All entries for November 2015

High Society…

So far Advanced Cases 1 has been much less stressful compared to this time last year when I was struggling to get to grips with Block 2 Blood, Lungs and Heart. We have less lectures this term compared to last year which has freed up time to do a bit private study (maybe), potentially do some exercise (unlikely) and get involved in some of the societies here at The Medical School.

As treasurer of the Psychiatry Society I have been involved in expanding the society this year, this has ranged from relatively simple tasks such as setting up a society email and twitter account to the more complicated tasks of applying for funding from the Royal College of Psychiatrists and then applying for a Business Bank account to manage this funding.

Receiving the funding from the Royal College has made such a big difference already, we were able to provide a nice range of refreshments at our most recent event on campus, a Psychiatry and Academic Medicine Taster evening.We’re also able to reimburse travel expenses for our members to attend a Forensic Psychiatry Symposium at Birmingham Medical School.Utilizing the resources and events throughout the region is really important and allows us to increase the number of opportunities available for our students and makes the most of our central location!

Another society I’m involved in is a new society called MedMinds.This society has been set up as an outreach scheme to to educate children and tackle stigma around Mental Illness. I’m one of the coordinators responsible for training volunteers and my official duties start this week by attending the training session for the MedMinds group at Birmingham Medical School who are helping us set up our own branch of MedMinds here at Warwick.I’m really looking forward to gaining more teaching experience and getting involved in outreach work, something I feel quite passionate about.

This past week we have had lectures on Psychiatric Illnesses.In addition to learning about symptoms and diagnoses we have also had lectures about the inequality that exists between physical and mental illness.People with mental illness receive worse treatment for physical health problems and are subject to stigma and abuse in many aspects of their lives. I hope projects Like MedMinds can help to change this.

I’m also hoping to do some teaching for the OSCE peer support sessions.Students in phase 1 attend clinical skills every Friday but after that it’s up to students to practice their examinations and histories in their own time which can make it hard to know if you’re doing it right for an exam!I found the OSCE support sessions last year so helpful for my Formative and summative OSCEs so I’m happy to give back by helping out with these sessions and giving tips and encouragement where I can.

As well as taking on active committee roles I also enjoy being a member of other societies and benefiting form the learning opportunities they provide.The Warwick Surgical Society organized a “Recognising the Ill surgical Patient course”.This was an amazing opportunity, a whole day at University Hospital Coventry that consisted of lectures on common pre and post surgical problems and then an afternoon filled with simulated scenarios.This was excellent revision and also great preparation for hospital in January.A full day course plus lunch only cost £10 for members.

Opportunities like this are invaluable and while you may feel very busy in medical school the reality is that later on you won’t have the time or the opportunity to attend events like this so I’m trying my best to make the most of it while I’m here!

Joanne

Megan Earle : 30 Nov 2015 09:54 |  Tags: Joanne Mbchb Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Being introduced to general practice

Along with all other Phase II students, my clinical partner and I spent a day last week being introduced to general practice by spending some time floating around the GP surgery to which we had been assigned. This introduction involved shadowing various professionals around our allocated practice and trying to get a handle on what each of them does.

Although I had seen GP surgeries from the patient’s perspective a fair number of times, being on the other side was very eye opening. It certainly changed my perspective about what GPs and their colleagues do and how complex running a practice can be behind the scenes. Needless to say, there’s a lot more going on there than meets the eye.

Most of the visits I’ve ever had to a GP surgery have been of the quick, ten-minute, in-and-out kind: I describe my problem to the doctor, and he or she gives me advice, a prescription or a letter. But of course there is much more to it, and our introduction showed us a little more of how complex that is.

We spent some time observing the receptionists (a missing member of staff for any number of reasons can mean that they’re really run off their feet – especially in the morning), got an introduction from the dispensary nurse (our practice also functions as a pharmacy because it’s so rural), shadowed each of the nurse practitioners for an hour or so apiece and even had a view from the waiting room – and all of this was before lunch!

There is a common misconception that GPs only deal with coughs and colds, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. We saw all sorts of minor procedures, including cleaning and redressing of wounds, taking bloods, vaccinations and lots of other things which aren’t really complex enough to warrant a hospital visit – plus, the nearest hospital was ten miles away, which is s significant distance for the less-mobile among us.

During lunch, my clinical partner and I each followed a different doctor on their home visits, and then we each observed about two dozen consultations apiece in the afternoon. The presenting complaints were as varied as can be imagined – and there was not a single cough or cold among them! If you like variety, thinking quickly and the surprise of not knowing what condition the next patient will present with, then general practice might just be up your street.

In the New Year, spending time at the GP surgery will form a key element of our core clinical education – we will be there at least once a week for each of the thirty weeks of the CCE segment. I’m already looking forward to it. The professionals in the office were very welcoming, the practice is run very efficiently and the idea of completing this portion of my education is very exciting.

John

Megan Earle : 20 Nov 2015 14:56 |  Tags: Gp John Mbchb Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Venturing out into GP Land…

The lectures in Advanced Cases 1 have been tailored to achieve two main objectives: firstly ensuring we have the knowledge to understand multisystem and chronic diseases that we will be seeing on a regular basis in hospitals, and secondly, to understand the links between primary and secondary care.Our lectures in AC1 have been complemented by our placements in hospitals and last week we had our first adventure out into the mythical place that is GP Land.

Our community placements in Phase 1 taught us a lot about care in the community and the services available to different patients but last week was the first time we’ve actually been in a GP practice.In preparation for this we have had lectures this past week about the history of General Practice, from when General practitioners were brought into the NHS and regulated for the first time to the more recent creation of Clinical Commissioning Groups and GP Federations.

Throughout all these lectures there has been a common theme that has been emphasized, that as a GP you are often the first and last person that a patient comes to see.Patients will present to their GP with the initial signs of a problem and it is the GPs job to formulate a diagnosis and management plan.Even if that plan involves referral to secondary care that patient will eventually be discharged back to primary care and be managed by the GP long term.The opportunity to formulate a diagnosis and be able to follow up that patient over time is something that really appeals to me so I was very much looking forward to spending time in General Practice.

The GP practice I have been assigned to is a small practice in quite a deprived area with a large immigrant population, so the practice also has a full time interpreter.There are high drug and alcohol abuse levels in the local population and the practice is also the nominated service for a Parole Hostel, which brings with it a unique population with their own challenges.

While all this sounds a bit scary at first I think this presents a unique opportunity to work with a very diverse population with a variety of physical and mental health conditions as well as giving me real insight into the complex interplay with social aspects of our life.This has really put my Social and Population Perspectives theme from Phase 1 to good use! Working in a hospital you always enquire about social circumstances during a history but actually have very little time or power to be able to actually do anything about it.This is different for GPs who can take a more holistic approach.Come January we will be taking histories and examinations from real patients while on our GP placements which is equally scary and exciting!

The GP society at Warwick is very active and runs events throughout the year about different topics related to General Practice.Their next event is a night dedicated to GP special interests.Many GPs have a special interest, which is an area that they have additional training or knowledge in. At the practice I am based at, one of the partners had been in surgical training prior to becoming a GP, so he performed minor operations at the practice as part of his special interest area-often unannounced much to the nurses horror!

Even one day in GP land has shown me that it’s not all coughs and sniffles (although there are lots of tea and biscuits!) and there are lots of opportunities for medical students to learn about how diverse this area of medicine can be.

Joanne

Megan Earle : 17 Nov 2015 09:47 |  Tags: Gp Joanne Mbchb Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

First year exams!

It’s hard to believe that in around six weeks, we’ve finished the first of our five blocks of learning for Phase I and had our first exam (I passed!). We’ve covered a huge amount in that time: anatomy and physiology of the gastrointestinal system, basic pharmacology, and of course we’ve covered a lot in terms of clinical skills. We’ve had the opportunity to practice clinical histories, perform general, abdominal and thyroid exams on each other which is a lot more helpful than just reading about the procedures. It does feel a little bizarre that we won’t cover this stuff again specifically until our final exams at the end of the year, but you just have to make sure you stay on top of revising the topics throughout the next two terms.

My biggest surprise so far is that I’ve quite enjoyed learning anatomy. At the start I thought this would be an area I really struggled with, but it’s been taught really well across lectures and on Friday’s in the Surgical Training Centre at UHCW. Sitting down as a group with housemates to go through the content has been the biggest help; if you’re just sat reading an anatomy textbook it can be pretty difficult to motivate yourself so the best thing to do is to surround yourself with as many people and resources as possible!

One thing that feels a bit daunting is that we now start Block 2 completely from scratch. By Week 5 I was starting to feel pretty comfortable with the body system we were covering, but now you go back to square one to study the new systems from the beginning. It’s a comfort that I passed the formative so I must be doing okay, but I do miss the comfort that I had at the end of the last block. I suppose we’ll never be in a state of complete comfort as medics so it’s probably good preparation for the future!

Matt

Megan Earle : 12 Nov 2015 08:34 |  Tags: Exams Housemates Matt Mbchb Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem