Nights

I've been reading a lot of posts on NMM, blogs and a family member's facebook who has just started FY1 (Foundation Year 1 Doctor) about doing their first set of nights. We midwifery students don't get to escape nights and frequently do a run of at least 3 if not 4 nights. They're something I'm quite looking forward to not doing (compulsory) when I go to med school, but I think there a few places where I would volunteer to do nights like on A&E, and hadn't I done midwifery definitely Obs&Gynae- most babies are born at night, and we get a fair few deliveries on nights!!!

But there a few things I love about nights:

• We wear scrubs everywhere... not just on labour ward.
• There are none of the crappy 'politics' which some of my fellow cohort have had the misfortune of experiencing ie, we are actually allowed to sit and eat/drink tea/have our break with our mentor/other midwives and not be kicked out of the unit to the canteen (depending on who is on in charge ;) ).
• It's more relaxed, well before it hits 2/3am and everyone gets really tired and the red bull comes out.
• I have the opportunity to talk to doctors (esp FY1/2s and the ST1) about med school and being a junior doctor- which is great and some have even taught me their cannula techniques using a biro drawn blue line on a swab !
• I'm more likely to deliver a baby :)

Then there are the couple of things I don't like:

• It's scary in the hospital at night on the PN ward, ahhh don't like it!!!
• I travel 2 hours each way on the bus-train-busx2 so it's really tough, I get my minimal 8hours and literally get up have shower put clothes on and leave again, no time for eating a meal or even a quick bite at home, first bit of food will be about 2am, 7 hours since waking up.

Really don't want a set of nights on my last ever PN Ward placement which begins in 2 weeks :

The Year Ahead

As my 'final' year before qualifying is fast approaching, I've been thinking a lot about what is to come in the year ahead- specifically that this time next year I will have sat the UKCAT and will be finalising my personal statement and getting in any last minute experiences which will help my application. It's a scary thought, slightly dulled down by the reality that I will have to really push myself more this year, academically and physically, than previously.

Next semester brings double modules- my chosen degree module on top of the normal midwifery module- so an essay and exam, an OSCE and an incident report, all whilst I will be in the hospital on placement 'working' full time (the odd study day here and there, thankfully). The following semester ( if all goes well with the degree module) will be the exact same, only one module will be at honours level, and then there is my elective to fit in somewhere...
Study days will be rare, very rare.

My final, last ever semester prior to qualification is entirely placement, five days per week and not a single day of uni or a study day to ease our suffering. I feel this is going to be the hard one. It falls between May and August, so my application, PS and UKCAT will all have to be written/studied/practiced for on top of ANOTHER module ( for honours) which is the 'plan' to my research project... ahhhhh how lovely, I am soooo looking forward to this one*.

Work experience wise I'll already have my 3 years of placements- Labour ward, AN/PN ward, Community, Day Care&Early Pregnancy, Gynae Theatre (Loved it-made me want to be a surgeon), Gynae ward and I spent the day with an anaesthetist in the anaesthetic room which was really interesting.

Still, I want more 'doctorey' work experience so hopefully I will be able to spend some time at a GP surgery, one of the ODP's offered to let me go over to main theatre with her and see some surgery (so excited about this) and I'm going to try and shadow an F1/2 and an anaesthetist. I'd love to see a bit of A&E weekend action as well. The only prob is fitting it all in!



* denotes sarcasm :)

Holiday !!!

I am officially on Annual Leave for 2 weeks :D and I'm off on holiday on Sunday, I can't wait !!!

It's nice to have something to look forward to for a change, especially after the disaster that was the Obstetric Emergency drills- I got undiagonsed breech at a HOME BIRTH... totally didn't expect that one I said to my 'student' to fast page the obs team clearly forgot I wasn't actually in hospital (I was IRL lol).

I did deliver the breech, it was a Frank Breech so I had to wait ages on the legs coming down on the simulator, which kept stalling, my 'woman' was on all fours so the manouevers had to be adapted, I struggled with this although I have delivered a fair few babies in this position and I'm totally comfortable with it. I think it was just so unexpected that I was flapping too much to concentrate combined with the fact we have NEVER been taught these manouevers before.

We also had neonatal resus (again) and a PPH as I thought, neither went splendidly well and all of these were at the 'HOME BIRTH' which is fine apart from the fact that all the protocols we were given are for HOSPITAL!!!

One exam left and then it's placement for agessss. I only have 4 more weeks of uni over the next year and the rest is placement, I will miss the theory blocks- I wish we had more teaching and less self directed learning, I feel there is so much still to learn.

Study Days

I love study days when I don't have to utilise them as I should, but I have 5 days off including the weekend which is fab! I'm slobbing the day away watching episodes of House.

Next week I have an Obstetric Emergency run through- it's real time so I have to know the protocols inside out, and importantly know why I am doing something and not just how to do it.
We don't know exactly what we will get but I'm hoping for PPH as it's the most common and there will most likely be shoulder dystocia and pre/eclampsia. I thought it would be individual run throughs but it's in small groups of 3. I'm not sure if I would rather do it individually but I suppose we have to practice teamwork and delegation, and make sure there are people calling the docs, labs and porters and helping to do all the million things that need done at the one time. It should be fun as long as I'm clued up and able to function in the 'panic' whilst not panicking and not killing my 'patient'.

Debt

I was reading this article on medical student debt http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8126233.stm and I don't think the government provide enough support for medical students (especially Scottish graduate applicants).

Like many other graduates I will have to take out a Professional Development Loan of around £20-25,000 with an interest rate of almost 9% pa. As Scotland doesn't have any 4 year graduate entry courses there is no government funding for those taking medicine as a second degree, only a maintenance loan of 4400 (max) which any sensible person would use to cover the fees each year first and foremost. Even worse for me is that because my current degree qualifies me with a profession, I'm not entitled to the reduced fees that Scottish med students get (around £1700 a year) so my fees will be £3500+ by the time I begin the course. With a basic starting salary of 21k (£1322.00 per month after tax, NI student loan deductions) that doesn't leave very much money to live on after a whopping chunk of PDLoan repayment comes off. What a nice way to begin a career.

If only the Gov't provided the scheme here which they have in England: you are responsible to fund your 1st year and the NHS funds the tuition in years 2-4 with a means tested grant and a student loan available. It's a shame they don't have a similar set-up for the 5 year courses in England too.

Working my way through my next assignment today and hoping to write at least 600 words. I only have 5 more free days to write it over the next two weeks and I'm starting to get panicky. It's 3000 words over 2 parts so I've got about 1900 left to do in that time :

I wish I was more motivated at this stage!

The OSCE'S are over :D

(and just like I predicted, there was content which they denied would be in it but showed up anyway, but I was slighlty more prepared for it this time)

Got to wait about another week or so for the results. I wish we could just know there and then, all they have to do is add up. I'm so impatient!

Just been writing my next assigniment which is due in 3 weeks but it's going ok (so far).
I have an appointment with my tutor tomorrow to review my folder, so I'm off to ASDA to buy polypockets for all my placement reports.
My mum though I meant 'A Polly Pocket' little girls toy haha. I wish I was 5 again!