All entries for Tuesday 02 July 2019

July 02, 2019

“Sharp scratch!”

During the last fortnight my clinical partner and I started our new GP placement. In contrast to the previous two surgeries we have been placed in which have been in more rural and suburban settings, our new placement is in the heart of Coventry city centre. It has been really eye opening to see the difference in patients, cases and the overall running of the surgery in this more diverse, busier setting. The patients we saw on our GP day tended to be younger and present with more acute illnesses, rather than follow-ups and monitoring of long-term conditions.

This week we also got the opportunity to spend time with two community midwives (and lots of cute babies of course!) If I’m being completely honest, I didn’t really have much idea of the world of community midwifery but it was really interesting to see all that goes into pregnancy and post-natal care. I had the chance to get hands on and palpate the babies whilst they were still inside. Handily I was able to practice on the midwife I was shadowing as she was expecting too and kindly let me practice. The experience was really good fun and I left both days having learnt a lot (and feeling like I need a baby in my life – watch this space!).

I have also had my clinical skills session on giving injections and blood glucose testing. We were shown how to carry out several types of injections including intramuscular (for injections such as the flu vaccine) subcutaneous (for injections such as insulin delivery) and transdermal (for administering local anaesthetics). As for blood glucose testing, I had an unfair advantage over the majority of my colleagues as my partner is Type 1 diabetic. It felt quite exciting being able to practice these procedures and whilst they seem relatively simple it’s important, we are able to carry out these injections properly as they will be key skills in our day to day lives as doctors! I also learned the correct time to say “sharp scratch” when popping the needle in to distract the patient.

The clinical skills sessions in second year have probably been some of my favourite parts of the course as we get to learn the skills we will need to look after people, rather than just reading about things! Injection technique was our last clinical skill session for Year 2, and we have covered the core skills required of doctors – taking blood, putting in cannulas, acute assessments, life support, urinary catheterisation, administering oxygen, blood gases, blood glucose and finally now injections. After our assessments, we are now signed off as being able to go out and practice these skills under close supervision, which means that if the chance comes along, I will be able to have a go!

Jordan


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Our Med Life blogs are all written by current WMS MB ChB students. Although these students are paid to blog, we don’t tell our bloggers what to say. All these posts are their thoughts, opinions and insights. We hope these posts help you discover a little more about what life as a med student at Warwick is really like.

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