A Memorable Year.

1 year ago today, I was thankful and nervous at the same time. Last year's exam was probably the largest hurdle of my degree. I didn't do as well as I had hoped in my exam, but still managed to pass. I was incredibly thankful to be able to pass as many of my friends had failed the exam. Some of which had to repeat the year. I made a promise to myself that the year 2012 will be my comeback year. I was determined to start on the right foot and to never make the same mistakes again.

This year zoomed by. I believe I made leaps and bounds in terms of knowledge and self-confidence whilst on the wards and in clinics. I still got to give lots of credit to my placement in Orthopaedics. I cannot be more thankful to my supervisor. Even my friends have noticed that after my Orthopaedics placement, I was a different medical student. I was no longer afraid to speak up. I was no longer afraid to participate and be proactive. I realized that if you don't ask, you will never know what will happen. The worst answer you can get when asking something is "No". What is there to lose...other than a hurt ego. So one tip for all of you is to be confident. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Again, the worst someone can say is "No". If the answer is "no", just shrug and move on and don't take it personally.

As you move through the degree, Medicine slowly dominates your life and you really got to make an effort to have a social life. As the months pass and you have some free time to reflect, you realize your friends start to drift away and it may get a bit lonely at times. Medicine needs a lot of dedication, but I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to relax and take some time out. Giving yourself a break does not necessarily mean you have to go take a vacation. Taking a break is different for everyone. It may involve going to do something you enjoy or meeting up with friends, or even just spending some time at home to relax and watch TV.  I didn't realize how important it is to take a break until this year when I have finally experienced a whole year of clinical placements, one after another. Work - Life balance. I know many people in my year who are taking a year out to do a BMedSci next year, not because they want to do research, but because they have burnt out.

To top off my memorable year, just earlier today I received confirmation that I have been accepted to present a my research poster at a national conference. Really unexpected as it's quite competitive, so I'm absolutely chuffed. What a way to finish up the year!

In general, I have made many new friends, matured as a person, and gained valuable skills for the future - I think this has probably been one of my most memorable year of my medical degree. Despite the many ups and downs throughout the year, looking back - overall it has been a very good year.

Got to thank those who have made my year so memorable and those who made my experiences so much better. Cheers to 2012, bring on 2013!

Happy New Year!

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.

O&G Labour Week Part 1.

I'm only 2 days in to my labour week and I'm already struggling. I'm supposed to be in for midwives handover at 7am every day. Day 1 - alarm clock for 5:45am...next thing I knew I woke up again and it was 6:30am. Didn't get to the hospital til 7:10am...by the time I got changed into scrubs for labour ward...it was like 7:20am. Day 2 - alarm clock for 5:45am...actually got up this time. Arrived at the hospital at 6:55am and traffic wasn't bad. I actually tried really hard to make it to handover...ran to get changed. By the time I got out...I had apparently missed handover already and the midwives said I should aim to arrive for 6:50am tomorrow. In my head I was like "6:50am?! Yeaaahhh right." Dreading it already. Also I have been sooo tired. I would sometimes catch myself dozing off in the ward because I start so early in the morning...but still get off at 5ish pm. Brutal. And when I get home...I hardly have the energy to eat and all I want to do is sleep. So unproductive.

Pretty exciting first day though. Saw 2 normal vaginal deliveries. Also assisted as a first assistant on 2 caesarean sections (aka I got to scrub in and actually do proper surgical stuff...not just hang around and watch - just the consultant surgeon, me, and a scrub nurse - what a dream). Also witnessed an emergency caesarean section as the baby was stuck. When the emergency button was pressed it was like a TV show. It was crazy. Loads of people ran in within 5 seconds of the buzzer going off and everyone knew what they were doing. Anaesthetist was already making his way to theatre and some of the theatre staff darted to theatre to prep. About 8 of us were racing the bed down to theatre. It was really surreal. Obviously there was a sense or urgency. The mother had to be put under general anaesthetic (most caesareans is under spinal so the mother stays awake and just can't feel anything down below). Staff was frantically prepping the theatre with the equipment...it was just organized chaos. I was so scared to get in the way so I just crammed myself into a tiny corner of the room. I obviously couldn't scrub in as it was an emergency and the registrar had turned up.  Eventually we managed to get the baby out and I finally got to see the link between the paediatricians and obstetricians. The paeds team was already waiting for us ready for the baby and for any resuscitation as it was a complicated birth. Baby came out floppy and wasn't crying/breathing. It was a very tense moment as we handed the baby over to the paeds team. Unfortunately I'm with the obstetrics team so I couldn't go watch the paeds team work their magic. Finally after a few tense minutes we heard the baby cry and you could see the relief on some of the staffs' faces. I'm sure it was pretty scary for the mother herself as one minute she was just about to give birth but the baby got stuck..the next minute she's asleep. Also the father is left waiting outside of theatre after seeing a bunch of people wheel off his wife. Pretty scary situation for the family in general I would think.  I couldn't say I had as much fun  in the afternoon though. Immensely boring after a frantic morning. But the morning certainly made my day though.

Day 2 - quiet morning. Waited til 9am for elective caesarean sections. Again was really lucky and got asked to scrub in and help out...but not to the certain extent of a first assistant. Still makes a huge difference when you're scrubbed in. I even got to transfer the newborn to the crib after we pulled him out. It was really cool. After the sections...again went quiet again. Saw 1 normal delivery and that was it. Next thing to knock off my list: Instrumental Delivery (eg. using Forceps or Ventouse Suction). Really need to get that signed off tomorrow.

Labour week to be continued.......(if I'm still alive by the end of it)

End of Paediatrics.

7 weeks have passed which means I am done with my paediatrics placement! To be honest, it actually went by really fast. I got to admit that the first few weeks went by really slowly...to the point I was dreading the placement. Luckily, the placement started to blow by as I got to know the doctors and nurses on the ward and in general felt more welcomed.  I think 7 weeks was plenty of time for a taster of the specialty so my impression of paediatrics? Not for me. But I won't 100% remove it from my potential list of specialties as I find the surgical side of paediatrics fairly interesting. On my last day of paeds I had a lecture about paediatric orthopaedics, and to be fair...it seems quite interesting. These surgeons see a lot of different conditions ranging from pathological to congenital conditions. Definitely something I wouldn't mind considering in the future.

Also another reason to celebrate about the end of the placement is that I have passed my placement based assessment!!! I was really nervous for it, but it went really well. Did a full patient history on a boy with pneumonia and did a cardiovascular and respiratory examination on him.  I also got a lot of feedback from my supervisor, which was good as I'm constantly trying to improve and do better. I also managed to finish all my essays and reflective writing all in time along with my log book! Really stressful weekend, but everything came together in the end. I was really chuffed with it and after Monday (where everything was due including my assessment), I felt like the world was off my shoulders. I felt so much more at ease and just felt a sense of relaxation. I can finally enjoy the placement again and just take it easy for the last few days on my placement. On top of that, end of paediatrics = end of driving a long way to placement. My next placement is only a 15 minute drive (which is closer than the central hospital from where I live), so I'm excited for that. I no longer have to wake up at a ridiculous time to drive. I've also heard fantastic reviews about the next hospital I will be going to as they like to pride themselves in teaching medical students.

My next placement is Obstetric and Gynaecology. I'm actually really scared for this as I don't really know what to expect as well. Should be interesting as I'll definitely be able to go to theatre (YES!); however, it'll be dealing with quite a sensitive subject so I'll definitely need to change from being playful in Paeds to professional for this specialty. Hopefully I'll be able to compose myself and try to enjoy this specialty as much as I can. First I'll need to go to a week of lectures before commencing my placement. I much rather having lectures first before going to placement as at least I'll have some basic knowledge prior to going to the hospital so I won't look like an idiot in front of the doctors. I also hope I'll have a really nice/easy going/chill supervisor. My last supervisor on paediatrics was very easy-going, which made the placement much more enjoyable. Crossing my fingers that I'll be just as lucky this time with Obs+Gyn. Another 7 weeks of Obs+Gyn and then Easter Holiday! I can't wait for holiday. To be honest...I kinda need one now!

Sh!t Hitting the Fan.

Oh wow...it is quite rare for me to leave work to the last minute. I should be panicking, but I'm not...well not just yet. I have 2 essays and 1 reflective writing to hand in on Monday. One of my essays is a case report, which I have finished...but it is still pretty rough. The other essay is an evidence based medicine essay, which requires me digging through a bunch of literature...haven't started that whatsoever. Reflective writing...I hope it doesn't take long as I haven't done that either, but I usually only take 10-15 minutes to do up reflective pieces. As you can tell...I'm not too shabby at reflecting (which I do believe is a very important part of the degree - can't improve if you can't reflect on your performance/day). It doesn't end there - I've got a summative assessment on Monday where I will be watched by a consultant in taking a full patient history and perform two systems examination (could be either Cardiovascular, Respiratory, GI, Peripheral Nervous System, Cranial Nerves, or Developmental examination). Afterwards I will be asked a few questions about the patient history such as differential diagnosis, management, investigations, pathophysiology, etc. Anything goes as long as it is relevant to the patient's condition. Will also be asked to present my findings on physical examinations. Ack. I mean taking a patient history and doing examinations is just a matter of practising which I think I've done enough of. I'm just worried about the questions my consultant will ask me.

This week has been fairly uneventful. I was only in for 3 days as I had a lot of meetings to attend. Because of all my meetings, I haven't been able to do an "on-call" from 9am-9pm, which means I have to do 2 on-calls in my final week of Paediatrics. Fun. Essentially I spent this week completing my log book in terms of getting my clinical skills signed off and getting a registrar to do my formative assessment for 3 systems examinations in preparation for my summative assessment for next Monday.  I also found this week incredibly hard to wake up. Every morning I was struggling to wake up. Thank goodness 1 more week of Paediatrics and travelling a long way to the peripheral hospital. Next placement is Obs+Gynaecology and the drive there is about 15 minutes so I won't have to wake up as early. PHEW. To be honest I'm quite sick of my placement now. 7 weeks is too long and I haven't really been having a great time either so that doesn't help with my experience. I'm usually bored and I generally feel quite unproductive. To be fair though, I still learned a lot especially on how to interact with children. Still something I'm struggling with, but if I compared myself to the first week of placement, I have definitely grown as a person and have learned some new skills. It'd be unfair for me to write this placement off as it has been very useful. Just not my "cup of tea". Can't love every placement. There will always be up and downs, but medical school is all about exploring specialties and learning about everything. As a medical student, you need to learn how to adapt and essentially "just get on with it". My basketball coach from high school always told me: "If you don't like it, too bad. Make the most of it. If not, just suck it up and keep going."

Lack of Sleep.

5 weeks in! 2 more weeks to go. This has got to me the toughest week in terms of waking up. Every morning I am waking up at 6:30am to get ready, but it doesn't help that there isn't much to motivate me to get up.  I think the only thing that is making me wake up on time is the fact that I have to drive other people to the hospital so they kinda rely on me. I also think that being 5 weeks in, there isn't much else to see. Most of the patients we see have acute illnesses as most of the special illnesses get referred to a bigger hospital. 

I was on-call on Wednesday and the best bit is that the doctors on the ward can tell when I am on-call as I'm never on the ward when I am on-call. I try to go to clinics to try and make the time go by faster. As usual...Wednesday - I escaped the ward. I went to the Children's Orthopaedic Clinic for the entire morning. It was a lot more interesting than I expected it to be. I saw a lot of different cases. I was even able to sympathize with some of the patients. Met a girl who is hypermobile, which was affecting her participation in sports.  The consultant was doing a physical examination on the range of movement of her joints and on doing internal rotation of the hip, the consultant asked me if it was normal. I knew my leg could turn that far so I said: "normal". I have never seen such a confused face. "That is NOT normal. LOOK how far it goes!" Feeling a bit dumb/embarrassed I covered my back side by saying: "Oh sorry didn't notice how far it went *blushes*"

Once the patient left, the consultant questioned why I thought the range of movement was normal as it was apparently fairly abnormal. Then I proceeded to tell him that I am hypermobile as well. Then I found out he isn't very good with hypermobility.  The consultant looked quite uncomfortable and didn't want to see me showing my "flexibility". I was quite surprised about his reaction, but thinking about it....it is fairly gross. Fingers shouldn't bend so far back and such.  Haha. Hypermobility is a great party trick by the way. Just thought I would throw that out there.

Anyways clinic took quite long, but we had a lot of patients. What I enjoyed the most about the clinic is that we did not see two of the same case. Every single patient had a different problem and it really kept me awake and interested. For the first time at a clinic, I did not find myself bored. I was constantly engaged and I found each case interesting.  Probably could be one of the best clinics that I have ever been to. Long, but interesting.

At some point the clinic had to end and I had to return to the ward. On the way back, I stopped for a lunch break.  When I returned to the ward I was told there was another clinic happening in 30 minutes. Obviously I pounced on that opportunity and I disappeared from the ward for another 4 hours. By the time I got back to the ward, I only had 4 more hours left of my on-call to do. Luckily when I got back, the ward started to get busy and I got to clerk in a few patients. Most of them were diarrhoea and vomiting problems, so it wasn't too exciting. It was better than sitting around doing nothing.  But because the ward started to get busy, I didn't get to leave til 9:30pm. I had quite a bit of work to do when I got home and didn't get to sleep early. Worst part, I had to get up at 6:30am the next morning again. Thursday was brutal. For the entire day I was falling asleep whenever I sat down.  We also had lunchtime teaching from the registrar and I accidentally fell asleep. I felt really bad as I didn't mean to fall asleep as it wasn't boring. I was just so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open. Now I think the registrar hates me. She wouldn't talk to me afterwards and it was kinda awkward on the ward. Hopefully she'll forget about it after the weekend. And hopefully I can catch up on my sleep.

Doh!

Interesting and short week of paediatrics. Had Monday off as I was in for 9-5 lectures. Tuesday..can't remember what happened...obviously nothing exciting as I would remember. I was on-call again on Wednesday so I was in the hospital from 8:45am - 9pm. It was also my SHO's last day and to be honest I think he was really great. Probably the few doctors that really made us medical students feel very welcomed and a part of the team. He's also really good at teaching too. Really smart dude. As a medical student, the biggest worry is being left out from the team. It's already nerve-racking to step into an unfamiliar environment and have no clue what you're supposed to do, so when a doctor welcomes you and teaches - you feel much more at ease and it really makes a huge difference to your experience at the hospital.  It was also nice that he could remember our names and it really helps with making us feel welcomed. Great thing about this SHO is that I understood him. I knew when to bother him and when not to. And it seems like he too knew what I was like. Seriously, some of you may think I'm really hard working, but I am definitely not the hardest working student to have graced medical school. In fact, I'm quite lazy (blushes). It was interesting how my SHO could tell that there are times where I don't want to do anything and he lets me be. It was like we were on the same page so it was good we had this mutual understanding.

Took quite a few "tea breaks" during my on-call so I got to talk about life as a doctor with the SHO as the ward wasn't too busy either. It was eye-opening. But the conversation soon led to a massive "DOH!" moment. Out of no where I was asked: "You don't like Paediatrics very much do you..or this attachment in general right?" I was actually left speechless. My face was probably a mix of a dead pan with a "DOH" moment. Secretly inside...I haven't really been enjoying this placement very much as in general I'm not very interested in Medicine. I really miss going to theatres and watching surgeries as I find it much more interesting and exciting. I have tried my best to put on an enthusiastic/keen face during this placement, BUT apparently it is fairly obvious I don't really like paediatrics. Another interesting bit is that the SHO could tell what I wanted to do in the future. Haven't told him what I was interested in and he randomly was like: "You're definitely going to do surgery. It's written all over you." And for some of the followers of this blog, you probably know I want to do Orthopaedic Surgery in the future so it was nice that people can see I want to do surgery. On top of that, the day after, another doctor went up to me and was like "You don't like Paeds very much do you. It's like written all over your face." Cue another "Doh!" moment. I even asked if it was that obvious and everyone around me was like "Yes." Soooo....it probably means my supervisor/consultant can also tell I'm not really enjoying the attachment. Honestly though, I'm not HATING it, but I don't love it either. I'm quite indifferent about it and I do realize I'm quite awkward around kids as I don't know what to do with them. Guess it's something I have to work on...and I am trying quite hard though...guess that's what matters.

Next week there will be new SHOs starting on the job and meaning starting back at square one with trying to get on with the new doctors. Life is always full of changes and you just have to keep adapting. Also being a medical student you constantly have to remind yourself that you're at the bottom of the ladder and you really have to work hard to get noticed. Note to self: Stop making it so obvious that I don't like kids.

Long day - On-call.

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.

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....

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!