Rules For Medical Students

In a fairly random bit of work avoidance, a couple of us have decided to try to compile a short list of essential bits of wisdom for clinical medical students on firms.

1. The more you put in, the more you get out.
2. The more you put in, the more you are expected to put in.
3. Never run when you can walk, never walk when you can stand still, never stand still when you can sit down.
4. The student that sticks out gets hammered down.
5. The student that sticks out gets the merit.
6. Nobody Ever Really Fails.
7. The consultant is always right.
8. The ward sister is always right.
9. When the overkeen international / gepper says that they have been in since nine, they have really been in since eight.

More to follow, suggestions welcome.

Casino Royale

Very good movie.

Not very good Bond movie.

Still undecided.

Off Topic

In a change from previous posts, I'm not going to be talking shop.

I've been having serious discussions about our christmas show. You would have thought that, with roughly a month to go, a script would be written, a cast would have been auditioned, equipment hire ordered and that rehearsals would be well under way. Especially with the director's wish that this be a more professional production.

What do you reckon?

The script at the moment consists of two pages.

rehearsals are going ahead this week (get involved!) without any script.

Nobody, least of all me, has any idea what kit I'll need to hire in.

So, it's going to be a bit of a rush job just like last year then.

Mmm...

I'm not sure why I care, my job is solely to advise on technical matters, hire in the appropriate kit and operate the sound and light for the final few rehearsals and the show nights.

I like to think of myself as hardcore drama, I've worked on every show bar one since I joined uni. And the one I didn't work directly on, I supervised from a distance. I care about drama and I would love to see it do well and I worry when it looks like it might not.

Enthusiasm!

Funny how things come around.

Today, this afternoon in particular, has been surprisingly fun. I was on call with an SHO from 10 til 8, I've seen nearly a dozen patients, in many cases I've been the first person they saw in A&E. I've been on three trauma calls, each nasty and unpleasant in their own way. I've helped make decisions and diagnoses and feel that I've actually done something worthwhile.

And I loved it.

I also especially like the fact that I have tomorrow morning off.

Oh God

Now that i've remembered to update, I feel inclined to continue.

It's midnight.

I'm at work, and I'll be here for another hour and a half.

I'm exhausted, physically and mentally.

Three pints haven't really helped.

I've started making stupid mistakes and misjudgements.

Fortunately, it's only the union - it's not really important...




Being a full-time student and holding a union executive officer position and working some really irregular hours in the union is really a mistake, unfortunately, in my mind, the important two, the two that require my attention and my time isn't the one that's ultimately important.

Enthusiasm?

I started this year, and this firm in particular, with so much enthusiasm.

Looking back, four weeks in, it's quite hard to identify the point at which I lost it.

I feel as if any enjoyment has been systematically beaten out of me by long hours, pointless make-work tasks & being ignored and replaced by complete and utter apathy.

I find it practically impossible to motivate myself to get out of bed and drag myself into the freezing pre-dawn morning to face another day of worthless boredom punctuated by being made to feel worthless, stupid and in the way.

I find it hard to blame the rest of the team, undoubtedly, they're all stressed and under pressure, working long hours in poor conditions. Understandably, the effort to teach and entertain a bunch of students must come hard. However, the firm is designated as a teaching firm, there's extra money in it for the boss, by all accounts a lot of money, I would like to think that the medical school (and the taxpayer at large) is getting value for money.

I could shoulder some of the blame myself, it's supposedly up to me to arrange my own teaching and learn independently. I apologise, I find this hard to do when it seems positively discouraged by members of the team who would rather we followed them whilst remaining discretely out of the way.

Ultimately, I am now just trying to ride out the last few weeks of this placement before rotating into something that's, hopefully, a little less unpleasant. I can not be bothered with the team, the patients or the work anymore.

tomorrow I may feel different - I doubt it.