a week in the life of a third year
Table of contents
A Week in the Life
sorta like one of those week in the life things you see on youtube. so this will stink a bit. at the time, i was a third year medical student at newcastle university.
so what did you learn this year eh?
Monday
Its Monday quiz time! Fared better than the GI quiz two weeks ago. Pleased with my performance. Skin condition management is still blurry. Will improve this soon!
Clinical skills in the afternoon features subcutaneous and intramuscular injections as well as a good old return to catheter preparation. Both were rather solid. Feeling better about my aseptic technique. Still one to practice on dummies rather than patients at this stage!
Midnight tonight is the deadline for the Pathology Society essay. With a bare-bones plan and grand total of 0 words, its time to sprint off to the Walton Library for any book inspiration (sadly none) before a downtown trip to the University Study Rooms with a bottle of Summer Fruits Oasis. The 1,000 word essay was complete 40 minutes before the deadline. This essay was really good practise for a change in my writing style - becoming more descriptive, fluent and easy to read. Avoiding hefty jargon and sticking to the expectations of what’s being asked of you. This was a fulfilling essay to write. With more dedicated time, very assured I will be able to be really competitive in academic writing.
Tuesday
Patient circuit is lively. Knees, spines, hands, shoulders. My patient was extremely reticent but that provided me a really good challenge. Patient presented apparently asymptomatically with no real concerns. If you don’t have rapport with someone, how do you respond? Looking back thinking about a clear opening question - please do tell me about your diagnosis / recent medical problem would help set the tone. If cancer, a question on any recent concerns about a diagnosis / medical condition that you may have?
This patient had metastatic cancer. Thinking openly, focusing the conversation precisely if off-target and assuming nothing. This was a great consultation in being fundamentally sound - not looking for a diagnosis but a picture.
Knee exam needs work.
Wednesday
Dermatology pictures in the GP! I thoroughly loved this - flicking through slideshow pictures of skin conditions - describing it and coming up with spot diagnoses. Very enjoyable.
Met a patient with eczema leading to persistent pain, itching and discomfort. Previous lines of treatment provided short-term respite but impacting his life, adding to stress. Certainly skin conditions have the capacity to make people feel extremely vulnerable and insecure but in this patient, just feel frustrated. Assessing the difference, managing expectations from a GP consultation is something I enjoyed from this. Perhaps providing a more optimistic tone through the dermatologist referral would help.
Sat in a multidisciplinary team meeting on end of life care of patients with cancer. The GP lead with a roundtable of caring nurses all were very succinct in their delivery, had clear expectations and clear direction provided by the GP made this meeting extremely slick. Is this an insight into MDTs? Highly enjoyable.
Thursday
Dermatology clinics and quizzes! This was also an occasion where going off-script on the pre-reading and looking at diseases through my own resources thoroughly helped me prepare for the slideshows and quizzes. I felt really prepared and comfortable to nail the quizzes. First round, I was explaining the condition far too slowly - did not anticipate the speed required. By the second round, I was flying through describing the conditions. With greater confidence, comes greater execution, comes greater speed.
Edinburgh Oncology Society accept my abstract (Summer Research Project in Machine Learning and AI) for an oral and poster presentation in October! My first time presenting and looking forward to it!
On Reddit, I spot an opportunity to apply for an FIA Sid Watkins Scholarship. With each of his two biographies on both bedside tables, this is a very exciting opportunity to throw my name at. What is extremely motivating is to see previous scholars perform so strongly and to see them making a real impact in their fields. Translating Machine Learning into biometric data / baseline quantitative concussion analysis possibly?
Canteen food of sausages, beans and bacon was a delightful mid-clinic reward!
Friday
SBA and WRISKE questions. Felt nervous for these SBA questions once again but performed well. Even in the tougher questions, I did feel fulfilling to know that I had previous notes on these areas. Everything is in the ballpark now.
WRISKE still requires more practice. Making sensible and logical adjustments to pain management, detecting and explaining X-ray key terms e.g. subchondral cysts and making sure details e.g. contact details and reports are correctly filled in.
KFC with the boys was a great reward.
Saturday
Very relaxing Saturday back home. A trip to the Golf Range, Kingston, Lamb Schwarma, watching the footie (Milner with a last-minute penalty!) and a 15 minute run with a great home-made Lasagna. Little bit of casual GTA 5 and Strictly Come Dancing as well. A real transition phase in the life of me!
Sunday
More big news! I’ve been accepted as the NSAMR Ambassador for Newcastle for this academic year! Very, very fulfilling after being unsuccessful the year prior! What a difference a year makes - a few tweaks on the application and we’re in business!
Only downside? NSAMR AGM date is the 26th October. When is the Edinburgh Oncology Conference. Yep, it’s the same date. Will need some advice on this one.
Train back North. Spent an hour in King’s Cross flicking through musculoskeletal arthritis notes. After grabbing the classic Smoked Ham and Emmental Cheese Boots Sandwich, its train time.
Back in Durham. Completed going through my Cardiovascular, Respiratory and GI core conditions for Monday’s OSCE circuit! Little bit of examination preparation too. All set for tomorrow!