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February 09, 2015
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Everyone seems to have got over their January blues, people have given up on their new years’ resolutions and everyone has settled into our new routine for this block.
We have started our bedside teaching in hospitals which means we have NHS badges with our names and a very dodgy photo declaring that we are medical students. We spend half a day a week with our clinical tutors visiting different wards of the hospital and getting the chance to practice histories and examinations.
I’m based at Warwick hospital, which is quite small but has great facilities for the medical students. There is a library for students and a study room as well as a room to practice clinical skills, there are also lots of Clinical education fellows who are passionate about teaching and who are often not long qualified themselves so are very sympathetic when we forget things (which happens a lot!).
I was very nervous about going to take a history and examine a real patient, but she was so lovely and patient and said she was happy to help us. We learn so much from patients and the feedback they give us, I’m hoping I can use our hospital placements to really refine my clinical skills and with practice I will hopefully be less nervous!
In addition to my first time on the wards, I also had my formative OSCE this week. This was a small practice version of the exam we will have in the summer which tests our clinical skills in an exam setting. Unlike in the summer exam we were told which skills we would be tested on so we could focus our practice. I have been practicing a lot with my CBL group which has proved invaluable!
The medical school has blood pressure cuffs and resuscitation dummies for us to practice with so we have had a few practice sessions where we all give each other feedback and go through things we aren’t sure on. It’s been very helpful as everyone has slightly different ways of doing things so you can pick up some good tips just from observing!
Another new thing for this block has been the start of our student selected component. This is part of the course we get to pick from several options (including Trauma medicine, Tropical and Infectious diseases and Global Health) a module that we can attend additional sessions on. I chose the Sleep Medicine module as I was quite interested in how sleep is affected in a lot of psychiatric and neurological disorders. I’m really enjoying the sessions so far, we are learning about how sleep can be measured and how disrupted sleep can lead to multiple health problems as well as some strange things such as sleep walking and nocturnal head banging.
These sessions are much less pressured than lectures as we aren’t being examined on them so we can just relax and enjoy learning new things. My group will also be visiting a local sleep laboratory so I will have to remember to bring my pyjamas to that session!
Megan Earle
09 Feb 2015 09:38
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Tags: Examination Joanne Mbchb Patients Wards Warwick
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March 27, 2014
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
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