Hospex--Day 3

Yet another fantastic day! I spent all this morning in orthopaedic surgery, observing a hip replacement, followed by knee replacement. This surgery was very different to the delicate surgery I observed yesterday in OMF. It was fascinating to be able to see in detail the way these operations are done and even hold pieces of bone that the surgeon had sawed off, to be replaced.

In these past few days, I have learnt vast amounts, but the main thing that I will take away from this experience, is that in the future I certainly want to follow the career path of a surgeon. The human body never ceases to amaze me and having the opportunity to just observe surgery over the past few days as been a extraordinary, let alone being able to perform it myself sometime in the foreseeable future.

Hospex Course--Day 2

Wow! Today was even better than yesterday, and I thought yesterday couldn't get any better! This morning I got the opportunity to shadow Dr DeNunzio, a consultant radiologist. I was able to observe him performing two balloon angioplasties in the leg. This is a treatment, guided by ultrasound and x-ray, to widen arteries that have become blocked. In order to find the blockage in the artery, a guide wire and catheter are inserted from the groin and dye that can be picked up by the x-rays is flushed through the arteries. It was a brilliant experience to be able to observe this so closely.

Later on in the day, I got the chance to go into one of the hospitals many theatres and observe some truly amazing and life saving surgery. After getting all scrubbed up, I entered theatre 2, where Mr Laugharne and his team had been operating on a woman with a tumour on her tongue. When I arrived, the surgeons had already performed a Tracheotomy to allow the woman to breath without her nose or mouth and they had made an incision from under her ear to under her chin and had began to remove her lymph nodes, where the cancer had spread. I was able to observe the removal of the lymph nodes and then the removal of  the half of her tongue with the tumour on. After this another surgeon began to remove a section of the woman's arm, which would later be transplanted back into her mouth, to replace the part of her tongue which had been removed. Unfortunately, I had to leave before they had transplanted the flap onto her tongue, but nevertheless it was an absolutely unforgettable afternoon.

Thanks to all the doctors who made today possible and explained everything to me. I will never forget today! Tomorrow, I am observing a Trauma and Orthopaedic operation. I'll keep you posted!

Hospex course at Royal Derby Hospital--Day 1

For three days this week I am participating in the Hospex course at Royal Derby Hospital. This is a course for potential medical students. The aim is to give prospective students a good insight into the way a hospital works and a few different specialities of medicine. Today was my first day on the course and I had an amazing time!

In the morning I was based in the Cardiac Catheter Suites, which was absolutly fascinating! Following presentation at Medlink about CABG surgery and coronary artery stents, I have been very interested in these procedures and today I got to see it first hand. Although I was unable to go into the theatres myself due to my age, I was able to observe through a glass window and view the procedure through x-ray imaging. Not only was I able to see a stent put in, but I was able to observe pacemaker surgery. Thank you to all the staff, who explained everything they were doing to me, I don't think I've leant so much in a long time!

After lunch, I got the opportunity to shadow Dr Rebecca Thomas, an F1 on a care for the elderly ward. This experience was as equally interesting as the catheter session in the morning. As all doctors have to go through their foundation years, it was brilliant to have the opportunity to see what they do myself, rather than taking it from the TV! Thanks, to Dr Rebecca Thomas for giving me such an enjoyable and useful afternoon.

I can't wait to learn more tomorrow!

"Why do you want to be a doctor?"

On Sunday, whilst volunteering at the hospital, I got asked by a lovely old lady I was chatting to, "Why do you want to be a doctor"? This is the most important question for all people applying to medical school, but when I was asked out of the blue, I realised that it is actually a very difficult question to answer! So, I really thought about it and this is why I want to be a doctor...

I first became interested in this career about 3 years ago, when I realised that I was absolutely fascinated with the human body and how it works. So, naturally, the first profession I thought of when I thought of the human body was, of course, a doctor. Now this by itself is a poor excuse to study medicine, but it was not until I started looking into the career and gaining experience, that I really started getting into the idea. I now have a clear idea of what the job of a doctor entails, and I believe I could fill that role perfectly.

Firstly, I enjoy talking to people, whether I know them or not. Being a doctor, not only requires you to talk to patients, but it is also necessary to have good communication skills, so as to ensure the best possible care for your patients.

Having the ability to work in a team is also a skill every doctor should posses, and I believe I do. I play hockey every week with my team, Woodlands Ladies Hockey Club, and have had many team experiences such as, Duke of Edinburgh. However, being a doctor may also require you to take the lead once in a while and through being a Young Leader at Brownies, coaching hockey to younger pupils, being a peer mentor and taking part in both the Buddy Reading and Buddy Science schemes, I feel I have successfully developed good leadership qualities.

All these things might explain why I would be suited to a career in medicine, but do not explain why I WANT TO BE A DOCTOR! It was only on reflection that I realised the answer to this. I have often found myself in situations where someone has been in need of medical help, sometimes more critically than others. In some of these situations I have been able to offer assistance. For example, when a young brownie fell over and face-planted into a stage, I found myself immediately rushing to help her and I am pleased to say, I succeeded in calming her down and stopping the nose bleed that the fall had caused. However, from time to time I have found myself wanting to do more. Last year, I was visiting Chatsworth with my family when I heard screaming for help. Of course, I followed my instincts and ran as fast as I could to the screams. When we arrived, we discovered that an old man on a mobility scooter who had strayed from the path, had come of his scooter, rolled down a hill and landed in the stream at the bottom. I knew that I could not offer help to this man, but I still knew how to help him. We ensured the ambulance and mountain rescue services had been called and then scrambled down the hill, and sat there with him and kept him talking, until more help arrived.

SO! This is the conclusion I have come to. I want to be a doctor because:

· I believe I posses all of the correct skills to become a successful doctor.

· I am very interested in the human body and science in general.

· From being put in situations where someone is in need of help, I have learnt that there is some sort of instincts inside me that always rushes to help the person in need, I do not panic under pressure and that I always want to do more for the person in need, even when I have done all that I can.

Starting volunteering on Ward 403

In the news recently there have been many distressing reports about elderly and critically ill patients leaving hospital dehydrated and malnourished because they could not reach their food or water during their stay in hospital. Although, this has never been an issue for Royal Derby Hospital, recently they have employed a group of Patient Activity Support Volunteers, including myself, who's job it is to ensure patients do not leave hospital in such a state.

I started in this role last Sunday, on a respiratory ward, ward 403 and I have found that my main duties include, talking to patients, cleaning and de-cluttering tables ready for dinner, handing out hand wipes to patients before they eat, giving patients their meals and offering them help with it, offering tea and other drinks to patients and generally providing support to the nurses on the ward.  

Although my time on the ward so far has been short-lived, it is already proving to be a valuable experience to me. Before starting on the ward, I had had very little experience of a hospital environment, never having been seriously ill myself. Due to this, I am ashamed to admit that my idea of a hospital was heavily based around what I had seen on the television and in the news. Now I can clearly see, what it is actually like to work in a hospital and I am sure this knowledge will be of benefit to me later, when I begin to study medicine. Not only am I gaining experience of ward life, but I have also become certain that this is where my future career lies.

Age UK have been campaigning since 2006 in the "Hungry to be Heard" Campaign, to try and prevent malnutrition and dehydration in hospitals. More information can be found about this at http://www.ageuk.org.uk/get-involved/campaign/malnutrition-in-hospital-hungry-to-be-heard/.

Medlink 2011

Me outside the med school.

In December I was lucky enough to attend Medlink, which is held at Nottingham University. For those of you who don't know Medlink is a fantastic 4 day course for prospective medical students. It consists of a mixture of lectures and clinical sessions, which are held in the med school and around the university campus. Although for some a day jam-packed full of lectures may seem boring, I found it fancinating. The subjects of the lectures ranged from A & E medicine, to disaster medicine, to general practice. There was a lecture for almost every speciality of medicine!

The clinical sessions were also very good, altough I feel there could have been more of them. For these sessions we were split into smaller groups in which we performed a number of practical sessions. There was an opthalmoscope, otoscope and stethoscope session, a casualty alert session and a session in which we had to diagnose patients.

In addition to the medical lectures, there were also a few lectures teaching us the tricks of getting into med school. One of these was The Edge session, which is a must-have extra! It was rum by a man called James and I think it was probably the most useful session of the whole course. The Edge taught us EVERYTHING we will ever need to know about getting in to med school and I came out feeling the most confident I have ever felt about getting into med school. I highly recommend it to any of you considering Medlink next year.

Finally, I would just like to thank the whole of the Medlink team for giving me such a useful and enjoyable experience, especially James, who really inspired me to do my absoloute best, and then more!

Hello!

Hello,
My name is Emily and I'm hoping to become a doctor. This blog will hopefully be the journey I take into medical school, the things I do to increase my chances of getting into med school and generally things I find interesting. I hope you also find this blog interesting!