I bought a skeleton!!

Yes guys...after all this time I bought a skeleton!

He is set to arrive on Wednesday,I am soo excited. Actually excited is a big understatement, I am bubbling with expectation.

In fact on Friday, I was in BHS with some friends, and I saw a lovely plum felt hat, and I thought it would look perfect on a skeleton in my room.(this was before I even ordered my skeleton).

I am thinking of calling him/her Marley.





I shall call him Marley, and he shall be mine,and he shall be my Marley 

I am back at University and I need food

I finally have stuff to tell you about.

Its the first week of the year,classes started on Monday,and its been BUSY!!

First lecture of the term was genetics. Genetics is not that bad, but it was a horrific start to the year. I was expecting a quick welcome back, it being the first day and all, or even a lecture outlining the course structure...but noooo, it was straight into genetics and science-y stuff.

Its great to be back, but its been just like any other week of medical school, which brings some problems.I do not want to whinge, but the first one is food.

I arrived on Saturday, spent most of it with my mum, who left on Sunday. I did not have time to go food shopping.I thought the first week would be easy with lectures scattered around or at least 1 half day, but this didnt happen.

All the big supermarkets are in town, and atleast a 20min walk from where I live. So that is about 40min travel time, and maybe 20min if I race around the shop gathering stuff.

If I am in class from 9am-5pm, at the end of the day I will be tired and want to get home. On top of that we have reading and homework....so the idea of 60min of my life being spent on shopping did not appeal to me.As a result I have been living of stuff from the corner shop(convenience store for those from across the pond)

Corner shops do not sell groceries!!! They have lots of random things, but nothing you can throw together to make a meal. Most students get poor and live on beans and toast, I am time poor, so here are some of the things I ended up eating.

Breakfast= yogurt on most days (they dont have cereal I like)
Lunch=chips &paninis  from campus( Med students are back a bit earlier, so not even the uni can be bothered to make real food)

Dinner....

Monday=tortilla and cheese
Tuesday=I forgot what I ate
Wednesday= garden peas, veggie sausages(my corner shop sells quorn sausages and frozen peas, but noo ready meals????)
Thursday=baguette
Today=Instant noodles

Tomorrow I am free, and off to buy some food. I need to get really basic stuff such as, rice, flour, eggs, oil, canned tomatoes,etc. Then I need to buy stuff that can be turned into meals.

Its going to take long, and be heavy to carry home, but then I can cook and eat.

The morning after

Click here if you want to read part 1.

I was really out of it on Wednesday,so I will start at the bit I remember. The doctor who discharged me,taught me last year.He said I could go home ,but he recommended I get home quickly so I can have a shower and a snack before placement.


Walk of shame moment
Traditional the walk of shame is coming home in the same clothes you wore the night before,which I managed to do.This was at 6 am so the shuttle was not running,and I didn't have money so I had to walk home in the rain.It only took 40min but I got soaked and I got a blister.I let myself into my flat and thankfully all my flatmates where sleeping.I like my flatmates but I was not ready to face them until I figured out what they knew.

The shower
I had a shower and discovered some evidence.

• 2 ECG dots-this suggests I had a ECG for some reason or other,
• 1 cotton wool and sticky tape thing points to the idea that I had a blood test.
• 1 pink cannula in my wrist.This was rather disturbing,had I escaped hospital or did I get discharged with a cannula in plain sight??

I pulled the cannula out gently and nothing to bad happened,(no blood came gushing out) it was just weirdly slippery and uncomfortable.

Warm water is so comforting,I immediately felt more like myself after the my shower.

Back to hospital
I considered calling in sick,but realised

A-I don't particularly want to get a sick note from my GP

B-being absent will give people more time to gossip about what they think happened.

C- according to my schedule I would be in a MDT team meeting,so no patient contact at all.

I couldn't find my ID badge so I couldn't get the shuttle.So I had this bizarre idea that I could jog into placement.

Retrieving my ID badge
I had to go back to A&E to see if they had my ID badge since its always in my pockets somewhere.Thankfully it was 8 am by now and the shift had changed.I decided the best thing to do is to play it cool...so I went to the desk and said,hi I am a medical student and I was wondering if I left my badge here.The nurse looked around found it and thankfully gave it to me without asking any questions.She complained about the night staff being so lazy and disorganised because they put it in the patients lost and found stuff. I felt so guilty.

MDT meeting
These are so boring but I was grateful to be away from patients.As a medical student I did not have to say anything so I could let my mind drift.Well until my name was briefly mentioned.(mini heart attack moment)I had no idea I was under the care of the haematology team.It was  brief 'x presented in A&E we are awaiting more details'.

I am attached to the stomach cancer people,but they have MDTs on days we are not at placement,so my colleagues and I got sent to watch the haematologists do their stuff.

I think it passed over the other med students heads,thankfully I never use my first name at uni,so they might have failed to make the connection.

One of the doctors did notice,and asked me to wait behind.They said they where pleased to see me looking so well,and getting on with my life since I was last admitted.But they also insisted I go home and rest if I was up all night.

Home again.
2pm. I got the shuttle back this time and just slept till about 10. I woke up apologised to half my contact list for sending texts I don't remember. I also deleted all my messages,so I have no idea what I said to anyone.I also looked through the photos and did a quick blog post.

The picture above was sent to me by my friend.I also managed to send my phone back to factory settings,deleting texts

Ambulances and Paramedics

Yesterday I got to ride in an ambulance,unfortunately I don't remember much about it.

The picked me up for my uni dorm, as my flatmates have told me.I also got a call from the residence office telling me this.

I mixed up my medicines and ended up unconscious (according to the nurses).

So I think paramedics are pretty amazing because
1. Most importantly...I am still alive
2. They some how figured out name age and profession (I would love to know how they figured out i was a medical student, I don't normally tell anyone I study medicine)
3.I some how ended up in hospital with my phone and house keys.(Thank you sooo much, it was very thoughtful who ever did it)

To all the paramedics out there,thank you for doing the job you do,saving lives is the most important bit,but its all the little things that count too.

Now I have a few questions, and some will probably never be answered.

1.Was I unconscious through out?
2.Why is my phone full of pictures of oxygen tanks and black boots attached to green trousers.(I hope I was not acting silly.)
3. Why on earth have I got ECG sticky pads stuck to me, who done it,when did it happen,and why?
4.What if I was being ridiculous, and the paramedics remember me, since I walk past one ambulance station each day on the way to uni, and i walk through A&E to get to the ward I have placement on.
5.Who called an ambulance?
6.Should I still shadow the paramedics as part of my course, of should I stay well away and shadow the police.

Still around, drowning in revision

I am still studying.

Before I was casually studying,dipping into revision here and there, and doing a bit each night.

Now my life only consists of lectures sleep and revision.It is not as bad as it sounds,since turning it into a habit it has become oddly satisfying.

The amount of stuff I have to know is scary. I really wish I was studying a course with modules, instead I have a long 4 hour exam ,on everything I have learnt since being at medschool.

This is what my typical revision day looks like.

6am- wake up
6am-7am-Get ready for the day(pray,read bible,breakfast,shower,dress)
7am-8.40am-Revise
8.40am-9.00am-walk to uni
9.00am-5.00pm-Lectures/placement( I try to do my homework during the breaks between lectures)
4.00pm-5.00pm-Walk home from uni/I go to the gym for if I finish lectures before 5pm
5.00pm-7.00pm-Sleep,I have been getting home from class exhausted(In capable of using a microwave exhausted)
7.00pm-8.00pm-Lunch(I know its technically dinner time,but this is when I get around to having lunch
8.00pm-12.00pm-Study
12.00pm-1.00am- Snack, then get distracted by youtube/tidy up my room
1.00am-2.00am-Silly hour* exhaustion takes over, so I try to stay awake by talking through my notes with different accents.
2.00am-crawl into bed, only to dream about transport channels, or renal disease risk factors.

That is a typical exam period day for my medic friends.I am exhausted, tired and likely to burst into tears for no reason at all.

But....

I would rather be stressed whilst studying medicine, than doing anything else.

My next post will be about why I wanted to study medicine,I think I need to remind myself why I am torturing myself.

Mitigating Circumstances

My tutor thinks I should fill out a mitigating circumstances form. My initial thoughts are as follows:

1.I might have had a bad term,but lupus is part of my life.
I am training ti be a doctor,I will always have lupus.When I begin to work as a doctor can I use my condition as an excuse for underperformance? Probably not,so why should I use it now

2.Did I really miss that much stuff?
Exams have not yet happened,how could she think I am at risk of failing? Eeeek!!! am I destined to fail??

3.It would be nice to have a back up plan.
If I fail,at least I wont automatically be kicked out of medical school.I have worked really hard to get this far so I should do everything in my power to protect my place at medical school.I didn't ask to be ill,so I sorta deserve a break.

I can choose if I want to apply for mitigating circumstances,however at the end of the day it is up to the university to decide if I should get them.

I appreciate having the choice,even if it brings problems of its own.I do not really know what to do at the moment,so if you have any thoughts please post them in the comments section.

The Fear

Its exam time and I am terrified.

My medical school has one end of year exam that determines weather or not we will graduate with honours. I have been studying my little socks off. Despite trying my best  still  feel woefully unprepared.

I think I have some perfectionistic tendencies,so just passing is not enough.I want a high grade. The problem is in medicine,every one is smart, so the high grades go to the ultra hard workers,or the super smart mutants.

I am neither of these, then there is the small minor detail that I missed a fair chunck of last term.


Thankfully there is a sensible part to my brain that says



This is what I find useful
1. Get out of your house/dorm.
Go to a library. The distraction of home comforts won’t be there and it will get you into a working mindset.  Also it’s nice to go home to relax, and have a change of scene,before doing more work.I get really bored and unmotivated if I stay in one place for too long

2. Study with a buddy
A problem shared is a problem halved.One of the best ways to understand things is to discuss them with a friend.I personally only like to study with 2-3 people,but you may like larger groups. Nominate someone to direct the conversation so as not to go off topic,  you will find it is a great way of sharing information and filling gaps in your knowledge.

3. Think of the future/the past.
Imagine yourself in your dream job. The next phase of your life is going to be so much fun, you just need to get these exams done and dusted.If the future seems so far away,just think of how far you have come,if you got this far,surely you can go a bit further.

4.Study Hard
Use your study leave for the biggest ‘cramathon’ of your life. Don’t give up so close to the end. Keep re-reading notes and practising exam questions. Some of it will stick in your brain eventually. You’ll also feel more confident going into the exams than if you hadn't looked at anything the two weeks before.

Thanks for reading to the end of this post,here is a video to drive the point home

How to get the most out of Primary Care Placements

I spent 10 weeks in a small GP practise. Primary Care is not something I would like to go into, but in medical school you sometimes have to do things that do not interest you.

1. Do a bit of research before hand.
Find out the demographics of the catchment area. All patients are individuals, but I fell I benefited greatly by finding out the following
-Age distribution-The place I was located was a popular retirement area,and there for most of the patients I saw where over 65.
-What culture is most prevalent- Different cultures have different attitudes to health care,and you may need to be aware of this if
-Location-being late for appointments is never cool. My placement was in the middle of nowhere with only hourly buses. Even the patients had difficulty getting to their practise, so they would only come to the surgery if very ill, and returning to collect prescriptions was a no-no

2.Plan how to achieve the learning outcomes
At my medical school we have books that need to be signed off. If the doctor you are shadowing is not used to having medical students you may need to tell them this.Some doctors like signing things off as they are completed, whilst others prefer to sign things off on the last day Unless its stated in your book, always ask.As a student you must take responsibility for your learning.

3.Try to make what ever you are doing relevant to your studies.
As you progress with your course the ability to link things together will be invaluable.Taking endless blood pressures day in and day out can get boring and tedious. To make it slightly more bearable, I decided to teach myself about the drugs used to treat blood pressure.This tied in with my pharmacology module.
Last year on the wards, I took an interest in patient nutrition as it tied in with my module on human nutrition.

4.Ask all the time
Most people want to help you learn. If you want to know more about something just ask a staff member when they don't seem to busy.
Sometimes doctors forget how little students know, so they give incomplete instructions.If you do not understand what to do it is better to ask a question,than to make a mistake

5. Try to reflect regularly during your placement.
I know reflection is a word that medical students are not fond of. I used to think reflection is a waste of time, but I now find it very valuable.For the foreseeable future reflective writing will be part of life, so you may as well get used to it.
What you write does not have to be detailed, its more important that you do something.  If you notice something that could have been better, or you witness someone doing something really well, try to write 150 words or more about it.

January Term

I don't usually like snails, but I find the shells very interesting.

What I find interesting about it is the intricate spiral pattern.

I don't like  hate going round in circles. lately is seems like I've already faced a particular trial and now I'm back here again. I suppose some people have looked at the snail and immediately thought of its less than pleasant slime, i saw something different today.

With every rotation the shell shines and glimmers a little different each time.
With every rotation the shell shines and glimmers a little different each time.  Perhaps the same can be said for the events of this life - even though I have been here before there will be something new, something beautiful, to see amongst the disgusting slime.


My lupus for most of the part is silent, but when I do have a flare its near impossible to ignore. My lovely doctors  treated me with some rather strong drugs and as a result I suffered from severe Thrombocytopenia*. I did not pay attention to the details because I was too tired and achey.  but from a patients point of view it went something like

Doctor:Your body is attacking you and your organs could fail, you need to take these drugs
Doctor: Things are improving go home and take it easy
Doctor: You have no platelets, and your white blood cells are low, it could be a medicine side effect or you have cancer
Doctor: I hereby sentence you to 18 months of monitoring and lumbar punctures.

As scary as it was being in hospital gave me time to reflect. I guess what I realised was that each trial or difficulty I have faced has built up my faith so that I can look back and know that if God has got me through A B and C, which have increased in intensity, in the past then He will get me through X Y and Z in the future.  But, it does make me wonder if this could be building up to a bigger test of faith!  (eeek!)

I was in hospital for  13 days and spent the rest of the time at home feeling miserable and exhausted. Studying medicine does have its advantages though, I was able to escape the ward and attend lectures because it was close enough.

Now, before you think I am an ultra committed medschool gunner/geek, STOP!! Hospital wards are boring, and staying there for any length of time would drive even the calmest person up the wall. Pride also played a part, I do everything in my power to avoid people noticing I am ill. Showing vulnerability  but skipping too many classes in my medical school is not the best idea. 

*Thrombocytopenia=low platelet count. Having to few platelets affects your blood's ability to clot

This past term has been very difficult, hence why I have not bloged at all. I am sorry I am on vacation now, so I will use this time to catch up with my blog posts.

Grades in medical school

Hi,Sorry for the really long break between posts.It was a very hectic start of the academic year.

To all future medics,I would like to say CONGRATULATIONS on getting into medical school.

Its fair to say that most all students that get into medical school will be used to getting good grades.

But its impossible to be the best all the time.Remember to become a doctor you need to PASS every test. A grades are great but they are not a necessity

Resolutions for the New Academic Year

Beginning a New Year...


September is the time students a new academic year. Some may be brand new freshers,others returning students.

I sit in my room contemplating what to write in my brand new academic planner, (its lego,because I adore lego blocks)the first day of another new school year, whilst sipping my mocha. The year is off to an auspicious start: I’ve set my alarm sufficiently early to allow for quiet prayer time and reflection before getting dressed and packing my bag.



My backpack hangs behind my my door ready to be filled with folders,and textbooks. The pencils are sharpened to a deadly point with not a single eraser chewed off yet, fountain pens are cleaned and filled with new ink cartriges. Summer clothes have been folded and packed away, allowing me to easily select uni outfits. I feel ready – at least for the first day of class.

In my quiet time, I contemplate how to make this the best academic year ever. I face the logistical challenge of living off campus. Student life has pampered me and the idea of living more than 10 minutes walk away from my lectures seems like a great hardship.

In my own life, I find great value in setting and actively pursuing resolutions, defined goals, to achieve desired results. I don’t wait for 31 December to set resolutions – it can happen at the start of a new academic year, the beginning of a month, or even at the start of a season.

My hopes for the school year remain the same year after year. I hope this will be a year filled with spiritual and academic growth, and fun times with friends.

My new academic year resolutions are:

1.Be organised to ensure I get to class on time
2.Maintain my A average
3.Exercise  regularly (studies have shown that exercise improves cognitive function)
4.Try to get a research placement,or some extra GP shadowing next summer( will need to start emailing people ASAP )

Study Tips

University not only about parties,there is that other thing called studying. Medical School is intense,there is a lot of work required,therefore its important to stay on top of it all.

There is no magic set of instructions to ensure perfect grades.Each person is unique and some things may not work for everyone.

Here is a list of my top 10 study tips.

10. Set mini deadlines or use a to do list.
Break each task into small achievable chunks.Its easier to accomplish lots of small tasks compared to a single big one. With small goals you can also ensure you are on track to achieve the bigger goals
A list reduce the chances of you forgetting to do something.Crossing things of to-do lists is soooo satisfying.


9. Draw mind maps and diagrams
Mind maps are the marmite of studying,you either love them or hate them
I personally only use them during revision time.Mind Maps help me see how various concepts and ideas relate to each other.I found that my course was delivered in such a way that the information given seemed really out of context,so there was no way I could have used mind maps in the beginning. Diagrams are great at all times, they are certainly a nice change from reading text. Print out diagram stick them on doors mirrors,draw your own,or try labeling a blank diagram.


8.Aim to Study a little bit everyday

Every little bit helps.I know from experience that there will be some days when you can not be bothered to study or 101 things are happening at once and you just don't have time to study. Do something,even if its just going over that mornings notes, or making a vocab list.


7.Coloured pens or highlighters
Studies have shown that use of colour can improve memories.I personally love my colored pens and highlighters. Write your notes in colour or highlight key ideas.


6.Be prepared when attending lectures
Doing this will dramaticaly reduce your work load.Before going to a lecture ensure you are ready to learn, try not to be hungry or thirsty.In the lecture listen to whats going on,and do not be distracted by friends. If you are going to drag yourself out of bed for that 8am lecture,you may as well get the most out of it.
Repeat after me: Lectures are for learning, revision is for recapping stuff you have already learnt.


5.Post-it notes
Use post-it notes to summarise things.They are tiny so you can not get too wordy. If have lots of ideas stick to one key idea per post-it note.
Post-it notes are great for revision games
Example:   1.Copy facts onto one color
                 2.Stick these onto a wall.
                 3. Using a different colour try and re-create as many post-it notes as possible,and keep                                    trying to beat your personal best

4.Frequent breaks

As you study your attention span decreases meaning you will become less productive.This means it will take much longer to do every thing.Take breaks after 40 min of studying, go for a walk,stretch, have a snack or tidy your room.
Warning: Don't spend more time having a break than you do studying

3.Periodically review what you have learnt
This is especially important if you are studying a degree like medicine.The sheer volume of information means it will be difficult to rely on cramming for exams alone.
I choose to go over my notes quickly at the end of each week before filing them.Its fairly simple, the more often you review stuff the more you remember.


2.If stuck go find an expert
There is no shame is asking your lecturers for clarification.Send them and email or ask them after class.If you are shy ask your friends if they can explain it for you.
When it comes to essay writing read a book about how to correctly write an essay

1.Stay motivated.
Above all other things keep your eye on your goal.Think of all the great rewards studying will bring.
When desperate: