2 blocks down, just 6 more to go!

I can’t believe I’ve reached the end of my second specialist clinical placement, 2 down, just 6 more to go! I enjoyed my time on the paediatric ward. Paediatric history and examination is obviously very different to adult medicine, the differential diagnosis can also be completely different which takes some getting used to! I’m also not used to being around babies or young children so I was quite nervous around them at first but over the 6 weeks after taking lots of histories and examining lots of children of all ages I’m pleased with how much I improved. I can make a neurological exam a fun game and can see the tonsils of the iratest of toddlers and even get nods to yes or no questions from a stubbornly silent child.

I’m now leaving the relative safety of the children’s ward and moving back into the world of adult medicine, starting with the Obstetrics and Gynaecology block. Last year in Core Clinical Education we spent several shifts on the labour ward and with the community midwives, I got to see lots of babies been born and attended antenatal and postnatal check-ups with the midwives. In the O&G speciality block in Phase 3 we will spend some time on the labour ward but will also be in the clinics seeing women with problems during and after their pregnancy. On the gynaecology side, we will be in theatre and clinics seeing a variety of conditions that affect women of all ages.

As well as being in hospital I’ve been busy in my role as president of the Psychiatry society. We’ve had two events in the last few weeks that we organised with the GP society. Both events were on topics that we don’t receive much teaching on in medical school, sexual abuse and eating disorders, both taboo subjects that we as future healthcare professionals need to know about. Our Sexual Abuse Awareness evening had a talk from a Paediatrician who specialised in safeguarding children as well as a talk from a representative from a local charity CRASAC that supports victims of sexual abuse Hearing practical advice about how victims of abuse are assessed and supported by the health service and powerful stories from survivors who receive ongoing support from CRASAC was really powerful and generated a lot of discussion. Hearing personal stories helps us as medical students to understand these sensitive issues so we can be better prepared to help our patients in the future who may have experienced these issues first hand. The same was true of our Eating disorder awareness evening, where we had a talk from a Psychiatry trainee who has worked at an eating disorder treatment centre and a talk from a BEAT (an eating disorder charity) Young ambassador. Hearing from the young ambassador about their own personal experience of suffering from an eating disorder put the medical information from our other speaker in context and was incredibly moving.  The turnout for both these events was great and everyone had lots of questions. It’s great to be involved in organising these events and inspiring other students to be passionate about often neglected subjects.

I think I’ve said before that one of the best things about medical school is that there is always a society or club that you can get involved in no matter what your interests or passions. Getting involved extracurricular activities does help your CV, but for me it keeps me motivated and stops me getting bogged down in medicine too much. Sometimes you can get to wrapped up in the seemingly never ending cycle of placements, sign offs and exams and having something else to focus on helps me keep some perspective. So here’s to block 3 of 8-bring on Obstetrics and Gynaecology!

Joanne

Luke Pemberton : 27 Mar 2017 09:39 |  Tags: Joanne Mbchb Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (1) |  Report a problem