Being thrown to the Lions

Hmmmmm. Medicine is very different to nursing. I never expected to say this, but the doctors could learn a hell of a lot from nurses on how to train someone to do a job.

Example 1. By Thursday I think the three of us (My clinical partner, German playmate and me) were the ward sport (We imagined them taking bets in the sluice of how quick they could make us crumble)

Halfway through the morning, one of the SHOs told us to "Sort the bloods out" Wanting to look eager, and terrified of upsetting them anymore than we had already done, I said "But we have never taken any bloods"

"Then this is the ideal time to learn then, isn't it" She snarled back. Oh shit - I did a venepuncture course two years ago (It was during the lunch time of this course that I found out that my dad had been admitted with his stroke - See early posts) but have never practised it. Our German mate had also trained in it but used a German blood taking system and so wasn't really up to the job either)

I asked the SHO if she would mind doing the first one so that we knew which colour bottles to use and so that we could work out really small matters like where you stuck the needle in. She told us to "Work it out" so off we shuffled to form a battle plan. Luckily, the ward clerk saw us looking terrified and came to show us which colour bottles to use. We made an executive decision that our German mate could do the deed and followed him on to the ward. He actually managed to take the blood reasonably well from the patient and so off we shuffled, triumphant!

I hate reflecting but I would have to say that I am HORRIFIED at my actions. I should have dug my heels in and told the SHO to go and take a running jump. How STUPID was she though - surely it it dreadful practice to expect us to do something we haven't been trained to do, without at least showing us the correct way of doing it.

This would never happened as a nurse. When I qualified, you had to do 6 months on a ward before being allowed to attend a venepuncture course. You then had to be supervised in taking blood off five patients before being signed of as fit to practice.

I need to work out what I am going to say the next time this happens because from what I can see so far, being a medical student is like being thrown to the lions on a daily basis and if I don't learn how to speak up now, I am going to get eaten up.

The bubble has burst

So, I finished my pscyhiatry placement and am now in General medicine for seven weeks. It is the end of my first week now and I have had my bubble well and truly burst.

We arrived on the EMU (Emergency Medical Unit) which is a bit like casualty but with medical patients) on Wednesday afternoon and it was like walking into a circus. No-one asked us who we were or what year we were in, they just saw that we had pink student badges around our necks and told us to "Go and clerk that patient on trolley 3"

Now then, my clinical partner is an ex physio and we also have a playmate with us on this placement from Germany. He is a final year medical student who for some obscure reason, decided to come to the East Midlands on his elective (Poor Sod was obviously told that it was a lovely part of the world)

So the three of us (Who have never clerked a patient in or seen anyone else do it) shuffled to the trolley as directed. On the trolley was a 35 year old women with a left hemiparesis who had been brought in fours hours earlier by her husband (He had a nice suit on and we were terrified that he was a consultant)The look of relief on their faces when they saw us was massive (Oh God, if only they knew) so I sat down and went through my patient history headings (Listed below for anyone who might want to know these things)

Presening complaint
History of presenting complaint
Past medical history
Drug history
Social history
Family history

Our German friend was then pushed forward to do the physical bit. He decided to do a neuro exam and proceeded to test her cranial nerves, motor tone and power. We then shuffled back off, leaving her oblivious to the fact that we didn't have a clue what was wrong with her and that she would have to go through it all again when the FY1 was available.

What a joke - is this how they think they are going to train us? What the hell happened to "See one, do one, teach one"?