adelaidemedblog

There’s a big difference between Year 1 med and Year 2 med:

In Year 1 I was learning how to study.  In Year 2 I’m studying to learn.

I’m extremely satisfied with the way the year has gone so far.  Maybe it was the new Nikes I bought it for X’mas.  Studying something without knowing how to study for it is a lot of added stress.  This year I kind of know where things are (the pasta is directly above the stove, which is above Selina’s food stuff, which is above my food stuff, which is next to the cake mixing stuff, which is under the silver cookware etc).  I still have a ways to go with prioritising - that’s something I do need to improve on - but I now have a clue about which book to turn to find which little bit of information.  The left side usually does it for me, although it might be coincidental because I put the heavy ones on my left so Tortora’s always sitting there.

Having said that though, this last case (the Peter O’Connor one) was a wake up call.  I must have got up and out of the bedroom last year before it rang and it has only just caught up to me.  I learnt humbleness and humility, and I learnt I’m only a medical student, after all.  It kind of put me back in my place, although I wouldn’t have described myself as all high and mighty beforehand (I’ve only just started on the weights, after all).  On no less than three occasions, and maybe on four, I believed something in the PBL sheets was wrong.  A statement (paradoxical abdominal breathing: outwards on inspiration), a description (post spinal cord injury ileus), an entire scenario (a sensory loss below a line just above the nipple on a background of a transection at the level of the C7 vertebra).  And in each, though at some point in time I would have sworn to be at least a bit right, ignorance caught up to me.  It shook me by the scruff of the neck and said, “How’s about that, boy?”

Otherwise this year has been good.  My Clinical Skills have improved, with dedication and practice, although who would have guessed you could cure a sickness with mental strength.  It’s important to continue that.  My PBL group is a friendly bunch of people with an interesting group dynamic, making us all ballet dancers (a bit too literal… I meant to say “keeping us on our toes”).  And finally resource is a great improvement over last year, even though there have been reports of deaths due to the cold - the sheets are much better spaced and more clearly written.  The only gripe I still have is their relevance to our cases, but we can’t do everything in just PBL anyway.

Hope everyone’s holiday is behaving.
Take it out for regular walks to prevent grumpiness.