All 6 entries tagged Amy

Calm before the Storm

So we’re back at uni today after a 5 week long “holiday” and everyone seems to be refreshed, relaxed and surprisingly quite positive considering we’re now in our last few weeks of teaching before the end of Phase I exams. Most of us have very few stories to tell of the exciting things we have been up to over the Easter break and indeed a lot of people have stayed around to use the library or MTC whilst revising. My own story of weeks of revision interspersed with a few trips to Tesco and a couple of appointments with Occupational Health haven’t exactly had my friends or housemates rage with jealousy, though a couple of lucky people have been travelling in some capacity whether to America, Europe or back home for some of the international students.

 We’re all keen to get cracking with Block 5 - Reproduction and Child Development, though the thought of having loads of new stuff to learn just before exams is pretty scary. We were also told today that the decision has been made for us to stay in the same small groups until the end of Phase II. This will mean that half of our time at medical school will have been spent with the same 8-10 people. In my last blog I mentioned how important it is to make friends and take care when choosing your housemates because you’ll be spending a lot of time together. Unfortunately, you can’t choose your group. At Warwick we do a lot of group based work, including CBL cases and general “groupwork” sessions, and a lot of groups schedule extra sessions to help each other cover particularly challenging concepts or for revision. It’s so obvious but it really is important that you can work well together. So much of your time is invested in group learning and you really will get out of it what you put in. I love my CBL group and, fortunately, I think they’re all a wonderful group of people and I like to think that actually we are really good friends. Your group will help you through these tough first years where actually your base of knowledge, at least in the beginning, is really quite limited. For all the studying you’ve done previously, you’ll probably find that actually you don’t know much about the topics you’re going to cover, but why would you? It really is a case of 9 minds are better than 1 and brainstorming will help you to find those tiny gems of knowledge you do have, whether from your past experiences or from watching Holby City and House.

 In every group, people tend to fill different types of role and it is quite useful to think about what sort of person you are and how you tend to communicate. Are you a vocal member of the group and likely to lead the session and take control? Would you prefer to be a bit quieter and let others take charge, contributing when you feel confident that you know what you’re talking about? The key to good group work is to maintaining flow and focus in a session, ensuring that all group members contribute and keep up, and to learn to be flexible and accommodating when it comes to each other’s learning styles. If you haven’t already, when you arrive at medical school you’ll begin to think about the different styles of learning and hopefully identify in a quite general way, the sort of learner you are. Characteristics include visual or verbal, sensing or intuitive, active or reflective and sequential or global and in your group there will be people with all kinds of combinations. It’s important, not only for group work but your own learning, to know your learning style, know what kind of person/personality you are and to own it. Recognising your own strengths and weaknesses will help you to become more mindful of others, appreciative of their skills and to become more flexible and adaptable when it comes to team work. We’re going to have a lifetime of being part of a huge multidisciplinary team and the time to learn how to work effectively as such is now.

 So when you get here and you hesitantly go to meet your group on the first day, look around and think about where you fit in, and how much you’re going to achieve together over the next two years. Those 8 people will help you through thick and thin and whether you like them or not, you’re going to have to work together to reach your end goal. Hopefully…..probably, you’ll be as fortunate as I am and by the end of Phase II, if not before, you’ll have 8 really good friends.

 Now back to chatting about all those shopping trips and to enjoy the buzz of the MTC. I’m sure this atmosphere will pass by the end of the week though, and the computer room will return to its usual silence, except for that incessant tapping of keys!

See you soon,

 Amy

: 23 Apr 2014 09:37 |  Tags: Amy Group Work Mbchb Medicine Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Preparing for the MB ChB

Congratulations to all of you who have recently received your offers to study at Warwick. Before I got mine I remember anxiously scrolling through the student room desperately waiting to find out when I’d be receiving my offer, or most probably my rejection. Anyway, the wait is over and you can finally relax! Whether you’re working or still studying you can finally look forward to starting your medical career in September, which you’ve no doubt been working extremely hard towards for quite some time. Before getting here it’s tempting to think that there’s loads of work to do and things to sort out and whilst there may be some truth in that, I think it’s really important to enjoy the summer - you’ve worked hard, it paid off, you deserve it!

Here are some tips to make the “Big Move” a little bit easier.

• Go to the house hunting day - MedSoc will organise a day where next year’s students can come to Warwick for an informal “getting to know each other” day. This is your opportunity to find a group that you fit with. Granted, you probably won’t get to know each other’s deepest secrets or be taking anyone home to meet your parents after one day (or you might but I’d probably advise against it), but you can get a good idea of what people are like and whether you could see yourselves getting along for the next year. Choosing housemates is really important, particularly if you are going to live with fellow medics. Having the same timetable will mean that you will be spending A LOT of time together and that might mean little problems that wouldn’t have been an issue in another life become the most unbearable thing you’ve ever had to deal with. Facebook is a wonderful way to have a chat with someone and a little Facebook stalk never hurt anyone.

• Don’t buy textbooks before you get here - It’s tempting to buy loads of stuff you might think you need before you get here in an effort to hit the ground running but it’s better to leave it a while until you’ve identified what kind of textbooks you learn best from. I have a huge, expensive physiology textbook that I still don’t understand a word of so it’s serving its purpose as an effective doorstop at the moment. If I’d taken the time to have a look at books from the library I might have saved myself some valuable beer money.
• Buy a fresher’s pass/band - Definitely indulge in the first week. It’s so important to get to know your coursemates, your housemates in particular, and to have a bit of fun. You’ve probably been working super hard for the past few years and you’ve a lot of hard work coming up so enjoy fresher’s week to the full. Remember fresher’s week when you were 18 (you might not if it was particularly indulgent)? How lucky are we to get to do it twice!
• Be humble, ask for help and just admit if you don’t know - we already know you’re amazing. You’re here and you’ve already got some stellar academic credentials under your belt, but then so have all of your classmates, and you’ve still got a long road ahead. You can learn something from everyone whether it’s lecturers, fellow students, doctors, nurses or even your patients. If you’re like me you’ll spend the first semester not knowing anything about anything and that’s OK, for a while! The patients that you meet will be nice to you and are only talking to you because they want to. It’s not compulsory for ill people to have the same conversation over and over again with various groups of nervous medical students. Listen to them and enjoy it, they’re more often than not an expert in their condition and it might just make all the pieces fit together for you.
• Finally and most importantly, I think, is to remember to do it your own way. Everyone will approach things differently. It’s really easy to get bogged down with thinking about how much more work other people are doing or how much better their learning style is. Before exams, when you’re laid in bed and the fear descends over you try not to forget how far you’ve come and how much you’ve achieved already. You’ll do it again. You’ll make it.

Amy

Sarah Hill : 14 Apr 2014 14:47 |  Tags: Amy Classmates Freshers Housemates Mbchb Medsoc Student Textbooks Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Meeting Patients (Part 2)

In my last blog I told you a bit about how much fun I was having speak to, and examining patients on the ward. I also wrote about how good my clinical tutor is and how nice he had been to us.

This week, while we were making our way round the wards, all together for the last time, a junior doctor stopped my clinical tutor to tell him that there was a lady on the ward with a really interesting heart murmur and that he should take us to go an have a listen. The junior doctor also wasn't quite sure what the murmur was so wanted our clinical tutor to confirm the diagnosis. Anyway, my tutor approached the patient and asked her if it would be OK for us to have a listen to her heart. Since he had recently explained heart sounds to me for the 16th time this term, he said I should listen because he was sure I'd get it.

I approached the patient and asked politely if I could have a listen to her heart and would she mind if I reached through her nightwear to do so. I think for a first year, this bit is always so embarrassing, even though there really isn't anything to be embarrassed about. I noticed she didn't have any underwear on, so asked if it was OK to just place my stethoscope under her breast. Of course she said it was fine, not giving it a second thought while I stood there awkwardly trying to co-ordinate lifting, whilst trying to put my stethoscope in place, whilst going slightly red and causing a fuss over nothing.

I managed to maintain some of the patient’s dignity when the junior doctor came in and said that this was not the patient that we were meant to be listening to, and it was in fact the patient in the bed opposite. My clinical tutor just made me stop what I was doing and I sheepishly apologised to the patient for the trauma she'd just experienced - (don't worry, she actually wasn't harmed during the process of my poor cardiovascular examination). We tottered off to the other patients’ bed quickly before the whole room noticed- the curtains are soundproofed too, right? I made sure I didn't go first this time, but on the plus side I did manage to get it right for a change. I blame my clinical tutor :-)

We're fast approaching the Easter break now which means one thing...... exams are just around the corner. Panic is setting in all around. It seems so ridiculous, being nervous about exams when there is still quite a long period of time between now and then, but here we are, five months into our medical degrees and it has flown by!

We have five blocks of learning in our first year, and at the end of each block we have a formative assessment, to help us identify how we have got on with the block and hopefully point us in the direction of what we need to revisit before the summative at the end of year. Unfortunately, every time I do a formative, it just seems to highlight that I need to revisit absolutely everything and makes me feel a bit more nervous about the summer. Anyway, we have five nice, long, revision filled weeks to buckle down before the last block. I'll have to make sure I have time to enjoy at least one Easter egg though.

See you soon

Amy

: 27 Mar 2014 10:10 |  Tags: Amy Examination Mbchb Medicine Patients Stethoscope Tutor Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

OSCE assessment prep

The dreaded formative OSCE has arrived.

Even though I know that the purpose of the formative is to help me assess where I am in my learning and to identify any areas of weakness before the scary summer summative, and in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter if I fail; I can’t help but feel absolutely terrified. A few blog posts ago I said that I was really enjoying the clinical skills sessions and optimistically I said I thought I was quite good (really just not absolutely abysmal). I take it all back. It’s funny how you go along thinking “actually I’m alright at this stuff, I can do it” and as soon as you get close to an exam time, you forget everything. It’s like I never practiced at all. My fingers are no longer able to unscrew the valve on my sphygmomanometer, my hands aren’t big enough to support an elbow and my stethoscope is definitely broken, hence the lack of clear Korotkoff sounds. Of course - a poor workman always blames his tools.

Despite my sheer terror, practicing has actually been quite fun. Our front room has been turned into an examination room, the sofa providing a more than adequate substitute hospital bed. We’ve been doing practice resuscitation on a borrowed dummy, disrupting a silent BioMed Grid, with calls for help and had endless blood pressures taken, never having the same reading twice. Have you ever practiced walking in to a room and introducing yourself before? It’s so frustrating that we do it every day and it’s so simple but because the context changes and we feel under pressure, saying your own name - “Hi, I’m Amy Barrett”, becomes quite a significant achievement. Usually I get at least part of my name right and sometimes I remember to identify the patient, so really I’m about half way there. A few more hours in front of the mirror and I should nail it.

I’ve enjoyed practicing history taking the most. My housemates seem to have made it their mission to come up with the most ridiculous back stories and ludicrous set of symptoms no clinician has ever seen. Then again, anything is possible when it comes to patients. I’ve spoken to a few people now who have done their OSCE and all have had completely different experiences. A couple said it was “the worst thing ever”, some said “ahh it was alright” and one person actually said “it was really good” so well done them and thanks for that little bit of positivity! I would guess that most people will have done a similar amount of preparation. We’ve all had the same clinical skills sessions, and have plenty of people around us to practice with. I think the greatest variable is each individual’s confidence on the day. It’s horrible when you’re nervous and when it gets too much, that’s when things start to go wrong. I think we just need to learn to laugh at ourselves (when appropriate of course) and move on from our mistakes. I’m sure the OSCE examiners have seen the most ridiculous performances over the years*. It’s much better to do something silly now, with the opportunity to ensure it’s right for next time, than sit the summative and end up looking like a Chuckle brother.

So - I’ll try not to be too nervous and hopefully, with a bit more practice, I’ll be in a pretty good position. I’ve decided I’m going to enjoy my OSCE - at least maybe once it’s over.

I’ll see you on the other side.
Amy

*There was a rumour of someone actually hitting a patient on the head with a tuning fork, though I cannot verify the authenticity of this claim! It can’t be any worse than that can it?

Sarah Hill : 24 Jan 2014 13:41 |  Tags: Amy Mbchb Osce Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

End of semester one

Well, I made it. Christmas is here and I've just completed my first semester at WMS. It has been a tough 11 weeks with all sorts of challenging concepts and information to battle with. At times I've felt a little overwhelmed with the avalanche of information washing over me, but actually I've loved it. Isn't the challenge part of the reason we choose to study medicine?

When I was thinking about what to write for this entry I thought I'd have a look on the Student Room (come on - we've all been there) and I found a page called "Reflections of a First Year Medical Student". The first post outlines a student's thoughts on their first year and quite early on says how easy it was. Now, I'm sure I'm not the only medical student to disagree with him.

I, Amy Barrett, am finding my first year hard.

I'm not too concerned that I feel this way because I think it is supposed to be hard. If you're lucky enough to have covered all the material in your previous degree and have managed to retain that past graduation then well done (I am very jealous), but for the rest of us, we either need a bit of a refresher or to try and grapple with some pretty advanced stuff. The first year is about laying the foundations of knowledge and learning new skills that are vital for becoming a good doctor. We shouldn't be intimidated by the fact we have to learn so much and maybe even change the way we learn. If we knew it all, we wouldn't need to be here.

It's not just the content of lectures and the impending doom of exams, but also learning how to cope with such a full timetable that makes it hard. Personally, I had far fewer lectures and contact time in my previous degree and combining a fuller working week with a part time job and hopefully a little bit of a social life is no easy task. That said, we are reminded that it is a privilege to study medicine, and it really is. For all the hard work we put in, we are more than rewarded, with what will hopefully be a long and happy professional life doing something that we have always wanted to do. Few people get that opportunity in life, so embrace it, try to enjoy it, because after all, we worked so hard to get here.

Of all the new things I've experienced since September, I enjoyed the clinical skills sessions and the community placements the most. On Fridays the entire first year at WMS is unleashed from the Medical Teaching Centre and can be seen, stethoscope in hand, getting lost around University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire. Right from the first day we were set impossible tasks such as finding Occupational Health and getting safely to and from UHCW in the morning traffic for 8.00am. When you live in Leamington, leaving around 7.15am seems so unjust but it's good practise for the future, I'm sure. The day is quite varied and starts with a lecture, before the year group splits into smaller groups and engages in different sessions throughout the day.

My day usually starts in the Surgical Training Centre. This is a really impressive facility and we're very lucky to have access to it here at Warwick. I have been in an anatomy suite before but it was no way near as high-tech and well organised as the one at UHCW. I've found I learn better visually so seeing the specimens first hand and having the detail and concepts explained by the tutors really brings the pieces of the puzzle together. The afternoon is then spent learning how to apply the scientific background to the consultation, with practise of different examinations. I really enjoy this part of learning and find the sessions really interactive and memorable. Hopefully I've gained a fairly good understanding of the basic processes involved in history taking and examination. We have a formative OSCE to assess this after Christmas and I'll be sure to let you know how it goes in a future blog post. For now though, I'm going to settle down with a mince pie and maybe Gray's Anatomy, well, for a little while at least.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all,

Amy

Sarah Hill : 23 Dec 2013 11:45 |  Tags: Amy Mbchb Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem