#med4

[confused-scientist]

Things I Learned in Med School - Wk 137-138

So I think (3 blocks in) I’ve worked out that my 4th year apathy means I’m apparently only posting once every 2 weeks this year.  On the plus side - I’m now in what should be my last full block of medical school.

I’m finishing off with a med block and my first rotation is in cardiology. I managed to get the team with an AT for the registrar, which has been really interesting as they have a much greater capacity for making decisions which is really interesting to see. They are also really into teaching and also asking lots of questions... but honestly its been really educational so I’ve been enjoying. Although less enjoyable is me still messing up on bloods and cannulas... but whatever I know I have to learn by doing.

We also found out our internship allocations last week - I managed to get my first preference (not so surprising as I’m pretty sure it was under subscribed). I think over all my cohort did pretty well - most people I know got their first pref, although as always there are a few people that end up getting shafted. Even more exciting - a few of my international mates managed to get rural spots, which is amazing cause it means THEY ACTUALLY HAVE A JOB! and they even managed to get it early so they don’t have to stress for the next few months!

Beyond that there’s still a lot of stress and anxiety around for the long case. I managed to get allocated to a decent hospital, although I’m sitting it very late, so basically half my year will know they have passed before I’ve even sat it. But it does give me a little bit more time to prep. All my practices have gone pretty well so far, but its becoming more and more difficult to find good patients - esp as we are fending off the BPTs who are also prepping for their long cases!

Anyway, here are some things I learned in med school these last two weeks:

1. The risk of having a pulmonary embolus in the 3 months after having a negative D-dimer is 1.5%

2. Our epidermis is self-cleaning... so showers are actually obsolete

3. One of the risk factors for Hodgkin's lymphoma is being from a higher SES

Quote of the week: “"Instead of saying 'I don't know" cause it sounds stupid, we say idiopathic" - Dermatology consultant

‘til next week

[confused-scientist]

Things I Learned in Med School - Weeks 141-142

What up geris?!

Finishing my last rotation of med school (?!?!) with a geriatrics rotation at a private hospital off-site from my normal clinical school. Its not the greatest rotation post-long case... as pretty much the only thing I can do is talk to patients... but it has been good for hearing loud and fantastic murmurs, which has been fun. Though really, my rotation partner and I are very keen to get out and back to our clinical school to study(/attempt to go to the gym).

One of the more interesting part of the rotation is that we get to spend 2 h with a radiologist once a week, and its been really good teaching for reading X-rays & CTs, even if our anatomy knowledge has been disappointing lol

Radiology Consultant: “What uni are you from?” Me: “We are from [Uni X], which explains why our anatomy is so poor...” RC: “Oh... I know”

Anyway, only two more weeks to go! So... here are some things I learned in med school over the last two weeks:

1. Witzelsucht is the term for a  rare neurological symptoms characterized by a tendency to make puns, or tell inappropriate jokes or pointless stories in socially inappropriate situations. 

2. In Australia, the incidence of thyroid cancer has risen faster in women than any other cancer.

3. Older patients that presenting to the ED with abdo pain to the ED have a 10% mortality in the next 1 month

Quotes of the week:

“Generally I find when the patient brings it up themselves it’s not an issues, its only when other people start commenting... then there is a problem” - Geris consultant on dementia/memory loss

“You can be my intern.” - Other Geri consultant when you get a Q correct

‘til next week

[confused-scientist]

Things I Learned in Med School - Weeks 143-144

Alright team  - to be honest I’m writing this about two week post the end of my Med4 rotation… so my memory is pretty rusty, but you know… study week/barriers… I just had a few other things on my mind

Last two weeks were more about ditching the ward as soon and as politely as possibly to run off and study. It was slightly helped but one of our consultants falling off his bike & breaking their ribs... No worries they are perfectly fine if a little banged up!

The main thing I needed to get signed off was my evidence-based medicine task – I ended up just doing it of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) as we always had a bunch of patients getting them, and therefore I could pretty much guarantee to be able to present it to at least one person during the week. It all went smoothly and it was really nice chatting to one of our older patients.

I also had to do a discharge summary – I based it off an actual patient’s discharge done by one of our residents… and then failed it because it wasn’t detailed enough… lol

Shows the quality of the discharge summaries our patients get! To be fair it was a very quick fix up though, it was a very quick fix up.

The other interesting thing that happen is that, despite being on a geriatric rotation, we actually had 2 patients who were about the same age as me. Both were suffering from conditions that are generally only seen in older patients, which is why they were under our team. They had really interesting histories so its was really eye-opening to talk to them about their medical history and their experiences in the health system. Some really important lessons for us!

Since then I’ve had my exams… here are my feelings about them in a gif:

Anyways… No rest for the wicked! We head straight into conference week… and the long wait for our exam results…

Anyway, here are somethings I learned in med school over those two weeks:

1. There is a study that shows that hospital cleaners are better at determining a cancer in-patient’s prognosis than their doctors

2. On average, doctors over estimate survival by 5x

3. One day in space is equivalent to the amount of radiation received on earth in one year!

4. Moon dust is also a problem and can lead to nasal congestion problems sometimes termed 'lunar hay fever'

Quotes of the weeks:

“You when their renal colic is really severe when they are like ‘whatever, just put it up my bum!’ ” – Urologist talking about rectal analgesia

Surgeon: Did you read up on this? Student: Yes Surgeon: Are you trying to impress me? Student: Yes Surgeon: Good.

‘til next time

[confused-scientist]

Me; quitting my PassMed question session and starting again after getting the first 5 questions wrong.

[confused-scientist]

Things I Learned in Med School - Wks 139 - 140

Last two weeks of cardio were a bit a of blur. My team was really enjoyable - the AT was super great at teaching, and the resident was really nice and easy to get along with and also was good at pushing me to do things - like bloods and cannulas... I mean I missed but HEY AT LEAST I TRIED!! Honestly, I kind if consider all that more practical stuff Future-CS’s problem, as Present-CS has long cases and barriers to get through!

One of my fav days though was when our AT was busy looking after other teams, so my Resident and I did the ward round together - her being the ‘reg’ and me the ‘intern’. She was like “OMG! This might be us next year!” Plus you know... its always just nice being useful.

Although honestly I wasn’t really around much on the ward for the last two weeks. Our bedside tutor - who was also my amazing neuro reg last year for MED3 - organised a bunch of tutorials for us in the lead up for long case. It was amazing - she would basically get us to do mini-long cases - Hx and Ex - and then present w/ issues straight away with no notes. It was AMAZING helpful - although terrifying especially as she has high expectations of my ability after my Neuro term... (little does she know I’ve pretty much forgotten everything lol)

And then in the last week my team kicked me off the wards by Tuesday so I could study for long case. I did mine on like the 2nd last day of sittings - ended up getting something I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR (despite all the study!) and it really frazzled me to be honest. But the patient was lovely and the examiners were really fair. I felt pretty good after coming out of the room, but must admit as the days went on I felt worse about my performance and by about 3 days later I had managed to convince myself that I was most likely resitting. Found out today that I passed and did relatively wells - so I’m pretty happy about that.

Now the only thing standing between me and the end of this degree are my barrier exams in about 5 weeks. Honestly, soooo looking forward to being done finally!

Anyway, here are some things I learned in med school over the past two weeks:

1. Tretinoin is the only thing proven to work for anti-photoaging skin

2. Sub-clinical hyperthyroidism is associated w/ the development of osteoporosis, dementia and atrial fibrillation

3. The medical name of delusional jealously is ‘Othello Syndrome’

4. The word Disaster comes from the the greek for “bad” “stars”

Quote of the week: "Looking... if you need to go, feel free to leave. I'm just procrastinating from going to clinic" - Proof that even fellows hate clinics

‘til next time

[confused-scientist]

Guess who has their long case tomorrow...

[meaningfulprocrastination]

I honestly do not know what to do now. The world seems so dark and bleak. I failed my exams. I am broken. Shattered. Both physically and mentally.

[meaningfulprocrastination]

So I failed my exams. I thought this would be the final push, the one that would finally make me end my life, but instead, I just feel numb. I don't feel anything really. I just wanna be left alone. I dont really know how I feel