Elective bliss…

Over 4 months ago I had just finished my final specialist clinical placement and was embarking on the epic task of finals revision. The first week of my Christmas holiday was spent trapped in my study, I was allowed out only for tea and bathroom breaks! This was a bit of miserable start to my holidays but it meant that I could take a whole week off over Christmas and enjoy spending time with my family. Our first exam was in the middle of February so before that we had 6 weeks of our revision block, Advanced clinical cases. All the local hospitals organised revision seminars for us, we had practice OSCE days (clinical skills like cannulation and wound care) and you could go on the wards to practice your history and examinations. Going into hospital was a welcome break from my study, and when exams were finally over in the first week of March I could finally breathe a sigh of relief!

It’s a strange feeling when you finish exams, you feel great, but almost immediately the worry about results sets in. Despite the horror that was the last few months of revision and how hard the last 4 years have been, it was all worth it as I passed! On the day of results, I had a quick celebratory cup of coffee with my friends and then instead of heading to the pub I had to sort myself out for my elective as I was flying 2 days later! I hadn’t wanted to jinx my results and think too much about elective so this meant that I had a lot to do! So less than 48 hours after getting my results I was on a plane to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, for 6 whole weeks!

I enjoyed my elective so much, it was been a totally unique experience and one I certainly won’t forget. I’m interested in psychiatry and academic medicine so for my elective I had organised a small research project focusing on the mental health of mothers and the long term consequences for their children. I also spent some time in the local psychiatry clinics and made the most of my spare time and explore Ethiopia! I really enjoyed working on my project, it was totally different to any research I’ve ever done before and certainly made me think about how much of an impact mental illness can have on an entire family, not just on an individual. I’m still in the process of writing it up for publication, so fingers crossed! Gaining clinical experience in Ethiopia was very eye opening, there are only 70 psychiatrists in the entire country and culturally mental illness isn’t well understood, with most patients, even those with psychosis, been taken to religious sites seeking a cure for spirit possession or the “evil eye” before coming to the attention of a medical doctor.

I didn’t go all the way to Ethiopia to just sit on my laptop or in a dusty outpatient department so I made the most of my free time exploring Ethiopia. I stayed with a wonderful host family who cooked beautiful traditional Ethiopian food for me and I was invited to join them for their Easter celebrations, which involved the sacrifice of two very plump chickens to mark the end of fasting-this bit was tricky for me to enjoy as I’m vegetarian! I saw hippos in the Rift Valley lakes, fed monkeys from my hand, visited several UNESCO world heritage sites and enjoyed the most fabulous coffee in the whole world (Ethiopia is where coffee was originally grown and brewed!).

I arrived back from my elective yesterday yet it feels like I only just got my exam results. My elective supervisor kept introducing me to people as the newly qualified doctor, which felt very strange, but I suppose that’s what I am…almost. For the next two months I will be on my “Assistantship”, where I shadow the FY1 doctors closely and make sure I know what I’m doing before I am let loose on the wards in August! I haven’t taken any blood or inserted a cannula for about 6 months so wish me luck!

Joshua Galvin : 11 May 2018 10:08 |  Tags: Joanne Mbchb Student Wards Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem