Week five has been so busy. It’s been the countdown to the end of the block, and the exam that follows it, and a week full of different experiences to the lecture theatres I have been in for days on end. When you add in the dog that came to visit, its been an intense week to say the least.
Tuesday was my first community placement day. Where we get to know patients and their community agencies, understanding how chronic and long-term illness impact
s daily life and need for extra care. It was also an amazing chance to see the practice of social prescribing put into place and how affective it is in helping people deal with depression or getting back into work. It was also the first time since moving here that I have ventured into the outer area I live in, and it was nice to see other areas in my trust other than UCHW and the university campus.
Wednesday, I had a day off (my favourite day of the week) and I got some revision done for the block and spent the day with Casper, we went on a lovely woodland walk in the afternoon and came across Memorial Park. It’s a beautiful piece of parkland and I will definitely be going back for a walk or to sit and revise in the summer. They also have a public golf course which could provide some fun activities to get involved in.
The rest of the week continued in a normal timetabled way. UCHW on Friday was fun, although forgetting my lab coat was not a clever moment. We spent the afternoon developing our skills in abdomen examination. Doing this clinical skills work is the most interesting and interactive part of the course; the lectures are intriguing and required in order to get through the degree but taking part in clinical skills is that part that makes you think, I’m actually training to be a doctor.
Saturday was the first ever Warwick PHEMTEC conference, and coincidently my first ever medical conference. The conference was a focus on the prehospital and emergency medicine specialty, something I really want to specialize in for my future career. It was an interesting day of talks from doctors in the profession before some workshops where I got to practice my skills in intubation, FAST scanning and scenarios for Pre-hospital cases. It allowed me to feel really sure that this was something I wanted to do and gave the the confidence that the knowledge I had, for being just in my first year, was on par if not ahead of people on my level. Though, I probably ought to learn my drugs list!
Sunday, consisted of me popping home to drop Casper back with the family; despite being happy having him, I was not sad to see him go. I needed to focus on one less thing in order to stay on top of my medical school workload, sadly the dog was the crux.
The week coming up is the end of this first block. It puts me almost a fifth of the way through the year. I feel extraordinarily out of my depth, like my knowledge is nowhere near what I need it to be. Despite these fears I am confident that I will get there, I just need to put my head down, take a step away from all the drama and realize that my success needs to be the most important factor in my life right now. No matter who that upsets and who that pains me to walk away from… because I have to think about myself once in a while, now more than ever.
“Sometimes you have to do what’s best for you and your life, not what’s best for everybody else”
abigailgrows 