Hearing my alarm at 6am on Wednesday 5th September put a brutal end to 8 weeks of bliss, relaxation and that British heatwave. On the third day of Year 2, I found myself standing at the ward reception, wearing new clothes, my logbook in my left hand, my stethoscope in my right (as I know the risk of putting it around my neck!) and I felt like a lost fish in the sea. My clinical partner and I got it together and introduced ourselves to the nurse at the desk.
This is the great part about Blackburn Hospital, all the staff are so kind and made me feel very welcome on the ward. Once the doctors learnt I was only year 2 so therefore had minimal clinical knowledge (and was not trained to insert a cannula), the only way was up. Following ward rounds were so informative- seeing the consultants interact with the patients and have the FY1’s almost running after them like puppies with the computer trolley containing all the test results. I learnt a lot from the consultants who took 5 minutes before each patient to explain all the medical jargon that I would be using myself someday.
It’s very entertaining following the doctors around and having patients mistake you for one of them. However, I did get a good reality check, not just from the new beige scrubs given to us two weeks in, but from being face-to-face with a patient I have to take a history from…and examine! Yes, this was the part of the hospital placement that I was actually trained to do throughout all of year 1, but it is very different talking to an actor and talking to a real patient. Luckily, a lot of the patients I spoke to already knew their diagnosis (less work for me) and thanks to the history-taking template, I was able to fill in all the gaps in between. History taking happens in 5 steps:
Step 1: Ask the doctor for an appropriate patient to talk to (preferably one that does not need to leave in 5 minutes for an X-ray)
Step 2: get informed consent from the patient and take the history
Step 3: verbally present to the doctor
Step 4: do a physical examination on the patient (if they haven’t fallen asleep!)
Last but not least, ‘can you sign my logbook?’ The phrase most likely asked more than ‘how long till lunch?’ throughout my 10 weeks at Blackburn. The logbook has baffled many doctors, but it is our only means of progress. Unbeknown to them, they make our week if they tick ‘Year 2 standard’.
As I approach the end of my first hospital rotation, I am starting to realise just how much I have enjoyed having 2 days a week in a hospital setting. Despite the early start, being exposed to the hospital atmosphere has reminded me of why I chose to do medicine. Plus, seeing the sunrise isn’t all bad!
Daniella Farquhar – Year 2 Medical Student