All 62 entries tagged Student

Back to Lectures and Wards…

The Student-Selected Component phase in our curriculum has come to an end, and despite the fact that we are all feeling a bit more refreshed and ready to dive back into some more structured learning opportunities, there certainly was not much rest for the weary this week. For the next two-and-a-half weeks, we are participating in Advanced Cases 2. This is basically an introduction back into the world of lectures and wards and clinics and preparation for Phase III, which starts next year. In each of these three weeks, we have two days of intense lectures followed by three days on the wards to re-acquaint ourselves with the buzzing hospital world.

The four weeks I spent in The Gambia collecting data for my project seem about a million years ago now. Getting used once again to the autumn weather in Coventry after what felt like a scorching heatwave in Banjul (but was evidently a perfectly normal autumn, albeit one with highs of 35!) was tough, but I was able to gain a great deal of clinical exposure out there alongside my data collection, and I saw first-hand what it was like to practice medicine in a developing country with much fewer resources than we can access here. This has affected my perception about healthcare here in the UK as well, and will definitely colour my approach to practicing medicine in the future. For one thing, I have learned to never take for granted the provision of plentiful, adequate supplies and antibiotics. For another, we are extremely lucky in the UK to have excellent primary-care services which are provided free at the point of contact. This is lacking in many parts of the world.

We had lectures earlier this week about varied topics that we will be encountering next year in our cycle of speciality placements, including things like foetal development and monitoring, gynaecological emergencies, childhood neurological development and safeguarding – and that’s just over two days! It’s been extremely interesting and extremely relevant, and we’ve had a great time re-acquainting ourselves with these topics. Among other things, it underscores the value of repetition to assist memorisation. It’s really daunting to think about how much stuff needs to become automatic before we’re fully qualified, but when I look back over how much I’ve learned since starting med school 27 months ago, I’m confident that we can all do it.

Now, in addition to lectures, we have been turned loose on the wards again. But this time, if only for a short interlude, it’s different to CCE: it’s great to be in an environment where we can refine our clinical skills – and for the next few weeks, we can do so without the pressure of assessment. Once again we are distributed across our main hospitals in this trust, but this time, as opposed to CCE during our second year, it doesn’t feel like we’re dropped in the deep end! We are much more familiar with how each practice works and the layout of each of the wards, and it seems to be going really well. I am really looking forward to getting as much as possible from this part of the course.

John

Luke Pemberton : 28 Nov 2016 15:10 |  Tags: John Mbchb Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Returning to the wards…

Well it’s the final working day of my 8 week student selected component (SSC2) and unfortunately I haven’t quite finished my project, things always take longer than you expect and data analysis is no exception. I’ll have to work hard over the remaining weeks to meet the deadline but at least the problem I have is too much data rather than too little! I’ve really enjoyed my project, it’s been totally different to any research I’ve ever done before and the results are quite interesting so hopefully I will be able to publish them in a journal. As we have entered third year we’ve already had talks on the application process for the UK Foundation programme, one of the things you can score points on is publications. While I was lucky to publish during my PhD, for other students, SSC2 is a unique opportunity to get involved in a project that they could publish and boost their score (and their CV!).

I’ve also been settling into my new role as President of the Psychiatry Society, we’ve had a few meetings now and had our first event, which was a great success, and are planning a West Midlands wide symposium on Forensic Psychiatry before Christmas. I was already interested in psychiatry due to my previous degree but it’s not the most popular speciality. Been involved in a society puts me in touch with like-minded people and gives everyone an opportunity to get involved in something they are passionate about. There are societies for lots of different branches of medicine here at Warwick so no matter what your interests you’ll be able to find a group of like-minded people to work with. As well as all the extra-curricular activities you’ll find within the medical school if you look a little further there are lots of amazing opportunities out there. The medical school inform us of prizes or conference bursaries we might want to apply for and I myself decided to apply for a Pathfinder fellowship from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, this is a scheme designed to nurture people interested in psychiatry from the end of medical school until they apply for speciality training. After a scary interview in London I was told I had been successful so I’m really excited to be part of this national scheme. All the Royal Colleges have discounts and prizes for students and many of them offer mentoring opportunities. It really pays to keep your eyes open for these opportunities as they are great for your CV and sometimes the purse strings!

Next week the 3rd years return to lectures two days a week and then spend the rest of the week in hospital. This is Advanced cases 2, lectures to prepare us for our speciality blocks in January and a chance to refresh our clinical skills. I’m going to be based at the large hospital in Coventry, UHCW. Myself and a group of other students have been assigned to a cardiologist, gastroenterologist, palliative care doctor, oncologist and some anaesthetists who we can all spend time with. I’ve not spent time in some of these specialties yet so I think I’ll try and make the most of them as next year our timetables aren’t as flexible.

Medicine is really what you make of it, be it how many extra-curricular commitments you have, how you use your clinical placements or how you study from lectures. Sometimes I make life difficult for myself by trying to squeeze too much in, but if I’ll only be a medical student once and I’m determined to make the most of the freedom being a student brings.. at least until I have to start revising for finals!

Joanne

Luke Pemberton : 22 Nov 2016 13:08 |  Tags: Joanne Mbchb Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

My return to the UK

I have spent four of the eight weeks of our Student-Selected Component research period collecting data from a large regional hospital in the Gambia, and I returned to the UK just over a week ago. It’s been a tough transition. The Gambia was a wonderful place, full of extremely pleasant people and experiences., most importantly, it was warm and pleasant weather. But there were lots of things I missed about England whilst abroad. Getting fresh vegetables in West Africa was really difficult – it usually involved a 20-minute walk one-way under the baking sun (I stupidly forgot my sunglasses, because I never use them at home! At least I remembered suncream). And most food products were imported and thus twice as expensive as UK shelves.

Yet there are, of course, many things that the Gambia lacks but that we enjoy in this country. For instance, on one of the weekend afternoons towards the end of my stay, we were at the beach and there was a scare that someone had been swept too far out to sea (it turned out to be a false alarm; it was a buoy that looked like a head bobbing above the waves). But it took over an hour for anyone to muster a boat and mount a rescue mission. In the UK, there is no doubt in my mind that the RNLI would be out as soon as possible, rain or shine, and would be hauling any victims on board without delay. Such an infrastructure simply doesn’t exist in the Gambia (or most of the world, for that matter). Once again, we are very lucky people and mustn’t forget it.

The data-collection portion of my research project was fruitful and extremely beneficial. I was able to collect a lot of information about requests for tuberculosis investigations and how different patients were handled clinically – both before and after admissions to the wards. Now that I have all of these data, I am going to spend the next couple of weeks writing up my findings, and hopefully turning it in at the beginning of December. The purpose of my project was to conduct an audit – this involves measuring current practice against a recognised standard and making recommendations for improvement. But even though my current work just involves clinical investigations, I collected a great deal of information about treatment and clinical outcomes as well. The local staff and I are hoping to get a lot more information out of this work and perhaps even a publication or two.

Now that I’m back in the UK, I need to improve my work-life balance once again – no more weekend afternoons at the beach! I’ve become reacquainted with the jumpers at the back of my wardrobe. I’ve got used to driving in the dark again. It’s not necessary to sit next to the AC for two hours to cool down after walking back from the main campus. But I can go to my choice of supermarket and get any fresh vegetable I want! And I can visit my GP if I’m worried about my health. Probably the main, and most important, lesson that I’ve learned from this experience is that we are extremely lucky in the UK to have such an advanced and developed society and one that looks after all those within it. Long may it continue.

John

Luke Pemberton : 09 Nov 2016 16:27 |  Tags: John Mbchb Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

4 Weeks later…

I’m coming to the end of a four-week stay at a large regional hospital in The Gambia. I came down here to do research for the SSC2 (Student-Selected Component) part of our curriculum. Every Warwick MB ChB student does a self-directed research project during the autumn of our third year, and it’s proven to a really interesting and thought-provoking experience for me for many reasons.

Although I’ve got experience working within several NHS hospitals, I’ve never spent much time in a healthcare setting outside of the United Kingdom. Seeing how a different system operates is absolutely fascinating to me. There are many things that I would change, and there are many things that I think are done quite well. I am still surprised and quite taken aback by the lack of primary care in The Gambia. All of the clinical staff in this hospital are consummate professionals, and they make the very best of what they’ve got, but resources are limited, and patients do tend to present to clinic or onto wards with more advanced stages of illness. That is something I never expected.

There is also a lack of trained specialist doctors. For instance, I don’t know if The Gambia has any endocrinologists within its borders; I’ve heard there are none.. This has caused me to reflect: the people here are just as human as anyone in the UK, and in an ideal world, they would be just as entitled to healthcare as the rest of us. Being at the thin end of the wedge here has made me think much more about global health and the importance of providing a basic service to those most in need.

Since my project was to conduct an audit of tuberculosis diagnostic-technique requests, I spent a LOT of time trawling though patient notes and trying to figure out what investigations and diagnoses were requested, and when. It was a very painstaking, manual process. I have definitely learned that writing clearly and concisely in patients’ notes is essential – even if you think nobody is ever going to read them again, you might be very wrong! Although I *generally* got used to the handwriting styles of the different doctors, sometimes it was a bit of a struggle.

The most different thing about being here is definitely the weather. I checked the climate forecasts on Wikipedia before I came down here, but I must have misread something as I brought a hoodie “just in case”. It’s been over 30 every single day, and I haven’t seen a drop of rain since leaving England in September. Since I’m Fitzpatrick skin type 1 (thank you, Phase II dermatology book!), I have been slathering on the sunblock. I’m kind of looking forward to returning to England if, for nothing else, some respite from the sun overhead. I suspect I’ll regret this within forty-eight hours of returning though!

John

Luke Pemberton : 26 Oct 2016 13:51 |  Tags: John Mbchb Student Warwick |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Self–Directed Research Project (Gambia)

At the beginning of our third years, all students are required to participate in the second Student-Selected Component of our curriculum (with the first being in the winter and spring of our first year). SSC2, as this one is known, is a self-directed research project that we are expected to undertake and conduct on our own, under the guidance of at least one supervisor whose profession and speciality depend on the nature of the project. For my project, I am conducting an audit to investigate the requests for tuberculosis diagnostic tests at a large, charity-run hospital in The Gambia and compare what actually happens in clinical practice to the country’s recognised standard. I will be here for the month of October.

Last week was, needless to say, a bit of a blur! We got our exam results on Monday, started with our SSC2 seminars on Tuesday, carried on throughout the week, and then on Saturday I woke up at an inhuman hour and flew from Birmingham to Banjul. I still couldn’t quite believe it, even when the plane took off. My first impression: it is hot! It was 8 degrees out when I left Coventry last Saturday and it was 31 when we landed in The Gambia. I know we’re in the tropics, but I was not expecting this. Mind you, I’m not complaining. My other impressions: it is really lush and green, and the people are all so friendly with such a vibrant look. So many people have such decorative and colourful clothing and are really striking – it’s a welcome change from what can often be monotonous dark and grey so commonplace in England this time of year (or any time of year, let’s face it).

Although my project involves inspecting patient notes and monitoring requests for laboratory tests, I have had the opportunity to observe some clinical activities as well. I have sat in with several one-on-one, doctor-run clinics (similar to GP consultations in the UK in structure and function) and have also watched a few ward rounds. But I think that this is where the similarity ends. Since primary care doesn’t really exist for most people here, many of the patients present with advanced stages of diseases that aren’t normally seen in the UK – at least I’ve certainly never seen them. For instance, conditions such as extra-pulmonary tuberculosis and Tetralogy of Fallot are common enough that I’ve seen a few of each in the week that I’ve been here. You certainly don’t see many of those in Warwickshire!

I know that I keep coming back to the same point, but seeing healthcare outside of England always makes me that much more appreciative of the NHS, and that we are lucky enough to live in a rich and developed country. I could not imagine having to make a life-or-death decision based on how much money my family has or how easy it is to go to a city several hours away in a neighbouring country for treatment on an ongoing basis. These are decisions that people here are confronted with quite frequently, and it breaks my heart to see this happen even once. Confronting such dilemmas must be such a difficult thing to do, and spending this time at the coal face has impressed on me even more the importance of a strong and dedicated health service.

John

Luke Pemberton : 18 Oct 2016 10:33 |  Tags: John Student Warwick |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem