Sorry, I’m just the medical student…

I’m now 4 weeks into assistantship and have finished the first part of my placement. I have been in A&E at Warwick Hospital for the last 4 weeks and now I’m moving onto the Haematology Ward. I can’t believe how fast assistantship is going, 8 weeks seemed like a long time at the start, but now I’m halfway though I’m getting more excited but also increasingly nervous about finishing.

I’ve really enjoyed my time on A&E. I have an A&E job as my last rotation of foundation year 1 so it’s been a good experience to see what’s expected of the FY1 Doctor. I’ve gained a lot more confidence in my clinical procedures as well as my histories and examinations in A&E. I have picked up some good tips about note writing which will be invaluable to me going onto a medical ward where you write a lot of notes for ward rounds. Part of the A&E FY1s responsibilities also include medical on calls. Every few weeks instead of being on your normal base ward you head to the acute medical ward for handover from the night shift medical team.The day team then split themselves between the ambulatory unit and the acute medical ward. These shifts are quite intense as they are ward based 9-5 and then from 5-9.30pm the day team are responsible for providing medical cover to the whole hospital for the evening until they handover to the night team.

While these on call shifts are very busy, they have been great learning opportunities. Many of the patients from A&E who need admission move onto the acute medical ward unless they need specific treatment by a speciality team or will be in hospital for longer than 2-3 days, this means I got the chance to follow up lots of the patients I had clerked in A&E which was interesting. I also got experience of completing more ward based tasks such as chasing blood tests and scan results. For one patient I was the person liaising with another hospital where they were receiving treatment for a long-term condition which was a bit scary! I was also involved more with relatives, explaining to them the treatment plans and talking about discharges. You spend so much time as a medical student observing, it’s been enjoyable in assistantship to be doing more and feeling like I’m contributing to the ward team.

The downside to having a bit more purpose and looking like you might know what you’re doing is that nurses on the ward come up to you and ask you about patients, medical students in lower year groups ask you if any of the patients on the ward are good for practice histories and examinations. At the moment I can still say “Sorry, I’m not a doctor, I’m just a medical student”. I can’t use that excuse for much longer though which is equally exciting and terrifying!

Joanne

Joshua Galvin : 30 May 2018 15:04 |  Tags: Joanne Mbchb Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem