Med School Diaries | Community placement and it’s good to go home

Another week down and I am entering the final countdown to Christmas. It’s amazing how your body can tell there is a break coming up and how it seems to start failing and begging for a rest. I am suffering currently from a massive cold, I can only blame myself as it is most likely from running in the freezing cold. Its defiantly made the weekend a tricky time for me.

The week was another long slog; my first patient community visit, hospital induction for clinical placements in January and the last chunk of anatomy for the block, which of course was the hardest.

Community placement was really informative; it allows you to meet the patient and truly see how patient care and chronic illness isn’t merely solved in hospitals and GP surgeries, that their care continues after they leave your appointment and continues everyday of their life. It was a great opportunity to see how agencies and services work together. The aim of this placement was really to give you this point of view and allow you to see how your future work as a doctor effects not only a patient’s health but their entire life.

The highlight of my week was going home for the weekend (minus the cold). I really needed it, with the struggles I am going through emotionally in my uni house I was really lovely to go home and spend some time with Casper and my sisters. We went out to their school winter fair and I bumped into my best friend, Issy. It was so lovely to see her, and I really need that in my life. To talk to her and get some impartial non-parental advice about the drama at uni and how to keep pushing through.

Sunday was a lovely afternoon spent with the whole family. We bravely (or stupidly) decided to go to John Lewis, I was gifted some new makeup, thanks mum! I think my sister’s favourite part of the shopping trip was the custom-made tin of Quality Streets which was hugged the entire was home by Verity.

This week defiantly needs to be about me, I need to be selfish and look after my wellbeing. Step one is getting rid of this cold. I also need to find something fun to do that gets me out of the house as this term’s trauma and PHEM talks have finished for now.  Fortunately, the amount of new information in the block is beginning to die down so I can focus on getting on top of all this information.

Also coming up is another community placement, and subsequent field trip. I am looking forward to seeing where we will be going, it’s a surprise!

Make yourself a priority once in a while. It’s not selfish. It’s necessary

P.S – I added a little note in here purely as a reminded to myself and to other people. Friends come and go, hold on to the people that make time and effort towards spending time with you, and not the person they want to be friends with. Be selfish, stop thinking about the opinions of others 24/7; it’s the only way to survive as a whole human being and not shatter shards of your true self.