So it is week 2 of my paediatric placement. Now I'm getting to know the doctors on the ward much better and they seem more keen to teach us. Even if they see something vaguely interesting, he or she will come and tell us to take a look. I was on-call on Wednesday and what a long day. Got in at 8:45am and didn't get home until 10pm. I was intending to leave at 8pm as I do have to drive back home as I do not stay in the hospital accommodation. Day started off with a ward round (usual). Saw a few interesting patients, but nothing really out of the ordinary. Managed to see a Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. To be honest...it looks pretty horrible. Essentially Stevens Johnson is where you get really red eyes and blisters all around your mouth and oral mucosa. You can also get blisters elsewhere in your body...including your genitalia........yeah. Anyways it doesn't look pleasant and obviously the patient was in quite a bit of discomfort as he could not really eat any solid food. Then went to clinic after lunch where we saw pretty general stuff. Ear infections, constipation, diarrhoea, etc. Got to play with a few of the kids that came in/working on my "playing with children" skill.
I don't have any younger siblings so I personally am not really used to playing with young children. I am still quite apprehensive about playing with kids as I don't really know what to do with them. I mean I think I'm good at making faces as so far I have been able to make the kids laugh by making faces. In terms of toys....I try and just pick up whatever I see and hand it to them...which they quickly put to the side/throw it to the side. Had a few quizzical looks from babies...which is quite adorable...and pretty funny. Sometimes they just look so confused even you get confused yourself! So clinic lasted for about 3 hours and I did get my bum grilled to a burnt toast by the consultant. Non-stop questions. I asked my consultant a question and he proceeded to ask my question back to me! I'm sure I gave him several blank looks. I'm alright with being put on the spot to answer questions, but it still gets my heart rate up. Luckily the consultant is very relaxed and nice so I knew he only asked to help me learn instead of trying to make me feel dumb....not like any consultant would have that sort of intention (sarcasm). Nice thing about being quizzed is that you do remember things much better. I did learn quite a few things.
Then the ward went dead. There was nothing to do. I literally was wandering around in circles looking for patients to talk to or something to do, but most of the patients I saw in the morning have been discharged. I sat around at the nurse's/doctor's station and swiveled in my chair. Then my registrar who is on-call with me...started getting several bleeps. Literally 5 patients walked in at the same time right after dinner. So I got to work clerking the patients in and helping the registrar out with some stuff. Did learn how to take blood from a baby. A pretty pain-staking process. You essentially prick the heel of the baby with a device and you let the blood drip out and catch it in the bottle....you can imagine this can take awhile depending on how fast the blood drips out/how cooperative the baby is.
As earlier stated...I was planning to leave at 8pm, but because suddenly all the patients decided to show up at the same time...I ended up getting held back. I didn't want to leave midway through clerking so I told myself I can leave after clerking and presenting the cases to the registrar. At around 9pm I was finally finished and made my way home. Got home...showered...and then passed out on my bed. And up again next day for 9am. As you can guess....I had a lot of difficulty waking up. Plus the prospect of needing to drive for about an hour was not helping. Either way....thankfully this week kind of picked up and I am starting to get much more teaching from the doctors and I'm starting to get along with the doctors. Starting to feel like I'm a part of the team. It's a nice feeling.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Paediatrics - Week 1
Wow this week was LONG. First started the week with a whole day of introductory lectures from 9-5. Then on Tuesday it was the start of our placement and the start of long drives early in the morning. Got to the peripheral hospital and the minute I stepped into the Children's Unit, I knew something wasn't right. In first year I had a placement in Paediatrics and you could hear children screaming/crying from outside in the hallway. This time...it was dead quiet. There were no doctors to be seen. We met in the doctor's room and soon all the doctors arrived and did a handover. The reason for the quietness of the ward? We only had 3 patients on the ward and another patient was coming in later in the day. I mean the doctors are all really nice though. All of them are also really keen in teaching as well. They did mention that the lack of patients is common so we do have to be proactive.
We are expected to do 7 on-calls in our entire attachment (7 weeks). So it would make out to be 1 on-call per week. I did my on-call on Friday which meant I was in from 9am-10pm. What a long day. However, I managed to clerk in several patients and I was definitely learning. Also in the middle of the week I got to do baby checks. This is where the doctor would check over a newborn baby making sure he/she is healthy and ready to go home. Some of the babies were so cute; however, after all the baby checks, I feared crying babies. Every time I hear a baby cry, I flinch a bit. Also the funny bit is that almost every baby we checked, the baby decided to leave a present for us in his/her nappy. Lovely. Guess that's what you get in paediatrics. Cute babies and stinky diapers.
Paediatrics is definitely interesting, but the lack of patients in our hospital is really taking a toll on me as I do find myself standing around doing nothing. I also find myself getting bored quite often. Unfortunately there isn't much to talk about for this week. It has been overall quite dull. Not a lot of banter either on the ward. Guess not every placement will be fun. Hopefully next up will pick up. I mean at least I'm starting to get to know the doctors quite well and they are very welcoming. 6 more weeks. Yay....
We are expected to do 7 on-calls in our entire attachment (7 weeks). So it would make out to be 1 on-call per week. I did my on-call on Friday which meant I was in from 9am-10pm. What a long day. However, I managed to clerk in several patients and I was definitely learning. Also in the middle of the week I got to do baby checks. This is where the doctor would check over a newborn baby making sure he/she is healthy and ready to go home. Some of the babies were so cute; however, after all the baby checks, I feared crying babies. Every time I hear a baby cry, I flinch a bit. Also the funny bit is that almost every baby we checked, the baby decided to leave a present for us in his/her nappy. Lovely. Guess that's what you get in paediatrics. Cute babies and stinky diapers.
Paediatrics is definitely interesting, but the lack of patients in our hospital is really taking a toll on me as I do find myself standing around doing nothing. I also find myself getting bored quite often. Unfortunately there isn't much to talk about for this week. It has been overall quite dull. Not a lot of banter either on the ward. Guess not every placement will be fun. Hopefully next up will pick up. I mean at least I'm starting to get to know the doctors quite well and they are very welcoming. 6 more weeks. Yay....
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Clinical Specialty Placements
So tomorrow I will be starting clinical specialty placements. I will be on Paediatrics for 6 weeks. I am kind of nervous for it as I don't know what to expect. I was placed in Paediatric Surgery in first year (which by the way is still my most memorable and fun time I have had on placement), but I was only on the attachment for 1 week. I'm pretty sure it'll be a completely different ball game as obviously the consultants will expect much more knowledge. I have been placed in a peripheral hospital so hello to 1 hour drives each way. Should be interesting...hopefully the weather holds up to make my drive less stressful.
To best honest, I am alright with kids. I don't LOVE kids so I'm not uber excited to be surrounded by them. But who knows, in first year I was really inspired by my first attachment and saw some really interesting things. At one point I was thinking about maybe even specializing in Paediatric Surgery. Hopefully this will be a good experience and I will be able to learn loads as the hospital is much smaller so the doctors will have more time to teach.
9 am introductory lectures tomorrow until 4pm, then on Tuesday I'll be going to the peripheral hospital. Really hoping this will be a good attachment. More updates will come in the week!
To best honest, I am alright with kids. I don't LOVE kids so I'm not uber excited to be surrounded by them. But who knows, in first year I was really inspired by my first attachment and saw some really interesting things. At one point I was thinking about maybe even specializing in Paediatric Surgery. Hopefully this will be a good experience and I will be able to learn loads as the hospital is much smaller so the doctors will have more time to teach.
9 am introductory lectures tomorrow until 4pm, then on Tuesday I'll be going to the peripheral hospital. Really hoping this will be a good attachment. More updates will come in the week!
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.
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.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Holiday!
Holiday technically started a week-ish ago, but because of results, it didn't feel much of a holiday. It's been quite a few days since results (yes I realize my exam and results post were fairly recent...but in reality my exams were like 2 weeks ago). I will be going back home to spend my short winter holiday and just make the most of my time with family and friends. Should be good so I'm really excited. Seems like I haven't had a break in ages, but technically just got off in August. This year has been extremely long.
Anyways I will be off for a few weeks. So happy holidays to everyone and congratulations to those who have already received offers (yay!) and those who have received interviews! For those who are still waiting, try your best to not think about it and have a nice holiday/break!
Anyways I will be off for a few weeks. So happy holidays to everyone and congratulations to those who have already received offers (yay!) and those who have received interviews! For those who are still waiting, try your best to not think about it and have a nice holiday/break!
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.
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.
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.
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