A long lazy lunch break... vs three hours of paediatric resuscitation?!
Another day on the wards for me, and a fairly standard ward round with one of the interns. The registrar arrived about halfway through, and reviewed some of the more complex cases with us, and it was much more what I'm used to in England where the senior doctor powers through at top speed and the juniors struggle to pull out the obs and drug chart quickly enough for them. Again, there's a strange mix of very normal and abnormal conditions here- a child with a UTI is in a bed between a child with an infected wound after TGA correction surgery, and two siblings with severe burns from an overturned pot of water. I also haven't quite figured out what the consultants do exactly- they apparently do a ward round once a week and might do one half day clinic, but who knows what else!
There wasn't much going on between rounds and lunch, so I took a long break at the hospital canteen before heading back onto the ward to help with some practical procedure. Whilst the sharps safety here would make our clinical skills tutor cry, generally most procedures are done pretty much like in the UK- though I can't say the LP I watched was quite as sterile as I might hope for myself!
Ellie had a similar day to me, with all the usual awkward medical student loitering, but Maria meanwhile was having a very different experience. While we were trailing after interns, she had managed to get stuck in with a paediatric resuscitation after an emergency c-section (or caesar as they call them here!) as she and the intern were the only ones on the scene for the first five minutes. Whilst very cool, it did mean she was stuck bag-masking for the next three hours whilst the team tried to clear a bed on PICU- long enough for Ellie and I to start worrying about where she'd gone and try to hunt her down!
Whilst the idea of having too much responsibility does scare me, I am hoping I might get a few more chances to get stuck in over the next few weeks and do a little more hands-on stuff, as at the moment, whilst the hospital time is interesting, I don't feel like I'm necessarily learning anything I wouldn't in England. Part of the issue might be that the hospital is fantastically well staffed- in paeds each intern and reg cover only 10-15 patients at a maximum, which is much less than your average ward in the UK, but I also think that as I get a better grip on how things are run, I might get a few more opportunities to be involved
There wasn't much going on between rounds and lunch, so I took a long break at the hospital canteen before heading back onto the ward to help with some practical procedure. Whilst the sharps safety here would make our clinical skills tutor cry, generally most procedures are done pretty much like in the UK- though I can't say the LP I watched was quite as sterile as I might hope for myself!
 |
| One of the hospital corridors |
Ellie had a similar day to me, with all the usual awkward medical student loitering, but Maria meanwhile was having a very different experience. While we were trailing after interns, she had managed to get stuck in with a paediatric resuscitation after an emergency c-section (or caesar as they call them here!) as she and the intern were the only ones on the scene for the first five minutes. Whilst very cool, it did mean she was stuck bag-masking for the next three hours whilst the team tried to clear a bed on PICU- long enough for Ellie and I to start worrying about where she'd gone and try to hunt her down!
Whilst the idea of having too much responsibility does scare me, I am hoping I might get a few more chances to get stuck in over the next few weeks and do a little more hands-on stuff, as at the moment, whilst the hospital time is interesting, I don't feel like I'm necessarily learning anything I wouldn't in England. Part of the issue might be that the hospital is fantastically well staffed- in paeds each intern and reg cover only 10-15 patients at a maximum, which is much less than your average ward in the UK, but I also think that as I get a better grip on how things are run, I might get a few more opportunities to be involved
Comments
Post a Comment