All 20 entries tagged Jordan

# NOF, #cutebabies

Last weekend I took part in the second year MOSCE day. A MOSCE is the same thing as an OSCE, but a mock/practice version. Second year is quickly coming to an end, with only 5 weeks left until our end of second year exams, one aspect of which is our OSCE (or clinical examinations). The MOSCE was kindly set up and run by current third years, and was set up like an actual mock-exam, where we rotated around various stations. In these we did various clinical skills, for example a history-taking for chest pain and then interpretation of an ECG.

In our first year OSCEs last year we would have 10 minutes to conduct a clinical examination or history (so one station would be 10 minutes taking a chest pain history). This year, however, we only have 7 minutes and we are expected to complete multiple tasks in that time (so it can be a short history, an examination and interpreting a test result all in one station). These are much closer to how we will actually be working as doctors, but that doesn’t make it any less daunting. There is a real time pressure to complete the various tasks in the time – its almost like a quiz show where the prize isn’t a holiday in Hawaii, it’s a step in the road to a medical degree!

On Monday I had my last labour shift for this year. We’ve had three labour shifts across this block and I have been lucky enough to see a variety of different births (including caesareans, natural births, forceps deliveries). I’ve been really lucky to have the chance to see so much, and I feel as though I’ve seen a good variety of cases to provide a good grounding for more detailed training on Obs & Gynaecology next year. I feel hugely privileged to have been present at these births and a very small part of seeing these babies into the wide world. Nothing beats the blues like seeing a cute baby!

Today I attended Fracture clinic with my Orthopaedic consultant. When I started this block and found out my consultant was an Orthopaedic surgeon, I was dreading having to spend time in Orthopaedics as so far on the course I really hadn’t enjoyed it at all. For whatever reason, I just didn’t find bones, tendons or muscles (the remit of Orthopaedics) interesting in the slightest. However….I have really enjoyed my time this block! This has surprised me (and probably everyone around me), but we’ve done some cool things and seen some complicated fractures and bone injuries. I am really drawn specifically to the Trauma aspect of Orthopaedics (so broken bones and car accidents etc), and look forward to hopefully spending more time in fracture clinic and in theatre soon.

Medicine sometimes feels like another language, so here is one abbreviation to help demystify things slightly. Your femur is your thigh bone, and at the top there’s a narrow area we call this the neck. In patients with osteoporosis (brittle bones), this neck is a weak area which can break with falls and accidents. For whatever reason, a fracture is written as a hashtag (#), so a fractured neck of femur is called a # Neck of Femur (#NOF for short).

Lucinda Sidbury : 13 Aug 2019 09:24 |  Tags: Gem Graduate-Entry Jordan Mbchb Medicine Student University Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Babies, sleep deprivation and festivals!

Last Friday I had the amazing opportunity to attend the Warwick MB ChB Education conference, where all of the staff involved in education at the Medical School attend and share ideas. I was there presenting a poster I had been involved in with a third-year medical student and one of the faculty who teaches on the course. We were presenting a method of teaching professionalism to medical students and the poster was well received by the attendees, with lots of interest in our work. It was quite surreal to be at a conference with all the people who are usually teaching me, but everyone was very welcoming to the students who were there and keen to hear our ideas about how teaching on the course could be improved. There were also lots of new ideas about how to innovate in teaching medical students, which as a student who is very keen on being involved in teaching, were of great interest to me as to how I could improve my own teaching skills. For example, one of the anatomy teachers was showing us a method called “Do It, draw it”, which is about using visual cues such as drawing structures and ideas and acting them out as an aid to remembering them. I found this fascinating as an idea for how to teach complex ideas to students and is something I will try when I next get the chance to teach. Overall, the conference really helped confirm for me that I want to be very involved in medical education as I progress throughout my career and has given me some practical ideas as to how to improve my own teaching skills.

This week my clinical partner and I had our first shift on a labour ward, which also happened to also be my first ever night shift! It was slightly surreal turning up to hospital at 7:30pm, to get changed into scrubs and meet our assigned midwife for the evening. This shift gave us an introduction to childbirth, and we were attached to a midwife who took us through the labouring process. The time went quicker than I expected, although I did start to flag at about 4am (nothing a bagel and sweets couldn’t sort). In the end I managed to see a natural birth and assisted delivery (where the doctors help mum in getting the baby out). I was hugely thankful to the mums I was able to be with at such a stressful time. It was a very special experience (albeit tense and dramatic at times) and I loved forming a bond with the mums, willing them on and reassuring them throughout the process. Both births ended well, with two perfectly formed babies, and I even got a chance to cuddle one of them for a while whilst mum got some rest (call me Uncle Jordan). I was exhausted by the time 8am came around, having been awake for a straight 24 hours in total, but it was totally worth it for the experience.

I managed to get some rest on Friday, and then Saturday I was up nice and early again to head down to London. In the summer, I help out as a first aider at festivals, which is a great way to gain clinical experience (and also get paid to help buy all of those coffees which are a necessity as a medical student). While I’m there, I basically just help out with people who have accidents or are taken unwell at the festival. The company I work for creates a really supportive atmosphere, with senior nurses, paramedics and doctors on hand to help out with any patients you aren’t 100% sure with, so it is a great way to cut your clinical teeth and work the diagnostic muscles. I saw some pretty nasty trauma cases and injuries, as well as a fair share of people who had just had a bit much to drink! I’m sure it will be great experience when I come to my A+E placements in third year. Having had a great weekend with more than a few interesting cases, I ended up getting home at 1am Monday morning, ready to sleep and then start the week afresh. No rest for the wicked!

Jordan

Charlie Gallan : 11 Jul 2019 09:31 |  Tags: Jordan Mbchb Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

“Sharp scratch!”

During the last fortnight my clinical partner and I started our new GP placement. In contrast to the previous two surgeries we have been placed in which have been in more rural and suburban settings, our new placement is in the heart of Coventry city centre. It has been really eye opening to see the difference in patients, cases and the overall running of the surgery in this more diverse, busier setting. The patients we saw on our GP day tended to be younger and present with more acute illnesses, rather than follow-ups and monitoring of long-term conditions.

This week we also got the opportunity to spend time with two community midwives (and lots of cute babies of course!) If I’m being completely honest, I didn’t really have much idea of the world of community midwifery but it was really interesting to see all that goes into pregnancy and post-natal care. I had the chance to get hands on and palpate the babies whilst they were still inside. Handily I was able to practice on the midwife I was shadowing as she was expecting too and kindly let me practice. The experience was really good fun and I left both days having learnt a lot (and feeling like I need a baby in my life – watch this space!).

I have also had my clinical skills session on giving injections and blood glucose testing. We were shown how to carry out several types of injections including intramuscular (for injections such as the flu vaccine) subcutaneous (for injections such as insulin delivery) and transdermal (for administering local anaesthetics). As for blood glucose testing, I had an unfair advantage over the majority of my colleagues as my partner is Type 1 diabetic. It felt quite exciting being able to practice these procedures and whilst they seem relatively simple it’s important, we are able to carry out these injections properly as they will be key skills in our day to day lives as doctors! I also learned the correct time to say “sharp scratch” when popping the needle in to distract the patient.

The clinical skills sessions in second year have probably been some of my favourite parts of the course as we get to learn the skills we will need to look after people, rather than just reading about things! Injection technique was our last clinical skill session for Year 2, and we have covered the core skills required of doctors – taking blood, putting in cannulas, acute assessments, life support, urinary catheterisation, administering oxygen, blood gases, blood glucose and finally now injections. After our assessments, we are now signed off as being able to go out and practice these skills under close supervision, which means that if the chance comes along, I will be able to have a go!

Jordan

Charlie Gallan : 02 Jul 2019 11:52 |  Tags: Jordan Mbchb Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Bones, Bones, Bones

Over the last two weeks I have been very busy finishing off my protocol for my research project for third year. So, at the beginning of third year, we have this module called Student Selected Component 2, which is where we pick a research project and undertake it. As part of this, we have to write what’s called a protocol, which is basically a roadmap as to how we will undertake our project. My project is to do with Cremations in the UK and the role General Practitioners play in this process, which is slightly unusual! I am excited to start my project as it is the first piece of research I have done where the idea and execution will be entirely led by me. Slightly terrifying, but exciting too!

We also started Core Clinical Education 3, for which time period I am on placement with an Orthopaedic surgeon (bone surgeon) and also attached to maternity. The block started with a bank holiday, which is never a bad start, and then I was helping out on the Warwick Medical School open day, where myself and the other student blogger Abbie were giving a presentation on being a student here. I think this is a hugely important part of the open day and also important for students who want to come and study here. I attended an open day when I was applying to Warwick for Medicine and the presentation from the students was far and away my favourite part of the day – hearing from current students about what the course is actually like is so important when deciding if it for you. I would recommend that anyone who wants to apply to come here apply to come to the open day if you can as you will get a real insight into what Medical School is all about.

This week I also attended some clinical sessions with the orthopaedic surgeon I am attached to for the duration of this block. Orthopaedic surgeons deal with a huge range of issues, including disorders of the bones (fractures, dislocations), muscles and tendons (including sprains and tears). I went to fracture clinic on Wednesday, which is where people who think they may have fractured a bone may come to have their bones X-rayed and reviewed by one of the surgeons, who may recommend surgery or bed rest. Our consultant is amazing and really keen for us to get involved with everything, so we were sent off to talk to some patients and do some examinations. Then we presented back to the consultant and we had a look at the X-ray together, where we had to have a guess what was going on. This was really fun and was almost like being in a smaller (bone related) A+E department.

On Thursday, we attended theatre with our consultant, and were told to “scrub in”, which is where you wash your hands multiple times in a specific way and put on a surgical gown and sterile surgical gloves. This was our first time doing this so it was a little scary, but luckily, we had a friendly scrub nurse to help us and advise if we were doing everything right. Once scrubbed in, you aren’t allowed to touch anything, or even scratch your nose, so you have to distract yourself to avoid being driven mad by those little itches! Luckily, we had plenty of distractions as it was a large operation so we were able to get involved and help hold things and even help close the wound with one of the trainee surgeons (under very close supervision). I had never thought I would enjoy surgery that much, but it was great fun and very satisfying to be getting stuck in and fixing the patients problem there and then. I still don’t know what type of doctor I want to be – but you never know, I may go into Orthopaedics!

Jordan

Charlie Gallan : 18 Jun 2019 15:07 |  Tags: Jordan Mbchb Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The week off, and the week back

Core Clinical Education is a long block which makes up most of second year and runs from January-September, and is divided into three 10 week blocks – CCE1, CCE2, CCE3. We have a week off between CCE2 and CCE3 which is a much needed break from the day-to-day. Last week was the week’s holiday and I spent this in the west of Ireland! My partner’s family originally come from here and we had meant to go for a long time but never got around to it, so we decided that this week off between CCE2 and CCE3 was the ideal time to take a short break and head over (plus the flights were cheap at this time of year!)

In Ireland, I spent the whole week away from medicine and anything healthcare related, mostly climbing hills, walking on the beach and spending time enjoying traditional Irish music in the many pubs (along with a few drinks!). One day we climbed a local mountain, Croagh Patrick, which was advertised as a 4 hour, relatively difficult walk. As definitely not the sporty type, I was worried but it was actually perfect to get away from all of my worries on the ground and head up into the clouds, where there are no OSCEs or Medical exams. I did have a couple of scary moments whilst climbing (including nearly falling more than once), but managed to reach the top without too much ado. Light-heartedness aside, the week was the ideal break for me – Ireland is suitably detached from Medical School but also close enough and familiar enough to not entail a long journey.

After my lovely break, we had a bank holiday weekend with Monday off, which isn’t the worst thing to come back to. After a weekend of catching up with my family back home, I headed back to Warwick for an early start at the Medical Teaching Centre for our community day which covered the topics of Palliative Care and End of Life. For me the lectures were interesting and thought provoking, especially as I spent 2 years volunteering at a Hospice before starting here at Medical School. I found that I already knew a lot of what was discussed but I definitely learned a lot of new things, including some of the medications as someone reaches the end of their life. It is one of the specialities that I am considering for my future career as it involves looking at not only a person’s medical problems, but at the person holistically, but also from a personal, religious and social perspective.

Today we had our CCE3 indication at hospital, including tips from the module lead on how to get the most out of our 10 week placement. My assigned consultant is an Orthopaedic Surgeon, so I will be getting lots of experience in Musco-skeletal medicine, which is great as this is probably one of my very weakest areas, but also one that is bound to come up in end of year exams. In addition, in this block I also have time allocated to spend shifts in Obstetrics & Gynaecology (childbirth and female/reproductive medicine), so after the general induction for everyone, I then had a specific induction and tour of Labour ward and the birthing centre at UHCW. I am hugely excited for this, as I love Obstetrics and just babies in general, so I cannot wait for my Labour ward shifts which take place in week 6-8 of this block. These will be covered in a future blog from me and I will update you all on how I get on!

Jordan

Charlie Gallan : 30 May 2019 11:10 |  Tags: Jordan Mbchb Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem