medical memoir writing Archives

Added on April 19, 2022 Foundation Year 2 , Emergency Medicine

Emergency Medicine – First Day

II.IV.I FIRST DAY The day I started my rotation at the Emergency Department (ED), I could hardly believe it. It felt exactly like when I had started neurosurgery. First of all, this was gonna be my last rotation ever as a house officer. There I was, having barely even started, and I was already at the top of the junior […]

Added on October 26, 2021 Foundation Year 2 , Neurosurgery

Drowning

II.II.II DROWNING The word busy doesn’t even begin to describe the sheer amount of work one is met with in the neurosurgical department. I’d go in every single day far earlier than I was expected to in order to do the pre-round, something I’d usually do out of my own volition to speed up the ward round. During this rotation, […]

Added on October 19, 2021 Foundation Year 2 , Neurosurgery

Neurosurgery – First Day

II.II.I FIRST DAY As much as I dreaded leaving Gozo and going back to Malta’s chaos and commotion, I was still quite psyched about my upcoming rotation. Next up was neurosurgery – my all-time favourite specialty and the gateway to my lifelong career aspirations. Together with Jacqueline, another house officer in her first year, and Christa, our senior doubling as […]

Added on October 17, 2021 Foundation Year 2 , General Surgery

General Surgery – Journal Entries

II.I.VI JOURNAL ENTRIES Journal entries from my rotation in general surgery: Mr Kill-Me-Now is this pompous, arrogant, hateful, insufferable, spoiled seventy-year-old gnome. I talked him through his bowel resection in infinitesimal detail, knowing he’s as meticulous as they come. I go out of my way to provide the best care possible, from the occasional cup of tea to propping up […]

Added on October 27, 2020 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. […]

Added on August 25, 2020 Foundation Year 1 , Emergency Surgery

Unravelling

I.I.VI UNRAVELLING By the end of those three months, I genuinely felt like I was finally a full-fledged doctor. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I still realised I knew nothing and that I was still an idiot on the grand scheme of things. Be that as it may, over those three months not only had I survived such a […]

Added on August 18, 2020 Foundation Year 1 , Emergency Surgery

Transition

I.I.V TRANSITION As much as the work varied, days started to blend in. What at the very beginning seemed so out of reach had become somewhat routine as time went by. In fact, by the time I got used to this routine, my rotation in emergency surgery was about to be over. And by the end? Let’s just say that […]