Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Just a thought


Our days are so full at the moment that part of me wonders whether they are preparing us for life working as junior doctors on the wards. We rush from lecture to lecture without a break in between, and frequently have days of 7 or 8 hours straight contact time without space to eat or pee (sorry for the detail!) without eating during lectures or tutorials, and excusing ourselves to find the nearest bathroom. There should theoretically be a 10-minute break between lectures/tutorials, but everything runs overtime as the sessions are so content-rich, and the lecturers frequently have to leave us to cover the last part of the lecture ourselves.

That said, I'm loving it!

And everybody seemed fine in the anatomy prac - even those who hadn't seen a cadaver before. I really enjoyed it as I love the practical aspects of anatomy. A few of us were really enthusiastic (within limits - there was no cheering involved!) and I like to think that this made it easier for those who might have had difficulty. I got really keen when I found out how hard atherosclerotic arteries are and tried to get people to poke them. I worked out I'm an anatomy "poker", which was a surprise. I like to get in there and get my gloves dirty. Another surprise!

I don't believe how fast the past week and a half have gone. The days are so full and busy that they just fly by. I am happiest when kept busy and occupied, so I'm pretty chirpy right now!

4 comments:

Milk and Two Sugars said...

Hello fellow girl with a blue steth! I've been lurking since you first posted, and thought it was time to come out from behind the bushes.

At my uni it's perfectly acceptable to eat during lectures - provided you're not eating anything wrapped in loud, crinkly plastic. I often used to have sandwitches, fruit or biscuits to get me through the day (though I wouldn't have had the guts to do so in my first week of 1st Year).

That said, at our uni we would have practically killed for so much contact time.

Best of luck with this year, though it sounds like you won't need it.

The Girl said...

Thanks for the advice! I have been bringing salads which are hard to eat safely without a table as there is a bit of a "danger-zone" within a foot of my food (on a good day!)

I may have to make sandwiches - you can cram them walking between lectures and they are easier to eat on the sly in lectures. It's like being back at school again! Perhaps I should also pack a frozen drink to keep everything cool. :)

BTW, you're right - I really appreciate the time they spend teaching us. I never anticipated how enthusastic and organised the teaching would be.

Dr Dork said...

Word of advice - learn to self-catheterise.

Saves scrubbing in and out of theatre for long ops as well...

Kind regards
Dork

The Girl said...

:)

I guess that could work. Why not just take care of the whole lot and wear a full-sized diaper under the scrubs? It would take care of all contingencies.