I.III.I FIRST DAY Next up would be my rotation in general medicine – having chosen gastroenterology as my subspecialty. I’d be working under one of my favourite consultants, Dr Sugar – with whom I’d had the pleasure of shadowing during my days as a med student. My first year as a doctor was shaping up to be a great one! Together […]
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Foundation Year 1 , Neurology
Neurology – Journal Entries
I.II.V JOURNAL ENTRIES Journal entries from my rotation in neurology: It’s Christmas Day, and I’m on call. I’m enjoying an impromptu feast set up by the nurses in my ward when I’m paged to see Mr. Crap – a demented and confused patient. I get to the ward and am immediately drawn to the patient in question by all the […]
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Foundation Year 1 , Neurology
Festivities
I.II.V FESTIVITIES My time in neuro was a breath of fresh air. We had fewer patients and fewer commitments. No boring endoscopy lists, no tedious pre-op assessments, and, though not quite to my liking, no surgeries. Even so, I relished it way more than I had expected to. I got to manage really interesting cases and learn as much as […]
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Foundation Year 1 , Neurology
Humbled
I.II.IV HUMBLED Neurology was shaping up to be the best rotation – for more reasons than one. But above all, I would say that the three months spent in this department helped me reconnect and become more human, as it were. Here, I got the chance to start taking care of my patients in a more holistic manner as I […]
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Foundation Year 1 , Neurology
Meaning
I.II.III MEANING During my second rotation, I had my fair share of time to think about my practice as a doctor and about my personal life – one I had been neglecting for quite a while. You see, working in a hospital with dying patients has you thinking about many things. As the great Meredith Grey puts it, “In staring […]
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Foundation Year 1 , Neurology
Desensitised
I.II.II DESENSITISED It was during my time in neuro that I realised I was not the same person I had been at the start. I never thought I could end up so jaded, so robotic, so heartless. At one point, I found myself almost intolerant and oblivious to other people’s woes. It comes with the job, most people would say. […]
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Foundation Year 1 , Neurology
Neurology – First Day
I.II.I FIRST DAY My first rotation had come and gone. On my last day, it felt almost surreal leaving the ward. The surgical department had truly become my home. I’d spent the better part of three months wandering those halls, making idle chit-chat with the staff, working my ass off. I’d built a life there, and now I had to […]