I can't believe it....

I missed my blogiversary!!!

On 6th February 2005 I was in the final year of my Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical sciences.

My my how times have changed since then...

It's hard to believe that this blog is now 4 years old and I've developed a hell of a lot as a person in that time.

I've loved and lost friends and family members to old age, relocation and long distance relationships, as well as growing professionally as a medical student.

But roll on another year (I hope) and next time maybe I won't be so caught up in trying to organise an elective* that I might actually remember to blog it at the time.

*whatever. I'll be in personal hell with my elective this time next year. 

Bar vs Hospital

I recently had a shift in the bar that can only be described as unadulterated hell.

To explain...

Text from manager at the end of the night: How was it, takings OK? Good to cash up?

Me: Takings excellent, cashing up fine, Loz and I ready to bitch slap some customers tho...

The bar had been busy, but nothing that Loz and I aren't able to cope with. The problem is the customers; kind of a crucial part of a bar I will admit.

I came across the attitude of 'I pay your wages so I'll do as I want', even if that did include bringing in and consuming their own alcohol into my licensed premises, as well as just being generally rude and ignorant.

What did make me pause for thought was whether doctors get this when they qualify? I know that ambulance service staff do, as I've witnessed it when I've been out observing, and to a lesser extent nurses get it to on the wards... but does the same happen with doctors?

I would be curious to hear thoughts and opinions.

Doctor speak

They say throughout medical school that learning to speak like a doctor is hard. It's trying to talk in a manner which feels very alien at first - not dissimilar to learning a foreign language.

Instead of clotting we speak of coagulation, we can't speak of drugs to thin the blood, we call them anticoagulants. Not the eye, it's the globe in anatomical terms. 

The problem being it's really screwing up my sleep pattern. 

Well, I say my sleep pattern. I'm quite oblivious, but my other half is getting a bit fed up with being woken up by me muttering medical stuff in my sleep. Apparently it's drug names and syndromes at the moment. 

I have no idea if what I'm saying is true, medically correct or even makes sense, but it doesn't surprise me - after all, I have been here before...

Update on previous post

I love love love my housemate.

Knock on the door and a cheery calling of my name. Turns out most of her lectures have been cancelled also.

Wonders if I fancy a lift in to our communal lecture this afternoon cos she can't be bothered to walk.

She is also in a similar state of attire to me... blue sleepwear!

The weather outside is frightful

I love the snow. It's so so very pretty.

I'm not a massive fan of trying to get to places in it though. Especially not when my mode of transport has two wheels and is pedalled by me.

My street is a quiet cul-de-sac and never gets gritted, so ice skating along my road is quite normal here. Needless to say I shall be walking for that bit.

It does make me laugh though, that the age old rule about an inch of snow and the country goes mad, things stop working etc.... yet i've had three lectures cancelled today so far.

Resolute

I vowed I would blog more as the new year started. 

Last year I blogged less than I have ever done since I started this blog, but in my defence I ended the last two months of the year feeling unwell.

The illness has followed me into the new year although I'm now better than I was in October and November.

Despite all of this, third year is the start of real clinical stuff, and I want to share this with you. So I promise I will make more of an effort from now on.

Promise.

What type of blog...

I followed on from Dr Anderson and decided to Typealyzer my blog. Actually, mine is quite apt for me, I'm not sure about my blog though....

The active and playful type. They are especially attuned to people and things around them and often full of energy, talking, joking and engaging in physical out-door activities. 

The Doers are happiest with action-filled work which craves their full attention and focus. They might be very impulsive and more keen on starting something new than following it through. They might have a problem with sitting still or remaining inactive for any period of time.

Let's put it like this. I am forever getting in trouble for not sitting still. I'm either all out doing several things at once, or I'm asleep. There is no middle ground. I'm also religious for starting something and not finishing something, so I'd say this is quite accurate.

My blog is probably the most spontaneous thing I ever did that I managed to sustain!

Wards

Despite what many prospective medical students think, a hospital rotation isn’t quite what Grey’s, ER, House, Casualty or Scrubs* would have you believe.

A quick note – you will always be in someone’s way, no matter where you stand. You would think that having worked in a hospital for nearly two years I would know the best places to stand, but alas, even I still manage to get under someone’s feet.

My auxiliary uniform is my armour, and I lose my protection as soon as my Medical Student ID card goes on.

Expect to follow the consultant around like a lost lamb and get asked ‘who are you?’ a hell of a lot**

Oh, and if you ever get asked to do something for the first time, for which you have been trained (like take blood, cannulate, catheterise etc) then go for it. You don’t know until you try, and opportunities don’t come up all the time on good patients.

Placement is long and tiring, but it’s meant to be not only a learning experience but a preparation for work. If you’re not knackered when you finish it then it’s not going well.

My year is usually in it’s scruffiest clothing possible when placement finishes, so take the time to look smart and professional. Boobs, belly and bum does not a doctor make!


*Actually Scrubs is probably the closest.
** if my rotations here are anything to go by

In the middle of our street

In July I moved out of my last student house to live with a different group of friends. 

As I have alluded to in a previous post, my last house didn't work out for a variety of reasons. I was the youngest in the house by quite a large margin, and while I got on very well with one housemate, my other housemate and I didn't quite always share such a good relationship.

For once I am not going to bitch. Call it 'turning over a new leaf''*

I miss my my male housemate, but I still see him around. In fact, when I moved into my new student house in July, he moved in around the corner, and he still occasionally tries to scare me into falling off my bike on the way into uni.**

My new student house is proving a good move. I'm living with a female medical student in my year who I've been friends with since the first year, her boyfriend who is studying for a masters degree, and a final year law student. 

The house is new, peaceful and lovely to live it, but it's the atmosphere that I love the most. I was a bit worried when I sat and thought about living with a couple, but since my partner is here visiting in the evenings quite a lot, then he's become part of the house too, and provides much needed male company for medic's boyfriend!

All in all, I'm hoping this year is more peaceful than last.

And I'm hoping I start to hear properly soon, as peace definitely won't last for long if I keep shouting 'pardon?' everytime anyone tries to speak to me!

* cos that's really gonna last long, but let's all enjoy it while it lasts!

** Because, as he well knows I cycle with headphones in listening to music loudly. It's cycle path all the way, so cars aren't a problem, but an ex housemate with a death wish grabbing my rucksack takes advantage of this fact fairly frequently.

Side effects

Since I started to feel unwell at the beginning of October I seem to have been tried on a whole host of weird and wonderful medications that have had me and my BNF making friends again.

The latest tablets are not just not working, but come with a whole startling array of side effects that are leading to fun and games.

I can't go to bed without TV or music on because I have tinnitus so loud it keeps me awake, my mouth is drier than Ghandi's sandals and I have a thirst I can't quench. It's like I've been out to a nightclub but without any of the enjoyment. I've got nausea and occasional pins and needles in my feet.

Add to this the blocked sinuses I've acquired on a seperate note, and I also can't hear out of one ear. I'm a whole barrel of laughs at the moment!

Looks like I just have to grit my teeth and bear it