The problem Facebook and Instagram, and various other forms of social media, are amazing. They let you keep in touch with friends and relatives around the world, organise events and share photos, you can even make a living from them. However I’m pretty sure they are absolutely terrible for your mental health. Remember at school whenContinue reading “An exercise in Optimism “
Category Archives: Advice
“So I’ve got this patient…”
What to do when taking a call about a patient on the ward… Who, what and where are they? What’s the patient’s name, hospital number and which ward are they on? What is the reason that they’ve come into hospital and why is the person calling about them? What are their obs? This tells youContinue reading ““So I’ve got this patient…””
The Calling
“The pleasure of a physician is little, the gratitude of patients is rare, and even rarer is material reward, but these things will never deter the student who feels the call within him.” Theodor Billroth (1829-94)
Gunners
Don’t be that guy
How I work
Learn how to study.
The metaphor
Don’t take life too seriously
Breaking Bad (news)
How to go about initiating a difficult discussion
My OSCE top 5
My top 5 things when tackling the dreaded OSCEs
The 1 minute rule
If something takes less than a minute, do it now. I used to be absolutely terrible when it came to having a whole load of little jobs to do. I’d try and work out the best order to do things in to be productive, or write a list and work my way down itContinue reading “The 1 minute rule”
RTFQ
Read the full question This is drilled into any student from a young age, and it never ceases to be true. Exam papers are minimalistic, they rarely contain any information that they don’t need (unless they’re testing your ability to sift through useless information…). This means that everything in the question is there for a reason,Continue reading “RTFQ”
Keep the needle out of the flame
Don’t put a needle in inflamed tissue This may sound obvious, but it applies all over the body. Needles hurt anyway, so sticking a needle into an infected or inflamed area is going to hurt a lot more, and risk spreading the infection. This applies to local anaesthetic, injection of botox into an overactive bladder,Continue reading “Keep the needle out of the flame”
Follow me
Let the patient guide you Searching for a diagnosis is like trying to find a certain room in a large building complex. The quickest and easiest way is to ask the person who knows where the rooms are and who has the keys to all the rooms. This person is the patient. Ask them whereContinue reading “Follow me”
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