Showing posts with label difficult. Show all posts
Showing posts with label difficult. Show all posts

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Difficulty of Going Backwards.

So I've had a week of lectures...which to be fair weren't too intense. They weren't 9-5 lectures so I can't really complain. Ever since January, I feel like I have made leaps and bounds in terms of progression in clinical experience. In paediatrics, I hardly did any clinical skills and was in a small group for my placement. I had a partner with me for all clinics and was never really on my own. Didn't really even see patients on my own either. Then we get to Obs and Gynae...slowly venturing out a bit and being a bit more independent. Still in a small group on my placement, BUT I didn't have a partner to go with to clinic/theatre. I was actually scared to be on my own as I have never really been to clinic on my own and you get all these thoughts of: "Ahh no one to bail me out when the consultant asks me a question." I actually really enjoyed going to clinics on my own as you get to chat with the consultant more and it isn't as daunting for patients to have two students watching/sitting in. I definitely started becoming more independent on placements and started being more proactive in guiding my learning.

Then my last placement in orthopaedics. It was the first time I ever attended a placement on my own. I have always been in a small group. Funny enough my first concern was: "Who the heck is going to eat lunch with me?!" I am definitely not a fan of eating on my own as it is painfully boring. I like to talk during my lunch as I eat quite quickly so talking helps me slow down. I can easily scoff down lunch in 5-10 minutes and I end up taking extremely short lunch breaks. Luckily, due to my half-days I was able to go home to eat so I didn't have to sit in a cafeteria eating on my own and staring off into space. When I did have to eat lunch at the hospital I was usually with my consultant/registrar so we all ate together. But yeah my independence was really tested in this placement as everything I did was all "me". No one to fall back on. No one to rely on. No one to catch your mistakes...other than the consultant. Went to see new patients on my own and do full examinations on my own..then presented to my supervisor. If you had asked me to do that in my paeds placement...I wouldn't be confident enough to do it. I guess that's one thing with being dropped in the deep end. Got to learn quick and deal with it quickly. To be honest it did help that my supervisor is probably one of the nicest people I have ever met so I knew if I made a mistake I wouldn't get a full blown telling off/humiliation. It was also nice that I actually got to do things during my placement such as see patients, do examinations, assist in surgery, etc.


Now...sitting in lectures on a very hard plastic seat (even the clinic chairs are more comfy) in a small tutorial room...painful. I was talking to my friends and they kept saying it was nice to have a relaxed week of just sitting around and doing nothing but listen. I actually struggled this week. I may not be the hardest working medical student...but I hate sitting around. Especially with my last 2 placements where I was actually being productive and learning loads on placement...I am actually a bit sick of sitting in lectures and listening to one person talk about the same subject for 2-3 hours. Also got my induction pack for my next placement (GP) and the first thing I read: "Patients should not be seen by medical students who are on their own. Medical students will be supervised at ALL times." I'm totally looking forward to GP now...so excited that I'm bouncing off the walls (sarcasm). I really really hope that the package is a bit outdated and my GP will let me go see patients on my own and do some examinations. It's weird getting so much independence and responsibilities...and suddenly being stripped from all of it and back to holding hands. If this is the case...wow this is going to be a shock to the system.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Planning Ahead.

I would like to think I am fairly good at planning ahead. I am quite a simple person and fairly straight forward, but few know that I actually think quite a bit about the future. Being an international student, you have to think about the future.  We try our best to not think about the future as anything can happen, but we also have to be ready for anything unexpected. My biggest advice to international students (no matter how confident you are about staying in the UK) is to have a backup plan. What happens if the UK government decide to throw us a curve ball and change the immigration/Visa rules? What happen if you suddenly have to return home due to family issues? And if you're not planning on staying in the UK, you really got to plan when to take the registry exams such as USMLE. It pains me when I see international students not having a single clue what they'll be doing in a few years time. Unfortunately it isn't a straight path for international students, let it be staying in the UK or going back home. Either way it won't be easy and you will have to make sacrifices. Anyways enough with the grim outlook for international students. It isn't all that bad to be honest. It's just that you have to constantly remind yourself you are an international student and it isn't a simple straight path. There will be many obstacles to cross and many walls to climb. It isn't easy, but hopefully it'll be all worth it in the end.

Anyways enough with the weird banter paragraph above. Maybe I should put the beer away. Haha. If you guys read my last post carefully, I did not talk about Friday. No I didn't have lectures...and no I did not go into placement. Then you must assume I was skiving. No I wasn't skiving either...well I wouldn't consider it skiving because I was actually doing something productive. I had a meeting with an Orthopaedic consultant at the central hospital to discuss about my Student Selected Component (SSC) project for this coming May.  The last time I met the consultant, I fell asleep in the chair and he had to wake me up...great first impression. Luckily it didn't really affect him as he was willing to see me again. He was actually quite keen to be my supervisor for my SSC and to mentor me. This time prior to meeting him, I made sure I was not going to fall asleep. I heard him come out from his office so I made sure I didn't look like I was dozing off...to be honest I was zoning out as all I did was stare at the wall. I had to wait for awhile as I was 30 minutes early for the meeting as I messed up on my travel timing so I was quite tired. Went into the office to discuss what I will be doing for my 6 week SSC project. We did a lot of brainstorming and came up with quite a few ideas.  Either this consultant is smart or was prepared to discuss about my SSC as he was rapid firing ideas at me. Unfortunately, I kept zoning out as to be fair...I did not understand half the things he mentioned. He was talking about the different type of implants used in Orthopaedics, and obviously I have never heard of the brands. He talked to me like I knew all the brands so you could imagine I was very lost. When I get lost...I zone out. It's a horrible trait I have. As he went on, he realized he should write down what I will be doing. He set out a bunch of aims and wanted me to expand on it and give it a think. He filled up half a page with notes on the aims of my project (looking at implants). I quickly put the paper away in my bag without looking at the paper.

And then I perked up as the consultant mentioned that during my project he wants to do some clinical things with me. I told him that I got to observe a few trauma surgeries and paeds orthopaedic surgeries over the last few weeks. He ended up throwing a curve-ball at me and told me that it is good that I'm making the effort and be keen to go see these things, BUT the difference is that when I follow him I will be scrubbing in and actually assisting. Oh man, I got so excited it was ridiculous. I immediately sat up straight and couldn't stop smiling. Scrubbing in and assisting = music to my ears. Finally I get the chance to get my hands in and do something that I am interested in. He also went on how I will be able to do some stitching (heart sank a bit as the last time I learned stitching was a year ago). Now, I was very excited about my SSC and the consultant surely knows how to make a student happy.

After the meeting I quickly went home and took out the paper that he wrote on. To my demise, I could not make out half the things he wrote. I regretted zoning out and I should've remembered doctors do not write legibly.  Took me ages to decipher what the consultant wrote. In the end, I figured out most of the things he wrote as I vaguely remembered the stuff he was talking about and managed to crack on with expanding on his notes. Note to self: Do NOT zone out while a consultant is talking to you. You'll regret it as you won't be able to read half the things he wrote down. Imagine if I couldn't decipher what he wrote...the embarrassment I would have to go through as I would have to email him and tell him I can't read what he wrote when I should have been paying attention during the meeting.

Anyways I'm super stoked about my SSC in May! One more meeting and a bit of paperwork before my SSC will be official. Cannot wait.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Life of an International Student.

Winter holiday is coming to an end and it literally blew by. First came Christmas. Next thing you know it was New Year's eve. Then we welcomed a new year - 2012. I celebrated these festivities with my family and knowing that this is probably the last Christmas/New Year I will spend back at home before I graduate really gave us the urgency to do as much as we could this winter holiday. Ate lots of good food and did quite a bit of shopping. Really tried my best to take in as much of home as much as I could. Also tried my best to spend as much time as I could with my family. I really don't know when is the next time I'm coming back home. It is a really sad thought. School is getting busier and I am getting shorter holidays.

In a blink of an eye I will be heading to the airport to fly back to England. I hate going to the airport and saying "goodbye". Tears my heart every time.  It will never get easy. It is really hard to see your parents sad to see you leave. Sometimes I wonder if going to study thousands of miles away from home a good choice. Unlike local students, I can't just spontaneously decide to go home for the weekend. Home is in a different country thousands of miles away. Thinking about it, international students make huge sacrifices to come to England to study. So food for thought: when parents of international students come to visit, don't tease them.  Sometimes flying back home isn't an option so the next best thing is for parents to come visit. Think about the sacrifices we make for a better education and the opportunity to study things that may not be available in our home countries.

Life of an international student is not easy.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Close Call.

If you have read my previous post on exams...you would have noticed that this exam was very difficult and I was fairly convinced I had failed. From last day of exams to results...I had 7 days to ponder and scare myself/reassure myself. Easily the most anxious 7 days of my life. First day post exam - I swear I was brain dead. I couldn't do anything properly. At the same time - I was in a bit of a depressed state of mind. Also found it very difficult to sleep. Mind you, I'm not the type that worries about stuff. I literally am a happy-go-lucky/care-free person. I rarely worry about things.  Thank goodness I got to go to London for the weekend to watch a concert, which allowed me to get my mind off of exams and just to relax.

Results day - woke up at 8am...pretty much tossed around in bed for the next 4 hours as results aren't released until 2pm. Worst bit is that I have to go to the medical school to go see my results as for no reason the school does not post them online.

"Results are out...it ain't pretty." - the text message I received from my friend at 2:10pm. When I read the message, I felt my heart drop. As I got closer to the medical school, I could feel my heart racing. I then saw classmates standing outside the school. Some crying. Some cheering. Some looked in shock. I really didn't know what to expect. The short walk from the entrance to the notice board where our results are posted was probably the longest walk ever. Next comes the difficult bit. Finding your student number in a list of 280 other numbers. "Should I check the fail list first? Or just try to find my number in the pass list?" My gut went with looking through the pass list first. Thank goodness our numbers are in numerical order this year. Page after page....I finally found my number. I passed my exam! Then curiosity won me over and I took a look at the fail list. I was in shock. The phase director had failed 20% of the year (50+ students). Wow. She actually kept her word about it. I was disgusted by the number of students she had decided to fail. Ridiculous. As time passed, more of my friends came in to check their results as word had spread about results being out. One by one I saw students come through. Saw a couple people crying as they had failed their exams. Thinking about it - we were all top of the class students. Failure...is probably something we have never really experienced before, so for those who failed their medical exams it probably came as a shock. By the way - usually only 10-15 people fail their exams. In our last two years, my year had set the highest passing rate. The academic department was proud of our year. In 6 months, we went from the highest passing rate, to the highest failing rate. Obviously there is something wrong with the exam and not us.

Unfortunately a few of my close friends had failed their exams. I know a few people getting kicked out from the course from failing more than 3 times in the course. A couple of people had failed and had such a bad experience from these last 6 months, will be quitting medicine. It's really a shame that one phase director can put so many people off from medicine and possibly even change the future of so many students.  Lots of students had lost a lot of confidence because of these exams. These exams disgust me especially knowing the school had screwed up badly with these exams. Pass mark for our exams are usually at around 47-50%. This year our pass mark was around 40%. OBVIOUSLY something wrong with the exam if your pass mark is that low. I surely hope the school does something to resolve this as I think this is unacceptable. Yes I am angry at the school. Yes I am annoyed. Yes I know I passed, but knowing the pass mark was that low - I feel like I didn't pass my exam as it was not a fair exam and not a fair way to examine the knowledge I had gained in the last 6 months.

What I had experienced from these exams, I am a bit hesitant on even recommending the school to prospective students. It's really a shame how poorly this has been handled. Hopefully the school will regain my confidence in them in the new year.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Brain Torture.

As some of you know, I had exams about a week ago. Had 2 written papers and 1 practical (OSCE). It could easily be the hardest exam I have ever endured. I was mentally drained after each exam - I had never struggled so much in an exam. Our year had our exams re-written to a new format so we were going into the exam blind as we were told 3 days before our exam that the specimen papers that were put online are not representative of what we will be examined on. Instilling so much confidence into us (sarcasm). So pretty much we were all pooping ourselves prior to exams as we have no idea what to expect. We didn't even know what to study or how to study for this exam so the general consensus was "We are so screwed." It didn't help that we were told that the previous year 1 in 5 students had failed (20%). The scare tactics had been brutal and was pretty much messing with our confidence (quite unprofessional of the director to be honest). We were also told that the director was going to fail 20% of the year again so everyone was extremely scared. Horrible way to go into an exam.

Anyways the first paper I had was multiple choice and I swear once I finished the exam it felt like someone had continuously kicked my brain. I couldn't even think straight afterwards. The exam was 1.5 hours and the exam we took was definitely for a 2 hour time limit. I had BARELY just finished the exam. I was on my last question with only 10 minutes to spare. Didn't even get time to check. Mind you I'm not a slow exam taker...for the last 2 years I have finished my multiple choice papers in 30 minutes and the last two years my exam had 90 question and a 2 hour time limit. This year we had 60 questions with a 1.5 hour time limit. Each question was a massive paragraph to read. It was really frustrating as it takes just a minute to read the question. You seriously start to wonder if anyone had checked the exam paper and tried doing it to make sure it is possible to finish the paper in 1.5 hours. I had several friends who couldn't even finish this paper. Most people only did about 40ish questions out of 60. What a way to start the exam week.

Next day was the OSCE practical exam. 12 stations. 6 patient histories. 6 physical examinations. I was fairly confident going into this as I feel that I'm strong at doing practicals. Anyways the exam was 2 hours and it was so hectic and a lot more difficult than I had expected it to be. Should've known if I had based it on the previous day's exam. The instructions that were given in each station were long and very confusing. It would be like "Please do _____ examination on the patient BUT do not do _____, ______, _____, and _______; BUT remember to assess _______." Mind you the time you take to read the instructions is part of the time you're supposed to perform the physical examination so the longer you take to read, the less time you have to do the physical examination. You're already nervous and anxious, so when seeing such unclear instructions your brain gets all jumbled up. Personally I thought I did okay in the OSCE. Did however watch one examiner fail me in a patient history station for no reason. Everyone else in my circuit was complaining about the same examiner as he was giving everyone just half marks and was being very stingy/strict. Quit frustrating.

Final day was modified essay question paper. Obviously every one was petrified of this exam as based on how the last 2 days went - this exam will be ridiculously hard. Also because a lot of people couldn't finish the first paper, a lot of people were relying on this final paper to pull their mark up. This year we have to pass our written papers overall and pass the OSCE individually. For the first time in 2.5 years, people were studying prior to the exam. Usually we would all be standing around and being really relaxed. The air was so tense, it was ridiculous. My heart was thumping and I saw people being sick right before the exam. The nerves were through the roof. Got to the exam...and oh....my....goodness. We were asked really rare conditions which were probably mentioned in 1 slide of a random lecture. Again more people got up to be sick in the toilet. One girl passed out in the final 10 minutes of the exam. Some people threw the paper on the floor and just left in disgust. What an exam.

"Time is up. Can everyone please stop writing and close their papers."

I have never heard such a quiet exam hall after the exam. No one was celebrating as it was our last exam. No one was cheering. Every one looked shocked/disappointed/upset. People left the exam building in record time. The mood was quite solemn. No one was in the mood to do anything. Had lunch with friends and most of my friends had lost their appetite. To be honest, when I finished that last exam, it was the very first time I said to myself: "I am going to fail." I was already thinking how I was going to tell my parents. I was so convinced I had failed it was eating me up inside.

Medicine is not easy. Again confirming my belief you have to be mentally strong to study Medicine. It is mentally and physically grueling. You have to be determined. There will be several up and downs as I have faced in this new phase. Probably the worst 6 months of medical school I have ever endured. It was like going through Medicine Boot Camp. Medics certainly do have a crazy life. It is never a straight line. Never take it for granted you're in medicine - anything can happen.