Posted by alexandra_k on November 29, 2014, at 23:38:46
In reply to Re:, posted by alexandra_k on November 27, 2014, at 19:38:50
i found a bunch of documentaries on youtube... there is a young doctor one, from australia. and a surgeon one, from the UK. the more i learn about what is involved (and yes, i know tv doesn't give you a full picture)... the more i know that i really really really really do want to do it.
and the more... possible it seems. do start to get a better idea of things. also found message boards... people are very forthcoming about various aspects. more... more real. people aren't trying to be impressive, or whatever. getting a better sense of how i would find various things.
of course it is partly about... saving me. i can interact with people in structured environments. very well, actually. i got to be fairly good at working in hospitality. there was a structure to the interaction. i think i could similarly get quite good at taking histories, and the like. doing physical exams, even. because the interactions are structured. and i do need people interaction. for my own sanity. but i also need people to be... slightly more at arms length? maybe it really just is about having a more structured interaction.
people are saying they start out being afraid of bothering people on the wards... then it isn't until their later years that they start to appreciate that most of the people in hospital are very bored and would actually enjoy having a medical student want to practice examining them or taking their history. oh. sure. i get that most people in hospital are bored. i remember how freaking bored i was when i was stuck there. if a med student had have wanted to take my history i would have been stoked. if they wanted to physically examine me... i might have said 'no'. but i wouldn't have felt badly for their having asked.
and most patients don't understand hierarchy. i mean... i knew who the big boss guy was... but for all i knew, he was just the boss of my case and one of his side-kicks could have been boss of the next case they were doing on their ward rounds... i didn't know the difference between registrar and 3rd year medical student. i didn't know the less senior people were the ones going about in herds... patients don't know any of that stuff... and most people assume that second year medical students know heaps heaps heaps heaps heaps more than they do and so on... because most people have no idea of the medical curriculum. and so on...
there was this chick on the aussie one... house doc. so... what were they? i think they were 7th year. so first paid job out of medical school. the cardio thoracic surgeon was talking her through the taking of an artery from here... and the making of a new coronary artery over there... and he was going 'blah blah blah blah blah high school physics - yes?' and she was like 'i didn't do physics! or maths!' and she was like... 'i was going to be a journalist...' and, yeah. that's just the way things are these days...
everyone seems to think they worked far harder in first year than in any of the subsequent. that second year... you have to group study because everyone is asking 'so, uh, what are we supposed to actually learn... like, do we need to memorise all that or??? what do we focus on??' and nobody seems to know... and then later, people are all about... finding books... and learning from those... so...
i have found toronto notes... i see... stuff like that... and you read up on the relevant sections before you go off to do your clinical placement... and if you don't want to be a surgeon then most of your anatomy is probably a bit pointless... but if you do... well... that's the first thing they will want to assess... to see whether they can be bothered investing any time in you on your clinical placement. i would suppose. because otherwise... in and out in a matter of a few weeks... easy come easy go and if they don't particularly want to know...
the england one was good, too, for getting a better sense of... being assertive. appropriately. nobody is going to tell you to operate. or to do whatever. you have to stand up and ask 'can i do it?' partly because there might be different people falling over each other to do it... but also partly because... being forced to do a thing like that could be seriously traumatic...
thinking about how... surgeons will sometimes stand up and say 'haven't done it before'. or, whatever... but still be able to convey confidence. i guess the idea is to be more like that... and early on... nobody will let you do something you are likely to f*ck up. people keep their eyes on you... they won't let you do anything that is too much or that is irrevokable or whatever... so, yeah. later students are all... 'i wish i knew then what i know now i would have been much pushier in asking to do things and in pestering patients since now i know they mostly enjoy it'.
so, yeah...
anyway... learning how to read a heart EEG... yeah... graphs... gotta love 'em...
poster:alexandra_k
thread:1058481
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20141123/msgs/1073847.html