All 28 entries tagged Abbie

Next Please!

This week we got to have our first taste at being a GP. I have to admit , it’s not a career that I have ever seen myself going into. I thought it was all going to be colds and coughs but, I was proved wrong!

Our GP is the Gabels Medi Centre so, it isn’t too far to get to and when they said our first week started at 10am, my tired brain celebrated! I could get up after 7am! We were welcomed and made to feel part of the team immediately and it felt amazing to be there. I was initially out in to observe a nurse and I got to see 12 month vaccinations. It sparked a conversation about the anti-vax movement which is increasing in the UK and the mum herself knew of someone who was anti-vax but had managed to be persuaded to give her child the vaccinations. It was interesting and gave me a bit of food for thought for the day.

In the afternoon we attended the sister practise up the road and met our mentor who was to oversee us through the next 7 weeks. We also run our own consultations in GP but I didn’t expect to be running them on the first day. I did feel a little out of my depth but I soon began to enjoy it. It’s nice having the GP there in the back of the room to glance to for help. In fact, on my first case I virtually ran to her in my mind as my patient had a rash from a suspected diabetic foot complication. They were a lovely patient but unbeknownst to me, I had severely over run my appointment! Must.Get.Better.At.Directing.Consultations......

However, my other patients were also lovely and the most surprising thing to me was the variety. I honestly did not expect to be jumping around each system between appointments, especially at this time of the year when colds and coughs are rife. It was also nice to get feedback from both my CP and GP and also give the same to my CP. I think we are both wobbly on histories and we both need to work on getting our consultations quicker but we came out of that day beaming.

It felt like we had made a difference to patient care, especially when the GP was going off our suggestions! I had my foot patient coming back for the next week so I need to read up on diabetic treatment. It felt amazing to be put on the spot but also to drag information from the depths of your brain and put it into practical use out in healthcare. I think we both went home thinking a lot more about GP as a potential career but I know that paediatrics is still my forward choice at the moment.

We’ve also had our first community midwife shifts and again, I loved every second. I met a two day year old baby and I had to control every fibre of me that just wanted to pick her up and have a cuddle. The visit was to check in on both mum and baby and to answer any questions mum and dad have. It was clear the little one was a tad early but apparently that’s all babies, appear when you’re not quite ready ! I also got to see a heal prick test carried out on a 5 day old which was nice to see as we were taught about these in Block 5 last year.

In the afternoon I got to sit in on some check up visits with mums still pregnant and help the midwife with urine dipsticks and got the chance to feel the bumps for babies' head and bum. It felt amazing to be allowed into such an important part of the couples lives and I was allowed to take a maternity information pack away with me to look at in my own time.

Im finding that I love the clinical side of the medical degree. It’s making me think of other career options and being able to put into place all the theory I learnt last year, put all that work last year into context. We’ve got labour ward shifts coming up which I am really looking forward to… well, apart from the early starts! 'Til next time – Abbie.

Eden Villiers : 10 Feb 2020 08:49 |  Tags: Abbie Mbchb Patients Student Wards Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Getting into the swing of clinical life

Term didn’t exactly start out how I wanted it to. I pictured jumping into clinical life, getting to know my consultant and getting to grips with managing hospital life with solo learning. My immune system, however, had different ideas. So, instead of getting sign offs done and (more importantly) enjoying paediatric week, I was at home with a mammoth ear infection (think IV morphine) thoroughly researching the patient journey. However, I eventually got back, managed to set off my hall’s fire alarm cooking biscuits (and suffered the mocking of 90X 18 year olds) and started my clinical life in care of the elderly.

I hadn’t thought much about this speciality to be honest. I was so driven on surgery and neuro that the idea of being on the ward caring for elderly hadn’t taken any of my interest but,now I’m drifting away from the idea of surgery, I found that I loved being on the ward and getting to know the patients there. We arrived at 9am on Monday morning and I felt immediately included into the team which was amazing. You always hear of these horror stories of being left out in the cold as such but it was like we were important to the doctors there. We sat in on the board round which involved a lot of medical abbreviations but thankfully I was able to keep up as I’ve decided to use a tablet to take notes, which means I can quickly google things I don’t understand. The team even stopped at one point to explain lasting power of attorney and what they can do if they feel the appointed person isn’t acting in the patients best interests. We were also alerted to a flu diagnosis on the ward meaning everyone was told to get their flu jab (my clinical partner was virtually dragged by a nurse to get his!). I had mine earlier as I wanted the free pen and sticker to go with it. Even at 23 years old I can’t resist a sticker…..

We were assigned to a consultant and as a group of three took a history, general and focused exam on a patient who had been admitted with shortness of breath. She was lovely and had so much to say so we were struggling to steer the conversation in the direction we needed to. I think it’s being British, we never want to be rude! My history taking has definitely taken a turn for the worse since OSCE’s last year (sorry, Prof Patel!) so I need to review my structure. We were then taken aside and given some tips on OSCE skills and common mistakes to avoid. I had some slight tachycardia during this point as I’m 60% sure the consultant was examining me in my exam last year when I completely forgot to ask patient details!

The rest of the week flew by and I got two sign off’s done. There was a potential third sign off but if I have learnt anything this week, it’s that elderly veins are hard to draw blood from. You can hit the vein and they will not bleed, yet when you remove the needle they bleed everywhere and you panic inside to stop the bleed and not look completely incompetent (totally didn’t happen to me this week).

We have also been in the presence of an amazing F1 who was chasing us around the ward telling us to go and see patients, recommending certain exams to do on them and offering us procedures at every stage. He was lovely and a Warwick grad! It does make you feel like there is a light at the end of this tunnel when you see someone who was once in your boat out there and doing well. He was also teaching us at every stage he could (even getting dragged away by the consultant because they had to get work done). I hope to be like that as an F1 one day. I know I am going home for F1 now just to save costs and be near family so, I will have Kings College and the new Kent and Medway Medical School students to teach so, I am hoping to pass down Warwick Wisdom. If I get there!

I love being able to teach myself the topics we need to know and I am finding it easier to retain information. I just have to get used to being tired after hospital as at the moment all I want to do is go to sleep! I'm looking forward to the rest of the block as I am on O&G, finally going to GP placement and going back into theatre with anaesthetics, a speciality of which is now growing on me. I guess that’s it for me now, good luck to all our amazing final years with their finals! You will all SMASH it!

Eden Villiers : 27 Jan 2020 08:44 |  Tags: Abbie Mbchb Patients Student Wards Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Transition weeks conquered!

So, the weeks have arrived, officially no longer hiding in the lecture theatre and instead thrown onto the wards. Transition weeks are here. We had an induction on the Tuesday of the first week essentially giving us some of the ropes and then it was up to us. Kaludio and I decided to wander over to the anaesthetics department in search of our consultants who weren’t around meaning we were slightly adrift as we didn’t have anything to do. However, I remembered that the staff on Ward 1 are lovely and we decided to go down and do some bloods if we could. We bumped into an F1 who was also a Warwick Grad! It is so nice to find people who know what you are doing and what you need as they have been there themselves. We asked if it was ok to hang around and Dr Stroud was more than happy! He took us on some junior doctor ward rounds, essentially checking up on patients and chatting to them about how they were feeling. He asked us to listen to the lungs and do a quick abdominal exam and as we repeated back to him, he wrote our findings into the patients notes. Kaludio and I were slightly terrified at this, and I think we were double checking ourselves on every patient. However, it felt amazing that we could contribute something to the ward, and I think we started to feel a little like doctors in that instance.

We then got invited to endocrinology teaching which meant FREE SANDWICHES! We were also taught more about delirium in patients, a topic we had covered in AC1 but it was good to get a refresher and talk through an actual case of delirium in the hospital. We had to sneak out early though as we had to meet Klaudio’s consultant. I was nervous as I had pictured consultant as not wanting to have anything to do with their students, but he was lovely and knew what he wanted out of us. He told us his clinic and days he was the anaesthetist in surgery. He does cardiac and neuro cases of which I was excited about as well, you know about my obsession with Neurosurgery.

I then decided to head back down to Ward 1 to try and get some blood taking done, there was also a cannula to do but I didn’t feel confident enough to do one. I ended up taking a couple of blood sample off a lovely gent and we got talking about student life and what my favourite tipple was. I mentioned that it was cider and then because I’m from Kent, we went on a tangent about Kentish apples and strawberries. The blood taking took me 20 minutes and even Dr Stroud popped his head around the curtain to check I was ok, I need to stop having a good old gossip with my patients. I got the blood sample and as I was pulling back the curtain, I ended up in a whole ward chat about northern drink prices and how “ I really don’t sound northern” despite having spent the past three years living in Preston, good to know my southerner roots are still in tact !

I also went back the next day and ended up chatting with the gent again but halfway through our conversation paramedics turned up and took him away to rugby. Inside I was a bit heartbroken as I think I’ll always remember that patient as the one who taught me how much I love patient contact. However, there was also another patient on that ward who needed a friendly face just to chat to, so I ended up comforting them for most of that afternoon.

I have loved my time in transition weeks. I didn’t get to meet my consultant as I was Ill on the day, we were supposed to meet but I have a whole 10 weeks to find him during CCE so I am not too worried about that fact. I had been feeling a bit down about medicine but finally going onto the wards, feeling like we were being of use and putting some of my knowledge into use felt amazing and I now feel just a little more like a doctor. I am excited for the next block as it’s all the specialties we cover in year 2. It’s a packed block but I would rather have it in January off the back of a rest rather than as the last block before exams. So, I guess I can now call myself a clinical medical student, and that’s not terrifying at all !

Eden Villiers : 14 Jan 2020 08:56 |  Tags: Abbie Mbchb Patients Student Wards Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Christmas holidays and Warwick Traditions

The Christmas holidays have finally arrived! I don’t think we have ever been so grateful for December to show its face as we are all pretty tired and in need of a rest. However, there has been a lot going on over the last few weeks of term that have been exciting to be involved in.

We had Revue 2019 which is an evening where we put on a comedy sketch night evening for the rest of the med school and staff. It is my favourite evening of the year and the final week of preparation is my favourite as it’s just lots of pizza and team spirit as we push to the end of the 4-week rehearsal slot. I decided to just throw myself in this year and I was dancing (something I haven’t done since I was 14) and acting and singing in the end of act songs. Our normal sketch of Warwick V Buckingham (the only medical school we share a hospital with) went down well and I got to play a Warwick student. There was a point where I was crying dramatically which was snapped and is the most memorable picture of me I have ever seen. It was such an amazing night and we managed to raise a lot for a local sexual violence survivors’ charity, so it was all for a good cause.

I also made my debut as a Keynote speaker which felt weird to be standing at the front of the lecture theatre instead of sitting on the seats. It was for the MMI day run by a group of WMS medical students targeting widening participation students in the local area. Ollie had messaged me before asking if I was Miss or Ms, I asked if neither was an option, apparently it wasn’t. I don’t do formality! I was talking about medical school interviews and one thing I wanted to do was to avoid just regurgitating what is already out there on websites, instead focusing on aspects often missed such as supporting each other in teamwork. Normally, you just show off about being a leader and follower, but I believe that the aspect of comradery and support is just as important. One point I hammered on about was resilience. As grad entry students, most of us have seen our fare share of downfalls and built up that resilience which is so important in the tough world of medicine. I was given a huge box of chocolates to say thank you and as much pizza from lunch as I wanted, of which I was more than happy about!

I also got to finally partake in the long-held Warwick tradition of peer teaching. I taught in the anatomy and physiology days for block two and I found that I enjoyed it! Going back over my notes from first year was a bit surreal as it only hit me then how much work I had done over the Easter holiday last year but it was useful for making my sheets for the first years. It also meant I was refreshed on topics we had covered more than a year ago which considering one of my topics was drug metabolism, was actually a good thing! The physiology day brought its own challenge of having 12-minute slots to deliver topics normally taught in 60-minute lecture slots. It was hard but I decided worksheets were the best way to go here. I really did enjoy my weekend of teaching, it was a bit surreal to be teaching as I was always in awe of the second years last year who had passed the first year exams so to be able to be in that position myself this year, is amazing.

Teaching has also given me a bit of food for thought over my future career. I had never really considered the AFP programme, but I recently found out it also involves medical education as your “academic rotation” and now it’s something I am looking into. I am interested in medical education and developing my teaching and presenting skills so I can see myself applying to AFP come fourth year now!

So, now it’s Christmas. I am so grateful to be able to have 4 weeks off just sleeping and relaxing. I know next year is going to be a slog so I want to re-charge as much as possible. It also means I get to have a cuddle with my dog, something which I really need!

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and I’ll be writing again after the 25^th!

Eden Villiers : 14 Jan 2020 08:55 |  Tags: Abbie Mbchb Patients Student Wards Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Off to GOSH I go

I’ve decided to make this blog not about transition week, but about the GOSH conference I was lucky to attend. I arrived into Euston at 7:30am from the 4:45am wakeup call and hopped over the road to the Welcome Collection. I have never been more grateful to have the conference so near to the station! I arrived and basically jumped straight into helping. I was invited down to help with the conference, but it was not until I had arrived that I realised exactly what I was doing. They were letting me loose with the official GOSH PGME twitter account. I was a bit in shock, me? I got down to helping lay out the lanyards and said hi to the faces I knew from the team and was re-united with faces who I saw at the Summer School in July.

The day began with some speeches from an ex-patient at GOSH who talked about her condition and how she lives her life outside of just medical treatments. It was such an inspiration to be able to sit and listen to her and she explained how best to support children with the transition from child to adult services. We then had a speech looking at physician health and how we can prevent burn out. The quote that stuck with me here was “we can’t prevent burn out, but we can support it and prevent it getting worse”.I have to fully agree with this quote. We can try our best to keep heads above the water but we will get tired of treading water and will sink. However, it’s about not making the situation worse that it falls into depression. It was such a powerful speech that I nearly missed the beginning of the next one. Professor Dame Jane Darce talked about cracking the glass ceiling in medicine. She began by asking the crowd if we thought we had cracked the glass ceiling. Considering about 50-60% of the people in the room were women, only two people put their hands up. She then asked about if we had made a chip. Nobody put their hands up. Dame Darce then went on to talk about some of the micro-aggressions she had faced throughout her career and I was shocked that attitudes still existed in today’s NHS. She went on to talk about how we need to fix this culture through male allies and by strong role models. She ended by quotingMadeleine Albright — 'There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women'.

We then had a quick coffee break with the BEST cookies in the world (yes, I know I should be talking about the conference but conference food is amazing). I was given freedom to move about the conference as I pleased so I went to a talk titled how to Harness the power of your learning environment. I considered since I was now in a different learning environment, this would be helpful. She talked about her LOAF and BREAD model and how this incorporates into the main theatre list briefing.At the end everyone in thetheatre introduces themselves, role and what they want to achieve from the day.This allows everyone to be reminded about names, roles and more importantly, competency levels. I could see how this would be incredible for us students as it can be a bit intimidating to ask to cover one area so to be invited to speak up, would be so useful. We then had a presentation by Mr Ross Fisher who talked about how not to do presentations. It was easily one of the best talks I have sat in all year. He talked about the statistics behind long conference talks and uptake of information (1.5% of every 200 facts). He talked about how we need to re-look at our education as PowerPoints serve less of a purpose than they once did. With food for thought, it was lunch time and an opportunity for me to look at the posters presented. I hope to present one day here myself but for now, I’m happy just to look at the posters. I also got to have a go on some simulation software in the form of a computerised dummy which can cry, has a palpable pulse, shows capillary refill time and has a head that turns to sound as well as other features. It was incredible as I’ve never seen something like that before even though it was slightly terrifying to watch.

In the afternoon we had further talks on ethics in caring for the child in hospital, the ins and outs on how they managed to anaesthetise the two conjoined twins over the past year (venous system, arterial system and finally the craniums) and how the GOSH school runs alongside medical treatments. A powerful quote came from the GOSH school speech which was “how can you expect me to become a doctor if I can’t get off the ward into school”. It hit home about not just treating the child but their entire life outside of their condition. We could be treating the next prime minister, the next break through scientists but if we don’t allow them the opportunity to have the chances medically fit children do, they will struggle to achieve their potentials.

I could go on about the GOSH conference for a few more pages but I am aware of the word limit we have on these blogs! The day finished with a final lecture about the DRIVE team at GOSH who are developing new technology for use in healthcare and then a performance from the London International Gospel Choir. They were incredible and such an amazing end to a brilliant day. I am so grateful for the opportunity to help out and I know one day, I will end up at GOSH because they are the type of people I know I want to work with in the future.

Eden Villiers : 26 Nov 2019 08:42 |  Tags: Abbie Mbchb Patients Student Wards Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem