I can't quite believe that the sun is setting on my days at medical school. I feel a bit like I have just woken from a deep sleep; The kind of sleep that facilitates profound, eventful dreams that seem to go on forever, only to end abruptly when you suddenly blink your eyes open and find yourself back in the real world. This five years has passed in a flash, but at the same time I can't remember what my life was like before I got here. Some of the early memories feel like they happened yesterday, whilst others seem like a lifetime ago. It's confusing and disorientating, but I guess that's part and parcel of living in the all consuming bubble of medical school. There is the impression amongst some of the senior doctors who teach us that medicine is becoming de-professionalised, but the medical school experience has certainly felt very vocational to me. I'm honestly a totally different person now - I speak a different language, I see people differently and I see life differently. 5 years ago I was incredibly idealistic and I had an incessant need to be heard. I have since learned to listen and also to be pragmatic; I have accepted that I'm not going to change the world and I will be a flawed doctor, treating flawed people in a flawed system, but by opening my ears and advocating for my patients I will hopefully be able to make small, but meaningful differences to people's lives. So what's next? Well, after med school we must all complete foundation training. When you hear about 'junior doctors' in the media, they are most often referring to those doctors currently in foundation training. It's a two year programme where you do six 4-month rotations in a range of areas. You are fairly heavily supervised in this time, but you get ample opportunity to independently assess and treat unwell patients. We all apply for our foundation posts using the same system. All final year medical students are given a score out of 100. Up to 43 points are awarded for your academic performance in medical school exams. Up to 7 points are available for those that have extra degrees or scientific publications. Then there are up to 50 points awarded for your performance in a single exam called the situational judgement test (SJT), which you sit in your final year. This exam tests your ability to make ethical and rational decisions: That brings me to my first piece of advice for any current or prospective medical students reading this - don't get caught up in the intense competition at med school! It will ruin your time, plus you'll look like a knob. Get on with your peers, treat them respect and focus on doing the best you can. So many people take themselves far too seriously and sacrifice all fun to get great educational scores, only to fluff the SJT. I was a distinctly average student, I just about passed all my exams, but I ranked somewhere down in the bottom half of the year, however I did pretty well in the SJT and ended up with more than enough points to secure the job I wanted. These are some of the best years of your life, just chill and enjoy them. As mentioned above, thankfully I have secured a decent job. The application process is a bit unusual. First you have to apply for a deanery; this is essentially just an area of the country. I grew up around Cambridge, so decided to apply for the 'East of England' deanery, as I want to be close to home. 75 points is enough to get you into most deaneries, apart from London which requires around 85. Once you get into the deanery, you then get a couple of weeks to rank the individual jobs in your order of preference. The higher your score, the higher chance you have of getting one of your top preferences. However many foundation jobs are similar, so in reality most people will end up doing something acceptable. I'm happy because I'll get to do obstetrics & gynaecology and I also get to do some teaching at the University of East Anglia. This is an extra perk I was offered because I applied for a 'priority' programme, but the specifics of that are long and boring. In short, pretty much everyone I know is happy, so don't panic if you're set to go through this process in the near future. Everyone gets a job one way or another other. So that is it. I imagine this will be my last post as a student. Thank you so much for coming on this journey with me. Before I go, I'll just leave a few of my top tips for surviving and enjoying medical school. 1. As I've already said, don't take yourself too seriously. There's no prizes for being the biggest name on campus or for being first in the year. Obviously I don't want to diminish the achievements of those hard working geniuses who do exceptionally well, I'm in awe of them. However, I knew my strengths lied elsewhere and I struggled just to pass some exams and that's fine. I've had the best time, I'm a better person, I've made friends for life and I feel ready to be a doctor and that's all that matters. 2. Learn to listen. Your peers are all talented people with interesting and enriching stories to tell and the same goes for many of the patients you will meet. I regret being the kid who always has his hand up in first and second year. I regret speaking more than I listened because to listen is to learn and grow. Open you ears and open your heart. 3. Study hard, but enjoy the downtime. Some of the best revision is done in the pub. 4. Don't worry if you don't know what to do with you life. The aim is to graduate ready to be a competent junior doctor. I still have no idea what kind of doctor I ultimately want to be. 5. Go to placement, it's the best way to learn. Medicine can't be learnt from books in my opinion. I found my best way to learn was to see patients with certain conditions and follow them through the hospital seeing how they were managed. They then stuck in my mind. 6. Embrace the fact that your place in the hospital hierarchy is at the bottom. Nurses and HCAs have a lot to teach you. Don't ever think you know more than them and don't be overly proud if you get shouted at for being in the way. 7. Make mistakes. Everyone expects you to be shit, so it really doesn't matter when you are. Try things under supervision, get feedback and try again and again until you're good at something. 8. Don't be afraid to ask to do things. If you have gone to a surgery with intention of getting some suturing done, then be sure to introduce yourself to the surgeon at the start of the procedure and tell him/her that you want to do some suturing. If you don't ask you don't get as they say
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AuthorMy name is Stephan. I'm a 23 year old medical student. I like to travel, play the odd game of rugby and I'm very vocal on formula 1 fan forums (yes I am a bit of a sports nerd). Archives
April 2021
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