The end of the year

Well 2010 was a full and enjoyable year, but not without its ups and downs.
Possibly the worst part of the year came in February and March. I had an unexpected dance with some high risk blood from a patient at work. Not the best thing I've ever done and I had to go on a post-exposure regime for a month. Sick as a dog doesn't even come close to how shit I felt.

Thankfully it was only 30 days of tablet induced doom and then it was just worrying for 3-6 months to see if I'd contracted anything.

Aside from that I spent a fantastic academic year and passed everything without any resits - the first time that's happened at medical school. It set me up to go on elective well.

And speaking of elective, I had a fabulous time staying with the wonderful Laura while in London working at the BMJ. I had the opportunity to go out observing with Tom Reynolds/Brian Kellett on an ambulance night shift just before he left to return to nursing. I also had a rather cringeworthy experience sleeping on Laura's sofa while she and Mr Kellett got back together. There's a lot to be said for actually having walls...

After London I mooched up to Liverpool for another month to work in A&E for the second part of my elective. One word - fantastic. Great city, great placement, great experience. It made my decision for me about my career and now I'm truly hellbent on emergency medicine for the rest of my life.

Coming back from elective I had a slightly rough time and became ill. I'm not going to go into it too much but I got admitted to my own hospital twice for a while. It's been ongoing since but I'm not going to whinge.

Since then fifth year has taken up most of my time and has been really challenging.
Aside from that, I haven't done a great deal!

So with that, I wish you a happy and prosperous new year and here's hoping that this coming year I pass my finals and qualify as a doctor.

It seems such a long time ago that I started this blog when I was still doing my BSc...