Tonight I noticed a tweet asking for top self-care tips for medical students, and (unsurprisingly) I felt I had too much to say to fit it into 140 characters, so I thought it might be worth a blogpost. Being a medical student is an amazing experience, but it can also be incredibly difficult for lots of reasons. This post isn't supposed to be in any way comprehensive. I'm not an expert, by any stretch. This is just a collection of suggestions and ideas based upon my own experiences and those of people I know.
Work hard.
Medicine is hard work. Most of it isn't intellectually particularly stretching, but there's a vast amount of stuff to learn and the majority of people will have to do a reasonable amount of work to keep on top of it. I'm not advocating becoming a hermit, but going to most of your lectures, showing up on the wards and keeping up with reading will mean exam season is far less stressful. If you have to actually learn everything from scratch, rather than just revise it, you'll be giving yourself a far more difficult task than is necessary.
Play hard.
It's also important to make the most of being a student. Go to toga parties. Play pub golf. Go clubbing whilst dressed as a giant chocolate bar or do garlic and chili body shots from the Med Soc president. Or don't, if you'd rather not. But don't feel like doing an academically demanding degree means you have to miss out on the student experience. A boss of mine once said "you can resit an exam, but you can't resit a party". I'm not sure that's the most sensible advice, but find a balance that makes you happy. Whether it's partying, music/sports/drama societies, volunteering or just reading novels and watching trashy TV, doing fun stuff is important. Keeping up with friends and enjoying yourself is an essential way of dealing with the stress you will feel from time to time. Speaking of friends, they're really important. Make sure you keep up with those outside of your course, too. Non-medics are brilliant for allowing you to properly relax and giving you a sense of perspective (medic friends are great and can relate to a lot of what you've experienced, but have an awful habit of talking shop so you don't truly escape medicine around them).
But don't forget to sleep.
Seriously, sleep is really important. When you're trying to balance partying and studying, sleep can seem like something you don't have time for, but it's essential. Everything seems worse when you haven't been sleeping well. As a medical student, you've embarked on a pretty awesome journey, but you need to be on top of your game to make the most of it.
Eat well.
OK, so it's boring, but it's another essential. If you're spending long days in lectures and then going out drinking, it can be tempting to sustain yourself on Pot Noodles and Red Bull, but there's no way you'll be at your best if you aren't getting a decent amount of vitamins, minerals, fibre etc. Sorry guys, your Mum is right about this one.
Exercise.
Similar to the above, exercise is useful for both keeping you physically at your peak and helping beat stress. As a naturally lazy person who would rather exercise by lifting a spoon from ice cream tub to mouth than go anywhere near a gym, I totally get that this is not top of some people's agendas, but it's amazing how much more energy you have after a swim or run. Even a brisk walk around the block is better than nothing.
Cry.
Sometimes you will see things that really resonate with you and upset you. This is absolutely OK. Allow yourself to be upset. Talk to a friend. Have a cry. I still get upset about cases from years ago (such as this one), Remember that if there ever comes a time when sad things don't bother you in the slightest, you probably want to think about a change of career.
Take a break.
OK, so this might go a little against what I said earlier about working hard, but it's important. Sometimes, things will get on top of you (see previous point). You might be unwell. You will have stressors in your life outside of medicine. If you're struggling, give yourself permission to take a sick day. There's no point dragging yourself in when you aren't going to be properly concentrating. Doctors are absolutely terrible for going into work when they're unwell. It does noone any favours. Learn now to spot when you aren't well and sort it out early. Even if you're cruising along fine, don't spend more time working than you have to. If your registrar says you can leave early, do. Don't spend the holidays in the library. Having time off is vital to your emotional and physical well being.
Don't let the b*st*rds grind you down.
There are horrible people everywhere. Some of them will be in your year, some will be your seniors, some will be non-medical colleagues. Giving you a dressing down if you're rude or you really don't know your stuff is fine, but nobody should be bullying you. If they are, report it. Snide remarks, sniggering behind your back, deliberately telling you lies about teaching sessions or criticising your appearance or personality is not acceptable. People who do this are, frankly, arseholes. They're probably covering up their own insecurities by pointing out yours. They may well be jealous of how awesome you are. Either way, it's not cool. Don't let it get to you. (But if you're actually being bullied, tell someone. There is help to stop this kind of thing from happening.)
Be the best you you can, not a second-rate someone else.
This is more general life advice I suppose, but in medical school where you're surrounded by brilliant people it's easy to constantly compare yourself to other people. Try not to. The people who may seem the best at uni are not necessarily the ones who make the best doctors. Focus on your weaknesses, by all means, and work on improving them, but don't assume that anyone who really understands the kidneys or can do a super-slick neuro exam is better than you at everything. Maybe you have a really lovely manner with confused old ladies or perhaps you know intricate details of the coagulation cascade. Whatever it is, you'll have something you're awesome at too. Remember what it is you do well, feel proud of it, and work on improving other stuff so that you become the best doctor you can be, not so that you can beat someone else in an exam.
That's a very brief run-down, but those would be my top "survival" tips. Most of all, remember to enjoy it. You're on your way to doing the best job in the world, and you're going to be awesome at it.
Showing posts with label Academia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Academia. Show all posts
Monday, 6 July 2015
Wednesday, 10 September 2014
The Black Dog Bites
A few years ago, whilst I was still at medical school, I wrote a post about various mental health issues I'd had over the years. There are ups and downs and these issues become more or less prominent a part of my life at different times. Today, the internet tells me that it's World Suicide Prevention Day, and for this reason I find myself thinking a little more about the black dog.
I wish I were as eloquent as the chap who made this lovely video, but I'm afraid I'm not, so I just find myself rambling and hoping that perhaps something I write makes a little sense.
As many people reading this will be aware, I'm now on a specialty training programme in paediatrics. I'd be lying if I said it was always easy, but on the whole I love it. However, it does mean I frequently meet teenagers who have similar problems to those I had at their age (and, to an extent, continue to have). This is something which I will always find difficult.
Back when I was on my adolescent psychiatry placement, I found myself wondering whether I would ever be completely recovered. I've now concluded that I won't. That may sound negative, and I suppose at times it feels negative, but there's also a bit of relief in admitting that I may never be 100% "better", and that it's ok not to be ok.
As I get older, I get better at recognising what triggers off my lowest moments. Although I can't always do much about them, it's helpful to know that they are there. Currently, I spend some of my time in a job where I do little more than observe. This is really difficult for me, as my mind isn't kept as busy as it likes to be, and I therefore find myself overthinking and drifting into negativity. Whilst this is frustrating, it's also good that I know it's partly the lack of intellectual stimulation which is problematic as it means I can at least attempt to find solutions (in true Learnaholic style, these solutions are at present an MSc dissertation, a systematic review and helping to organise a conference). I've also never been very good at adapting to changes - from crying in playschool when my milk was in the wrong colour cup to feeling nauseated when our high school French teacher said we could sit in different seats as a "treat" - I've always liked routine, so a 350 mile move and a new job was always going to be tough. There's a certain amount of help in just realising that actually, most people would find that hard and that it's ok for me to feel a bit out of sorts for a while.
Interactions with (especially teenage) patients who are having mental health difficulties are always going to be tough for me. One of the things I struggle most with is that I can't hand on heart promise that it gets better - and for that I feel inexplicably guilty. Guilt is, oddly, a very prevalent part of depression for many people. The ironic "you have nothing to be depressed about" comments are unhelpful for many reasons, not least that I *know* I have a good life and already feel guilty that I'm not full of the joys of spring without someone else mentioning it.
Once again I find myself having typed a stream of consciousness which may or may not make any sense, but having retweeted the link to my initial mental health-related post, I felt like a follow-up was overdue. This post wasn't meant to be all doom and gloom, although it seems to have turned out that way. I need to emphasise some of the positive things going on too. I graduated from medical school, completed my foundation training and got a place to train in the specialty of my choice. I'm 2/3rds of the way through a master's degree. I live independently. I am, on the whole, not doing too badly. 10 years ago, I didn't think I would ever get here. I guess, all things considered, I'm doing ok.
I wish I were as eloquent as the chap who made this lovely video, but I'm afraid I'm not, so I just find myself rambling and hoping that perhaps something I write makes a little sense.
As many people reading this will be aware, I'm now on a specialty training programme in paediatrics. I'd be lying if I said it was always easy, but on the whole I love it. However, it does mean I frequently meet teenagers who have similar problems to those I had at their age (and, to an extent, continue to have). This is something which I will always find difficult.
Back when I was on my adolescent psychiatry placement, I found myself wondering whether I would ever be completely recovered. I've now concluded that I won't. That may sound negative, and I suppose at times it feels negative, but there's also a bit of relief in admitting that I may never be 100% "better", and that it's ok not to be ok.
As I get older, I get better at recognising what triggers off my lowest moments. Although I can't always do much about them, it's helpful to know that they are there. Currently, I spend some of my time in a job where I do little more than observe. This is really difficult for me, as my mind isn't kept as busy as it likes to be, and I therefore find myself overthinking and drifting into negativity. Whilst this is frustrating, it's also good that I know it's partly the lack of intellectual stimulation which is problematic as it means I can at least attempt to find solutions (in true Learnaholic style, these solutions are at present an MSc dissertation, a systematic review and helping to organise a conference). I've also never been very good at adapting to changes - from crying in playschool when my milk was in the wrong colour cup to feeling nauseated when our high school French teacher said we could sit in different seats as a "treat" - I've always liked routine, so a 350 mile move and a new job was always going to be tough. There's a certain amount of help in just realising that actually, most people would find that hard and that it's ok for me to feel a bit out of sorts for a while.
Interactions with (especially teenage) patients who are having mental health difficulties are always going to be tough for me. One of the things I struggle most with is that I can't hand on heart promise that it gets better - and for that I feel inexplicably guilty. Guilt is, oddly, a very prevalent part of depression for many people. The ironic "you have nothing to be depressed about" comments are unhelpful for many reasons, not least that I *know* I have a good life and already feel guilty that I'm not full of the joys of spring without someone else mentioning it.
Once again I find myself having typed a stream of consciousness which may or may not make any sense, but having retweeted the link to my initial mental health-related post, I felt like a follow-up was overdue. This post wasn't meant to be all doom and gloom, although it seems to have turned out that way. I need to emphasise some of the positive things going on too. I graduated from medical school, completed my foundation training and got a place to train in the specialty of my choice. I'm 2/3rds of the way through a master's degree. I live independently. I am, on the whole, not doing too badly. 10 years ago, I didn't think I would ever get here. I guess, all things considered, I'm doing ok.
Monday, 31 December 2012
Obligatory "end of year" blogging
2012 is drawing to a close and it's been quite a year!
I'm going to start off by looking back at my resolutions from the start of the year and seeing how I've done. I helpfully wrote them down here so I have no excuses and can't pretend I achieved everything! So, what was I attempting to do?
- Get fit again. Mission failed! I have been a lot more active this year and made a serious effort to walk rather than getting the bus etc etc, but for numerous reasons I haven't really got properly into exercising the way I'd intended to.
- Start eating properly again. Mission partially accomplished. I still have my moments, but am by and large doing a lot better than I was a year ago. This is probably due to finally admitting that I had an issue with things, which is something I should've done years ago.
- Sort out my finances. Mission partially accomplished. I've only been earning "proper" money for 5 months, but the credit card and overdraft are cleared and I'm chipping away at the student debt (albeit slowly).
- Attempt to be more positive. Mission partially accomplished. As with eating, I still have my moments, but I was described at work as "that quine* who never stops smiling" so I must be doing alright! *quine = generic term for female in this neck of the woods.
- Graduate and become a doctor. Mission accomplished!
I'm not going to reflect too much on the year as a whole. There have been ups and downs and happy times and sad times, as there will have been for anyone looking back on a 12 month period. Instead, I think it's time to look forward, and to make another set of resolutions I may well not stick to!
So, in 2013 I hope I will:
- Successfully be signed off for my FY1 jobs, gain full GMC registration and start working as an FY2. Fairly obvious I suppose but getting successfully through my first year of work has absolutely got to be a priority.
- Pass the first year of my MSc and PGCert. As above, fairly obvious, but given what I'm shelling out for tuition fees it would be a very expensive mistake if I didn't study enough towards my courses!
- Get in an application for paediatric specialty training. This will probably surprise absolutely noone, but it's a bit scary thinking that I'll be applying in less than a year. I haven't completely decided whether or not to apply for a normal ST (specialty training) post or for an ACF (academic clinical fellowship) instead, but no doubt I'll blog about the pros and cons of each later.
- Buy a car. I have made so many excuses for not doing things because not owning a car makes them difficult. I need to bite the bullet and get one, especially now money is less of an issue.
- Get fit. Again. I say it every year, but eventually I'll stick to it!
Hope you all enjoy seeing in the New Year. I'll be on night shift, so think of me as you tuck into your champagne and canapes!
xxxx
I'm going to start off by looking back at my resolutions from the start of the year and seeing how I've done. I helpfully wrote them down here so I have no excuses and can't pretend I achieved everything! So, what was I attempting to do?
- Get fit again. Mission failed! I have been a lot more active this year and made a serious effort to walk rather than getting the bus etc etc, but for numerous reasons I haven't really got properly into exercising the way I'd intended to.
- Start eating properly again. Mission partially accomplished. I still have my moments, but am by and large doing a lot better than I was a year ago. This is probably due to finally admitting that I had an issue with things, which is something I should've done years ago.
- Sort out my finances. Mission partially accomplished. I've only been earning "proper" money for 5 months, but the credit card and overdraft are cleared and I'm chipping away at the student debt (albeit slowly).
- Attempt to be more positive. Mission partially accomplished. As with eating, I still have my moments, but I was described at work as "that quine* who never stops smiling" so I must be doing alright! *quine = generic term for female in this neck of the woods.
- Graduate and become a doctor. Mission accomplished!
I'm not going to reflect too much on the year as a whole. There have been ups and downs and happy times and sad times, as there will have been for anyone looking back on a 12 month period. Instead, I think it's time to look forward, and to make another set of resolutions I may well not stick to!
So, in 2013 I hope I will:
- Successfully be signed off for my FY1 jobs, gain full GMC registration and start working as an FY2. Fairly obvious I suppose but getting successfully through my first year of work has absolutely got to be a priority.
- Pass the first year of my MSc and PGCert. As above, fairly obvious, but given what I'm shelling out for tuition fees it would be a very expensive mistake if I didn't study enough towards my courses!
- Get in an application for paediatric specialty training. This will probably surprise absolutely noone, but it's a bit scary thinking that I'll be applying in less than a year. I haven't completely decided whether or not to apply for a normal ST (specialty training) post or for an ACF (academic clinical fellowship) instead, but no doubt I'll blog about the pros and cons of each later.
- Buy a car. I have made so many excuses for not doing things because not owning a car makes them difficult. I need to bite the bullet and get one, especially now money is less of an issue.
- Get fit. Again. I say it every year, but eventually I'll stick to it!
Hope you all enjoy seeing in the New Year. I'll be on night shift, so think of me as you tuck into your champagne and canapes!
xxxx
Friday, 25 May 2012
Showing Off
Ok, apologies in advance. This update is basically me just showing off. Please excuse me, I'm a bit over excited!
I found out on Tuesday I got accepted for my MSc - this came as a total shock as I genuinely expected them to give all the places to people who had more experience. I'm really looking forward to starting. Although it's going to be pretty hard work doing part-time studying alongside being a full time FY1 (and let's not even think about the loan I'll be taking out to pay my course fees), I am a massive geek. Learning new things and keeping my mind busy makes me happy. I'm pretty set on doing paediatrics as a career; unfortunately I don't have a paediatric job during my foundation years, so it will be nice to still be doing something child health related alongside my other work. Depending on time, I think the content will probably be quite useful in preparing for the MRCPCH exams, so I may or may not looking into sitting part 1 at some point.
Continuing on the theme of paediatrics (I'm possibly a bit over keen), I've just returned from a few days in Glasgow at the RCPCH conference. I think I mentioned before that I somehow won some kind of prize (genuinely unsure as to how/why) which meant I didn't have to pay to attend - a brilliant opportunity as conferences are pretty pricey. My supervisor encouraged me to present a poster whilst I was there, so it really was a couple of days of CV boosting!
I had a fantastic time at the conference. There were 15 other prize winners from other medical schools there, all of whom were lovely. We had a couple of meals out and got on really well. It was nice to know that, regardless of institution attended, we all felt pretty much the same about starting work (totally unprepared!). I met lots of lovely consultants and trainees who were all super-encouraging. I'm now even more keen on the specialty than I was before.
Right, I've procrastinated for long enough so I really must get back to revising. OSCE in 12 days and all this sucking up will be for nothing if I don't manage to actually graduate!!!
Hope you're all enjoying the sunshine xxx
I found out on Tuesday I got accepted for my MSc - this came as a total shock as I genuinely expected them to give all the places to people who had more experience. I'm really looking forward to starting. Although it's going to be pretty hard work doing part-time studying alongside being a full time FY1 (and let's not even think about the loan I'll be taking out to pay my course fees), I am a massive geek. Learning new things and keeping my mind busy makes me happy. I'm pretty set on doing paediatrics as a career; unfortunately I don't have a paediatric job during my foundation years, so it will be nice to still be doing something child health related alongside my other work. Depending on time, I think the content will probably be quite useful in preparing for the MRCPCH exams, so I may or may not looking into sitting part 1 at some point.
Continuing on the theme of paediatrics (I'm possibly a bit over keen), I've just returned from a few days in Glasgow at the RCPCH conference. I think I mentioned before that I somehow won some kind of prize (genuinely unsure as to how/why) which meant I didn't have to pay to attend - a brilliant opportunity as conferences are pretty pricey. My supervisor encouraged me to present a poster whilst I was there, so it really was a couple of days of CV boosting!
I had a fantastic time at the conference. There were 15 other prize winners from other medical schools there, all of whom were lovely. We had a couple of meals out and got on really well. It was nice to know that, regardless of institution attended, we all felt pretty much the same about starting work (totally unprepared!). I met lots of lovely consultants and trainees who were all super-encouraging. I'm now even more keen on the specialty than I was before.
Right, I've procrastinated for long enough so I really must get back to revising. OSCE in 12 days and all this sucking up will be for nothing if I don't manage to actually graduate!!!
Hope you're all enjoying the sunshine xxx
Friday, 11 May 2012
The Final Countdown
After almost 7 years as a student I now feel like I'm into the home strait. One more week of teaching, a few weeks of studying and the small matter of a couple of OSCEs are all that stand between me and entering the big bad world. I am surprisingly calm about this, although provided I pass my exams I will be starting work in 2 and a half months. Possibly I ought to be more nervous about this, especially if day one really is like the bits they show on "Junior Doctors: Your Life In Their Hands" and I take 278 attempts to cannulate each patient.
At the moment, our teaching is all on "professional practise", which is essentially all the stuff that's quite important but noone teaches you. This includes such delights as confirming death, prescribing and fatal accident enquiries. I suspect that actually much of this has been covered in some ilk or other before but I ignored it because it was all "ages away". And now it is not ages away. It is a matter of months. Weeks, really.
This morning we had a session on dealing with "stress and conflict", where we were presented with some rather grim statistics on the mental wellbeing of junior doctors. I was delighted to learn that being female (check) and having a critical father (check - that doesn't mean he isn't lovely) increase risk of suffering burnout during the first couple of years after qualifying. On Wednesday we had a session entitled "support and sanctions" which involved the GMC, MDU and health board HR people telling us not to be naughty or we'd get struck off/fired. Despite these two rather depressing sessions, I'm actually feeling rather positive about starting work.
I had a phone call from occupational health yesterday, and was told they had "no concerns" about my fitness to practise. If you've read my blog before, you'll know that I've had one or two health problems in the past. Although I've played my worries down, I've gone through medical school being a little bit worried that someone would find some kind of loophole which would mean I wouldn't be allowed to start work, so it's a huge relief to know that, from a health perspective at least, I'm going to be ok.
I am keeping myself rather busy at the moment, even though I probably ought to be in the library trying to get the whole of medicine and surgery into my cranium... Last week we had a week off uni and I did absolutely no work at all. I went home to see Mummy and Daddy Learnaholic and had a lovely, relaxing time. Last weekend I went down to Brighton to the National Medical Student Paediatric Conference, which was fantastic. I met lots of lovely people, caught up with some old friends from other medical schools, enjoyed hearing different perspectives on paediatrics and drank lots of wine at the delegate ball.
In addition to uni and revision, I've also started helping out at Cubs (great fun), have a poster to make for a conference in a couple of weeks and applied for a Master's. I suppose I have to justify calling myself the Learnaholic, don't I?!!!
xxxx
At the moment, our teaching is all on "professional practise", which is essentially all the stuff that's quite important but noone teaches you. This includes such delights as confirming death, prescribing and fatal accident enquiries. I suspect that actually much of this has been covered in some ilk or other before but I ignored it because it was all "ages away". And now it is not ages away. It is a matter of months. Weeks, really.
This morning we had a session on dealing with "stress and conflict", where we were presented with some rather grim statistics on the mental wellbeing of junior doctors. I was delighted to learn that being female (check) and having a critical father (check - that doesn't mean he isn't lovely) increase risk of suffering burnout during the first couple of years after qualifying. On Wednesday we had a session entitled "support and sanctions" which involved the GMC, MDU and health board HR people telling us not to be naughty or we'd get struck off/fired. Despite these two rather depressing sessions, I'm actually feeling rather positive about starting work.
I had a phone call from occupational health yesterday, and was told they had "no concerns" about my fitness to practise. If you've read my blog before, you'll know that I've had one or two health problems in the past. Although I've played my worries down, I've gone through medical school being a little bit worried that someone would find some kind of loophole which would mean I wouldn't be allowed to start work, so it's a huge relief to know that, from a health perspective at least, I'm going to be ok.
I am keeping myself rather busy at the moment, even though I probably ought to be in the library trying to get the whole of medicine and surgery into my cranium... Last week we had a week off uni and I did absolutely no work at all. I went home to see Mummy and Daddy Learnaholic and had a lovely, relaxing time. Last weekend I went down to Brighton to the National Medical Student Paediatric Conference, which was fantastic. I met lots of lovely people, caught up with some old friends from other medical schools, enjoyed hearing different perspectives on paediatrics and drank lots of wine at the delegate ball.
In addition to uni and revision, I've also started helping out at Cubs (great fun), have a poster to make for a conference in a couple of weeks and applied for a Master's. I suppose I have to justify calling myself the Learnaholic, don't I?!!!
xxxx
Sunday, 19 February 2012
On a happier note...
Actually, despite my last entry, things aren't all doom and gloom. Forgive me for my excitement and big-headedness in dedicating an entire post to this but... I got published :-D A little bit giddy about this to be honest! Ok, so it was a piece my tutor was commissioned to write and he was kind enough to let me do a bit of it, but still, it's the first time I've seen my name in print that way. It comes up on PubMed and everything *giggles like a maniac* Fingers crossed it's the first of many for me!
Monday, 11 July 2011
You Win Some, You Lose Some
As mentioned in my last post, I've just spent a week volunteering with Over The
Wall and had an absolutely fantastic time. This was my fourth holiday with them
and it was every bit as fantastic as the previous three I've done. One of the
great things about OTW, aside from meeting a lot of inspirational young people
and having a brilliant time, is when the other volunteers write you "warm
fuzzies"; these are basically just little notes to say hi and comment on
anything they think you did well or which stood out over the week. Anyway, after
reading mine (and getting out old ones from previous camps), it occurred to me
that I'm perceived in a totally different way at camp to how I'm perceived in
"the real world". I can think of two possible explanations for this. Either I'm
a completely different person for one week of the year, which seems unlikely, or
I actually have no idea how I'm normally perceived and just make it up. This
seems somewhat unrelated to this blog, which is supposedly about my academic
endeavours, however it just made me realise having such a negative view of
myself was probably not going to help my career prospects. So I shall now
attempt to be a more positive person!
Moving on to more relevant stuff, on Wednesday I got an email to say my one of my AFP applications had been unsuccessful. I was pretty disappointed, as having read over their criteria, I have all of the "essential" and some of the "desirable" qualities and thought I might manage to get an interview. However, it's a hugely competitive and popular programme and I know that there are a lot of applicants with far more research experience, publications etc than I have. I'll just have to hope I have better news from one of the other two!
On a much more positive note - I passed my exams! Hugely relieved, especially about the OSCE as there were so many things I realised I'd forgotten to do/say as soon as I got out of each station. This means I'm officially a final year, which is a little bit scary but very exciting :)
Hope everyone waiting on exam results has good news soon xxx
Moving on to more relevant stuff, on Wednesday I got an email to say my one of my AFP applications had been unsuccessful. I was pretty disappointed, as having read over their criteria, I have all of the "essential" and some of the "desirable" qualities and thought I might manage to get an interview. However, it's a hugely competitive and popular programme and I know that there are a lot of applicants with far more research experience, publications etc than I have. I'll just have to hope I have better news from one of the other two!
On a much more positive note - I passed my exams! Hugely relieved, especially about the OSCE as there were so many things I realised I'd forgotten to do/say as soon as I got out of each station. This means I'm officially a final year, which is a little bit scary but very exciting :)
Hope everyone waiting on exam results has good news soon xxx
Monday, 23 May 2011
Busy Bee!
Why is it that weekends seem to go by so quickly?! I had so many things I wanted
to get done, but am nowhere near through them. My list looks a little bit like
this:
1) Finish neurology revision and start on gp stuff
2) Work on application forms for academic foundation programme
3) Complete pre-elective reading, write up findings and send to host supervisor
4) Work on systematic review for home supervisor
5)Clean kitchen and
bathroom
6)Do food shop
So basically this weekend I've successfully cleaned my flat, and bought some food. Useful, but not exactly the top priorities, were they?! I have done some neurology (and covered a bit more in clinic this morning), but I really ought to have finished it by now. I've added nothing recently to my AFP forms - I'm struggling to answer questions such as "explain how your SSM or elective demonstrates your suitability to an academic post" - argh! I did do a little bit of my pre-elective work, but ideally I would have finished it. My host supervisor is very relaxed so there's no pressure, but it'd be nice to have out of the way. The systematic review has been largely ignored, but I'm less concerned about that as there's not a lot I can do until I receive other people's information.
I probably spent too much time catching up on Grey's Anatomy - what a tear-jerking season finale! I actually cried more than I did at the end of season 6, which I didn't think possible! Anyway, it's now finished, so I suppose that's one less thing to distract me this week.
Better get back to the books...
1) Finish neurology revision and start on gp stuff
2) Work on application forms for academic foundation programme
3) Complete pre-elective reading, write up findings and send to host supervisor
4) Work on systematic review for home supervisor
5)
6)
So basically this weekend I've successfully cleaned my flat, and bought some food. Useful, but not exactly the top priorities, were they?! I have done some neurology (and covered a bit more in clinic this morning), but I really ought to have finished it by now. I've added nothing recently to my AFP forms - I'm struggling to answer questions such as "explain how your SSM or elective demonstrates your suitability to an academic post" - argh! I did do a little bit of my pre-elective work, but ideally I would have finished it. My host supervisor is very relaxed so there's no pressure, but it'd be nice to have out of the way. The systematic review has been largely ignored, but I'm less concerned about that as there's not a lot I can do until I receive other people's information.
I probably spent too much time catching up on Grey's Anatomy - what a tear-jerking season finale! I actually cried more than I did at the end of season 6, which I didn't think possible! Anyway, it's now finished, so I suppose that's one less thing to distract me this week.
Better get back to the books...
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