listening to the speakers talk about Bart's with so much passion has definately made everything seem so much more exciting!! The only downside..is the long travel time for me >_< (1 hour plus!!) , but there are plenty of positives to make up for it! - i really like the look of the systems based course, the opportunity to spend some of the clinicals years in the soon to be refurbished hospitals, the atmosphere, and being able to study near the olympic games are definately just a few of the pros.

All in all i think its been quite a good day, although a bit on the tiring side, and the London weather wasn't exactly at is best, but i think it has definately relighted the excitement of going to medical school for me ^^

Snow

2009-02-03T21:27:00.006Z

For once it snows (properly/heavily) in London, and my mind is not occupied on the stupid things i can get on with, but on how i should go about getting to work! I knew it was going to be cold, windy and snowing, but i didn't expect the buses to stop running..(!!!), nor was it fun waiting pointlessly at the bus stop in the cold for 15 minutes to find out (if the random man in a van didn't stop to pull his window down and shout over that the buses are all out of service.. i could have quite possibly still have been standing there 30 minutes on). This ultimately meant i had a 30 minute hike up a slippery hill, for a bus journey which usually takes around 10, followed by a severly delayed tube journey (i suppose i should just be glad my line wasn't entirely suspended >.<).

With all the delays and mishaps in the morning, i managed to get into work only 15 minutes late, and i think the staff were all just glad i managed to make it in. It was a pretty hectic day, and at one point in the morning, one nurse had to struggle with 15 patients to herself, just plainly due to the short staff. Just to emphasise how difficult it was to get staff into the hospital, the ward manager then went on to organise hotel accomodation for all staff returning the next day, i was very close to accepting, but chose to go home - i regretted this, as the journey this morning wasn't exactly much better than yesterdays ~.~

Today i also had a very intersting conversation with a patient's relative who decided to talk to me about his body building routine (i don't know why!), it was intersting, but i don't think i'm going to take his advice on sticking notes around the ward to get myself to eat 5 meals a day as opposed to 3.

U... and other acronyms

2009-01-29T17:33:00.005Z

for.. U/cath (urinary catheter), and the stupid mistake.

When i first started working as a HCA, one of the hard things i felt was to understand what all the acronyms on the handover sheet stood for, and what it meant i had to do for each individual patient. Some are pretty obvious, such as U/cath - meaning they have a urinary catheter (or a spc - supra or sub pubic catheter), and it was just protocol for me to go empty it twice a shift before they eat or sleep, or if it is getting full at other times during the day. Without having to sound too corny, but on my night shift yesterday i learnt how important communication between healthcare staff is - as a lack of communication meant i poured away 6 hours of urine for a patient as normal at midnight, before the nurse exclaimed that we were supposed to collect 24 hours worth and send it off to biochemistry... i was told this after having poured and flushed the urine away, and had the cup being disinfected >.< Thankfully the patient was very understanding, though he did mention being dissapointed, and it made me feel pretty guilty.

Other acronyms i've come across so far at work are NIDDM and IDDM (non/insulin dependent diabetes mellitus) - meaning i have to take their blood glucose before their meals, or hourly if they are on a sliding scale. NBM for nill by mouth, often accompanied by a time on the handover, and recently i learnt the meaning of TWOC (trial without catheter) - when i went to empty a catheter and embaressingly couldn't locate it.

Not an acronym, but just a stupid spelling mistake i keep spotting on the handovers - cellulite. When i read the handover, i was surprised it mentioned patients had cellulite.. on the first few weeks i never really understood why it was important to have it pointed out...and that it could be painful (?) before i eventually asked a staff nurse, and then understood they meant cellulitis ~.~

Finally U is also for unsucesful, alas i could not escape my curse of january rejections. As the month is about to draw to a close, i thought i might escape january rejections this ucas round, but nope, UCL kept the tradition by rejecting me today.. but... although not happy about it, im not to bothered either, as i'm just so relieved to have an offer, and best of all.. i get to stay in london ^^ !

Barts Offer (!!!)

2009-01-27T18:55:00.004Z

After missing my A-level grades to meet my conditional offer terms in 2005 for Barts, 3 years on i've finally found my pass back to Barts as a biochemistry graduate - conditional on health and CRB checks. ^_____^

It almost feels surreal, to the point in which i'm still quite calm, having randomly checked my track on tuesday afternoon, and havn't had the emotional dance, cry or shout... yet (i'm sure there is plenty of time for that in the time to come!)

It's an odd feeling, i don't know how to describe it, but am just really glad its all worked out, and my gap year plans are on course. I think working as a HCA has really made the extra difference this year, and though that said.. i can't wait to move on to the travelling part of my gap year!

Until then.. i'm back onto night shifts tomorrow night!

Post BARTS-interview

2009-01-22T21:34:00.003Z

Woke up early, but as things go with the london underground and general morning traffic, i arrived at the Garrod building/old library in Whitechapel with only 2 minutes to spare! - it almost became a bad start (!!!). I signed some bit of paper i never got to read through properly, ticking to mark my ethnicity and rushed into the seating area.. and before i even got to take my coat off, one of my very very VERY tall interviewers came across the room to invite me to the interview "bay".

The interview area looked almost identical to last years, with two rows of seats arranged to face the interview area, which was defined by green office-styled screens, boxing off different areas of the hall into small make shift interview bays. I was in the one on the right hand corner, luckily quite a distant from the other bays, though throughout the interview it was hard not to over hear other people having their interviews in the background.

The interview started with big smiles from the two really friendly interviewers, then came a few very typical interview questions, followed by some questions off the personal statement, and finally a good long discussion on the ethical case article they sent along with the invite. I actually prefered the ethical case discussion taken in their interview approach this year, compared to their video approach in the past years, and i felt the interview also went a lot better this year, but only time (and ucas track updates) will tell.

However, of all the possible ways i could have ended the interview by asking a normal question, we ended up talking about their helicopter... ~.~

A new kind of January - interview invitations

2009-01-10T14:59:00.006Z

Finally went back to work on thursday after having a very relaxed 2.5 weeks off; it was sort of weird going back to the ward after such a long break, but its good to be back, albeit a little tiring - especially as i don't have the discipline and will power to make myself sleep early, even with knowledge of a 12.5 hour working day ahead.

Went downstairs today to find something to munch on (actually, it was specifically chocolate i was looking for haha, a family friend had bought some back from her trip to switzerland... yum!) and saw a pile of post on the floor, with 2 interview invites, one from qmul/barts 5 year A100 (only 1 day off from my interview there last year, a bit unnerving) and the other was from warwick 4 year A101. January has actually managed to be a niceish month so far - and with the interview for warwick being in march, also means i won't have the same sad situation of receivng 4 rejections in January, as i did last year.

Whilst excited, i'm also a bit worried, as the selection centre at warwick sounds difficult, and barts seems like they have changed their interview style this year, and has sent me a few pages to read about a recent ethical situation to read and to discuss at interview. I suppose this may be the new replacement to the video from past years?

Will probably browse the forums in a moment and see what sort of information i can get, but until then... its time to collect my free shuffle replacement from the apple store - yay another nice january moment thus far into 2009 (i had accidently placed my shuffle into the washing machine with the rest of the laundry, and obviously it came out broken, but having taken it to the people at the apple store in regent's street, they are going to give me a free replacement ^^)

New Year ~!

2009-01-01T11:33:00.005Z

It’s not often I get to wake up and welcome a new year, but as it’s THAT time of year again, I suppose I’ll be setting a whole bunch of targets, most of which will probably be forgotten in a few months time… not because I am forgetful, but with time I tend to realise how unrealistic some of my plans tend to be.

A good example would be my gap year plan to earn enough money to repay my student loan, squeeze in a major backpacking holiday trip, save some money for the future, and most importantly get into a medical school.

-This was sort of going to plan, until:

i) I realised how big my loan was

ii) I realised how little pay HCAs get

iii) when I promised mum I would take her on holiday, so paying a trip for 2 on top of everything else

and

iv) When i was put on the waiting list after interview

However, although there are now greater limitations to my backpacking trip, i am still really looking forward to my mini adventure, and can’t wait to meet up with my friend to discuss possible plans this week. I was all hyped to go alone, but as I found out one of my friends also wants to take a break after her degree, I thought the more the merrier! (+ safer and cheaper ~.~). Not too sure where we plan to go yet, but hopefully that would be cleared up after a chit chat over some coffee, and with some access to the internet.

---------------------------------------------------

On application side of things, i met someone recently whos currently in the final year of her biomed degree at kcl, and having had an interview at kcl in november, has now secured an offer for the 5 year course.. what a great christmas present that must have been!!

- - though whilst i was extremely happy for her.. eeeeek it makes me wonder whats going to be happening to those put on the waiting list... >_____< !!

====================================
WELCOME JANUARY 2009 ~!
Let me hope you will be nicer than January 2008!!
====================================

Happy Holidays

2008-12-27T10:21:00.002Z

Yay Christmas was actually quite good this year!! - but then my ward decided to close out of the blue and has now left me alone in london for no reason!!!! GARRRRRRR i hate undecisive ward managers! - it means i don't go back to work until the end of the 1st week of January. Although i enjoy my time off, i wish they could have told me earlier as i could have planned something, instead of having not very much to do.

Thankfully this year my brother his girlfriend, and my cousin has decided to visit london, so its not actually been too bad, as i got to spend time at home cooking up a feast to cheesy music, watching re-runs of old films, drinking alcohol and playing stupid games. All in all, twas a very merry Christmas.

On the med application side of things... absolutely nothing! no news! de nada!

- - but from experience January is a very very horrible month - so lets just hope i manage to hold through the month without toooo many rejections!

Waiting listed

2008-12-10T16:12:00.003Z

After 6 weeks of waiting from my kcl interview, i've been notified by mail today to stay waiting until march/april, as i sit on the waiting list.

I suppose i am glad its not a straight rejection, but i know my chances of staying at kcl for another 5 years is unlikely, as the chances of receiving an offer from the list is very very low. I will just have to sit and hope. The worst part being through the post-interview wait, i was thinking how i would really enjoy spending another 5 years at kcl; but alas, fate tells me to keep waiting.

My ward has a new HCA, another med applicant gapper, theres now 3 of us on the ward and it seems as if the ward sister has taken a liking to taking on gappers, as the 3 latest hcas (me included) have all been gappers.... or it could possibly be because theres a surge of gapping applicants this time of year; none the less it means i now have another person to chat to about applications and things. However, i do cringe on the idea of seeing one of them on friday, as she also had an interview at kcl last month, and i'm just going to be reminded of my unlikely chances with every shift i share with her.

Really hoping i'll hear from other unis soon, i think it would be pretty shattering to have to fail another round of applications if this year sees a similar fate to the last.

december update

2008-12-04T23:50:00.004Z

Oh was waiting for the BMAT results to arrive a nuisance, (i believe there was a mix up, and they were sending them out a tad late) but i wish i was still waiting.. as the results weren't just a tad crap..they were worst than last years!

Ok it's only 0.3 marks less than last years..but i think its almost definately means my chances at ucl have gone down the drain, and mixed in with the sudden cold weather, a bad flu, and my desktop officially dead and failing to be reformatted, the week has been pretty grim.

I don't regret taking the bmat and risking it slightly as such, at least now i won't have to live with the "what if" factor. I was slightly dissapointed with my bmat results, but the dissapointment didn't last too long; i suppose i'm just glad its something out the way.

It just goes to show... no news is good news !

on the line of news.. ucas track has remained looking the same as it did almost 2 months ago; however im sure thats going to change soon, as from last year's experience - january seems to be a popular month for bad news ~.~