One down, three more to go

Just decided to pop back in, as I've just finished my cardiology rotation. The past six weeks have, in general, been pretty awesome, but it is interesting to see how people progress throughout the rotation.

As somewhat expected, towards the end of the rotation, people started doing things less. The number of students attending the morning 8am handover meetings steadily decreased. The number of students going home at 1pm (or earlier) steadily increased. And yet I soldier on. Woo, go me.

Cannulations are still tricky, my histories and examinations still aren't perfect, and sure, I don't think I'm ace at cardio now - but I've been encouraged by my supervising doctors, who have been brilliant in doing what they do and trying to accommodate us at the same time. Although we are exhorted to be part of the team and thus help the team, we're still a hindrance in terms of time - except when we do discharge summaries, which I actually haven't done since the fourth week, thanks to a very efficient resident that joined our team.

Whilst I'm here, for those who haven't got a clue as to who's who, here's a brief glossary of people you see in the hospital:

Intern - Post-graduate year 1 (PGY1) - they know the practicalities of being a doctor but definitely still need to be supervised. We actually didn't have an intern during our rotation.

Resident - PGY2 and above, aka RMO/MO (for Medical Officer) - good people to hang around, as they teach you many things.

Registrar - PGY3+, in a training program to become a specialist. These can actually be really great resources as well - the registrars I've come across have inspired and taught me a great deal. They're also quite up to date with details, seeing as they have to study for exams.

Consultant - completed fellowship of a post-graduate college; if they're not a staff specialist (i.e. employed by the hospital on a full-time basis) then you see them quite sporadically.

Nurses - come in a multitude of flavours; you'll mostly come across enrolled nurses (EN) and registered nurses (RN), as well as some clinical nurse specialists (CNC) and some nurse educators. They run the wards, love to let you try your hand at cannulas.

Allied Health - physios, OT (occupational therapists), speech therapists, social workers, pharmacists, dietitians - they're the main allied health professions on the ward and you see them very frequently. Important people, especially when aiming to discharge patients - which seems to be the main goal of the hospital.

Others - there's a number of other people, such as the ward clerks, jan itors, and of course the support staff at Blacktown Clinical School. Love those people ;)

So I'm heading off to my second rotation in Endocrinology/Geriatrics, they seem to be a lot busier than Cardiology, so I may not post back until the end of that. Meanwhile, apparently everyone has exams around this period - I would like to take this opportunity to say "SUCK IT!" - it's a rare occasion when medicine is able to trump other courses on workload, so I savour every opportunity that comes along.

On that note, I would like to reflect on something that's popped up quite a lot. There's obviously a great number of med hopefuls around Australia and even abroad, looking to study in Australia as a medical student. Over the last month or so, I've noticed a couple of situations where doctors begin to stress and agitate over the workload, physically and mentally, placed upon them. These are invariably the junior doctors (interns and MOs); we don't see enough of the consultants to observe anything like that (and anyhow, they've reached the end of the tunnel and are out the other side), and the registrars seem to be somehow dealing with it okay. However, to see the junior doctors with a vacated expression during a half hour lunch break, or to break down during ward rounds, or become frustrated with a difficult patient - I mean, we know it's not an easy profession to go into, but it still hits me hard. The overwhelming sense of everything crashing down upon you is something I've personally only experienced very rarely, and I don't wish it upon anyone, yet in the short space of a month I've already witnessed this. Support services for junior doctors are certainly an important aspect in this, but I don't expect that even brilliant support and continuous lobbying will stop these incidents from happening, it appears to be a part of the workforce - a 'just live with it' attitude. This is happening in a country where our health system is comparatively tame and standards, thanks to bodies such as the AMA, have been established to prevent burnout and, worse, mistakes being made - what about doctors in countries that aren't in these situations? The overseas-trained doctors that I've talked to all mention how Australia has beyond world-class standards for working hours and conditions of junior doctors - which makes me think what world-class actually means.

I'm no specialist in these kind of issues, so I don't really want to say anything more about this, but just thought I'd share this with people. A number of med hopefuls may also be members of forums or have talked to doctors, and have wondered, maybe, if the negativism that sometimes exudes from others stems from trying to prevent people from trying out to get into medicine and basically being self-serving by making out doctors to be messiahs and self-sacrificing members of society, of which no other profession comes close. I believe that it's not - it's out of a wish to open the eyes of those who have not had experience, and not to dissuade them, but, in some way, to encourage those who enter medicine to strive and work for what they believe in. To walk into medicine, knowing that these things exist, makes for a better student and a better doctor, and a better person, as objectiveness allows people to prepare for situations and make the best hand out of the cards they're dealt. I also want to say that this is not unique to medicine - I met recent law graduates who are undergoing the same thing; and in fact, worse - the attitude and culture is exactly the same; live with it. I've heard the same for business and finance as well - and especially important is the difficulty in hunting and securing that first job, which we thankfully do not have to worry about much.

So, we who are not working - enjoy, savour, treasure the time we have as students. For those who are living with parents, enjoy the fact that you only contribute partly (or, even not at all, as I did for the last couple of decades, I will admit) to the running of the household. Procrastination is fine, but use this time to grow in other aspects, find out where you want to go and what you plan to do, and be hungry to learn, not just the contents of your course, but skills and abilities that you want to pursue - because there is no better place or time to do it, than now.

And with that, I shall head off to bed - off to another rotation, and looking forward to it, the experiences and relationships with patients and staff I will soon acquire, whatever it may bring :)

P.S: The experiences I've mentioned do not happen every single day. Nor to every single doctor. In addition, everyone else is not immune - although I've yet to see anyone else besides the doctors in emotionally charged situations, possibly because I'm following the doctors around. And yes, they're true, I'm not exaggerating.

Die, Procrastination, Die

*swish* *slash* I stand valiantly as I parry and thrust my sword against a formidable, though familiar foe; one with whom many of us know well and share a decidedly love-hate relationship with. The foe's name is Procrastination; and my sword will be self-control. Unfortunately, this sword has been broken and splintered numerous times in the past, and when in one piece, has often proved to be a rather blunt object, bruising this thing that I face, whilst not entirely doing any real damage to it. So today, I've decided to sharpen this weapon with the promise that I shall only use the internet for recreational purposes on two selected days of the week, spaced out as Thursdays and Sundays. Why? Well, because they are optimal days in which less time goes by without me checking my inbox, which could be disastrous, if say, something was going to run next week and I had no knowledge of it. Sundays will cover any weekend communication in preparation for the week ahead, whilst Thursday will be the mid-week fix to make sure all is well and right in the outside world.

Shall this work, I will thus tame an animal which has hounded many before me who have been unable to rid it from their existence. This animal can never be vanquished completely; in fact, I think that a little Procrastination tends to make life more colourful and less monotonous. However, this wild beast tends to disrupt any long-term goals, and thus I think this endeavour is a worthy one which I will strive to succeed in.

This includes this blog, although I haven't been writing in this very often anyway, so this should be least affected. So, no real loss to you guys.

Well, I thought that this would be an interesting thing to document. I only wonder; will I in my later years, reflect upon this post with sadness and regret, or with fondness and appreciation (of my former self)? Only time will tell...

This is shaping up to be an interesting year.

As an update on the UWS student union elections, I was voted in as the Campbelltown Chair for the 2010-11 period. I think this year will be very interesting; both on campus and personally, as I figure out how to balance studying for medicine and aiming for at least a Credit (I want to do Honours, not for the additional letters on the end of my degree, but rather the experience; I don't really mind not being awarded an Honours afterward if I don't meet the 5.5 GPA requirement), whilst doing my best involving myself with student life and organising activities on campus. I often wonder at how students like Ross Roberts-Thomson (AMSA president) manage to balance their own learning process and such a huge responsibility like that position; in a sense, I hope this chair position for me will teach me time management skills, as well as prioritisation and drifting away from procrastination.

Speaking of which, I've found recently that my interest in computer games has dropped, compared to last year. It's something about the countless hours essentially wasted on a game that really got to me, as I realise the importance of other activities. In my view, even movies seem more of a worthwhile time-waster than games, with an opportunity to discover something new, something hopefully thought-provoking. Issues like religion and politics are starting to take huge chunks of my dedicated 'wind back and relax' time (no, I'm not insane, for me these are genuinely relaxing topics), and I'm finding that it's helping me mould my views on the world, hopefully for the better.

I'm toying with the idea of moving on campus next year and going to Campbelltown Hospital; the idea of moving away for a while and learning essential life skills (I know the basics of ironing, but it still takes me 10 minutes to iron a shirt well) is attractive to me; unfortunately, the cost of obtaining said lessons is not so. Moving onto residence may help me continue to be involved in campus life next year as well, even if not as a chair. Oh, so many thoughts, so little time.

In the meantime, whilst my mind is rattling off somewhere in the great beyond of next year (my mind tends to do this at most inopportune times; I have an amusing navigating story that I shall unravel later), exams are only 3 weeks and 5 days away. This has been the busiest semester so far, and once again, it will be interesting for me to see how much I can learn, re-learn and summarise in this relatively short time. Since there are still PBLs going on, my study would most probably be hopping around between renal and neuro, in addition to completing my part of a group EBM (Evidence-Based Medicine) assignment and finishing my week's PBL notes for my group to use as study material.

Should get off Blogger and start studying, shouldn't I?

Sorry for no update

Hey guys, I'm taking a little siesta from blogging, as my exams start on the 9th, and I find that anything on the net causes me to lose concentration - in fact, almost anything related to a computer. See, I may do a blog post, which might take 10 minutes, and that's fine. But then I'd feel restless, and go check forums. And then check other blogs. And check my mail. And waste a good ol' hour or so laughing at the wittiness of several blog writers. And then go to all my random sites, and check my mail, go to facebook, laugh and comment at a few things, go check my mail, go to more random sites, check my mail....

And in the end I've lost most of the day. So I'll be back on the 20th, which is when my exams finish. Also, congrats to all those Year 12s/13s/Final Secondary School Year People for finishing your last year of secondary education - and for most of you, all your tests as well; if you still have them, good luck :) And good luck to everyone else who may have tests (or interviews) during this period.

Peace,

Panic! At The Med School

So, uh, only 4 weeks until final exams. AHHHHHHHHHHHH
Well it seems everyone else is coping pretty well, no outward signs of panic yet - at least, from what I can tell (which isn't much). I've started to go head-down, doing summaries and generally trying to be constructive whilst avoiding the unconstructive-but-is-still-med things...like...House...and some flash game where you try to kill the whole world via a mutating disease. Yep, unconstructive they certainly are, heh.
This week seemed to be a real bludge; I'm sure many of us tried to use it for good though. Friday was a pain though - a day that was scheduled to end at4pm actually ended at 10am after two lectures; we had a practical that was cancelled (spanning 5 hours since there were 2 groups and an hour break inbetween), and half an hour before the last lecture was to start, we were notified it was cancelled (most probably due to the majority of students not being bothered to stay at uni for one lecture), and so we went home at about 3pm.
This week was also EBM week - Evidence Based Medicine (looking at types of studies, critical analysis of those studies); mainly because the EBM group assignment was due on Friday. Group assignments simply do not work, especially in as large groups as PBL groups (10-11 people). Thankfully, I'm in a PBL that was well organised and where everyone pitched in, but the story was not so rosy for a few other groups, as you would predict. Perhaps an issue for our new Dean to address?
Speaking of our new Dean, we first-years were treated to the Dean crashing half of a PPD lecture. I had never, ever heard the lecture hall so enthralled by our PPD lecturer (who is super awesome anyway, but students will talk when given the chance to) - and on a lecture about the Medical Practice Act, no less. Of course, that façade vanished once our Dean left the building; but, still.
3 more PBL cases to go, 3 weeks until the end of first year. Boy has this year passed - just like that *snaps fingers*

How a week without uni flies by...

First of all, I couldn't think of any more PBL case names that would fit this post, so I've stopped.
The one week mid-semester break is about to end tomorrow - between meeting with old friends, playing some Starcraft (old geezers, I know) with said old friends, and doing tidbits of study, the entire week has vanished into the depths of time and space immemorial.
I have a real knack for starting workbooks. Writing the name...and the subject; and then the year; then doing a nice title line (I don't do title pages, way too time consuming) for the broad subject (lets say; Physiology).. and then a subtitle for the particular section (let's say, Chapter 1), and then about a page of work. Of course, when I start workbooks, I'm always in the organisational, neat and tidy mode, so I can't write stuff about, say, the heart, where I have the cells. So I start another one. Repeat endlessly for as many books as I have in the house, and as many subjects as I feel like covering that day.
This used to be my procedure for high school studies - it made me feel good that I was starting a brand new book, turning over a brand new leaf, starting afresh and ready to summarise and/or take notes of something or other. Thankfully, during this week, my brand new workbooks were slightly more used - I think one of them has a dozen or so pages of notes *yay*. And therein was the limit of my study during this week.

Of course, now that I really feel like studying (on a Saturday; wow I have no life), vUWS (WebCT/internet portal of the uni) so happens to be on a maintenance weekend - so I have no access to Learning Objectives. So I guess I shall slip into watching another few episodes of Family Guy...or South Park...or the countless gigabytes of series donated by my ever-considerate old friends...

Tension

Less than...18 hours until exams start! Wooo............
By the time yesterday rolled into view, and I was thoroughly sick of studying, having crammed my brains out. So I decided to go on a word-count spree, just to make myself feel good.
Turns out that over the week I had accumulated 20,000 words of personal, self-typed summaries. I felt proud that my notes over a week were approaching a PhD thesis length, and also made me realise that the length of a PhD thesis had nothing to do with the actual amount of work done over the three or so years to reach it.
So today was supposed to be the ultimate final revision day. And it sort of was. A small group excursion to Parramatta Library for study purposes revealed a few very important points:

1) All local libraries are closed on public holidays. Including the State Libraries, but excluding University Libraries (as of 1st July 2009).
2) One small coffee (between the 5 of us) was not enough to stay in Gloria Jeans for very long.
3) Parramatta Library, however, has a very useful outdoor table which we did use for study.
4) Despite the best intentions of the group, and despite one person trying vainly to stay on track, and despite everyone participating, half the study time was lost talking about games, what we were to do in the holidays, and miscellaneous topics of discussion (such as Twilight)

So remains the last few hours available for intense exam cramming; I'll be back on Thursday to debrief the exam. But for now, PPD, Statistics, Immunology, Diabetes Mellitus and other Lecture revisions beckon. Toodles.

Mid-Year Exams

So our mid-year exam timetables were released today.
And as of today, I have exactly 1 month and 5 days to both catch up on everything I've done previously, and keep up to date with the next 4 PBL cases, including this one. Looks like I've got to buckle up a bit and stop major procrastination.
I was actually fairly excited about exam timetables, because I felt pretty ok about my position in terms of lectures and PBL cases; but the fact that it is barely over a month away has really hammered into my mind right now, and it's kind of frightening. We haven't received our Formative Test results back yet, so I'm not sure how much I already know and thus how far the bridge is between simply keeping up, and starting to put in maximum effort from today. It's annoying that I know I will inevitably lose an hour or two PER DAY to gaming, or MSN, or facebook, or some random crap that isn't at all related to my future - but hopefully I'll still remain productive.
These medicine exams feel a little different to high school exams; I know that this forms my education towards a career, and most especially, towards dealing with patients, instead of a competitive Maths test or English speech, working towards a number. All the same, i think a little bit of healthy competition is strengthening me; I've found a really smart colleague (our PBL tutor called us this; colleagues. I was amused, as was everyone else) who is keeping on top of things, so my aim, childish as it is, is to do better than him. I know that if I do, I've kept on top of things; but even if I don't, I've done my best for the best cause I can possibly think of at this stage: my own life.

Laziness

Even though most of the content in Medicine is really interesting, there are times, like today, where I can't seem to do any work. And it annoys me because I'm trying to read a textbook or something productive, but I don't concentrate because I'm not in the studying zone. Or a gaming zone. Or anything-at-all zone, really; it feels like a do-nothing-cause-I-can't-do-anything-else day. All the while it's paining me that I could be using this time to work towards something, anything.
*yawn*
I also tutor high school students in my subject of interest, Software (SDD), for HSC. To be frank, tutoring has nil impact on my study situation at the moment (which I think is ok compared to my HSC, but still dismal), and I tutor... 7 hours a week. So it seems like its more than doable to hold a job whilst studying Medicine.

I'd like to comment on Medicine's workload so far - and it's lived up to the expectations in terms of the amount of content covered, but also the relative ease of the content, versus some really brain-boggling stuff my friends are dealing with in Law, Computer Science and Engineering. The exception to this is probably the huge mechanisms for things like the Kreb's Cycle (google or wiki for the goodness of this 8-step cycle taking place in the mitochondria of a cell) and the biochemistry; and perhaps some pharmacology, but the rest is pretty easy to digest. It's also possible, at the moment, to only do 4-5 hours of week per week and still manage to get by, by simply using the time at university productively (I'm doing about an hour a day, which is pretty low methinks - aiming to obviously ramp it up a bit). I'm certain both the difficulty and quantity of Medicine would increase, mainly the latter. It's all just a matter of keeping up with the program though, and you're in no danger of having no time for a social life in your med student years. The future, however, is a little less uncertain...