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 (> .<)
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Sunday, 10 October 2010
Extended Patient Contact
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!
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!
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Lecturer's Youtube link
Our Clinical skills lecturer sent this youtube link to our year group.......
"Doctor Dances to Hip-Hop Heart Rhythms-Arrhythmias "
"Doctor Dances to Hip-Hop Heart Rhythms-Arrhythmias "
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Starting Year 2 - Cardiorespiratory
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!!
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!!
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Summer Break
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!
....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!
Friday, 4 June 2010
Do i regret choosing 5-year over GEP?
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.
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.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Year 1 Results: 1/5th of a doctor ^^
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! ^^
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! ^^
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