Elective Drama

I write this as my eyes sting from staring at the PC for too long. I am amidst elective grant applications and I realise begging for money is an artform. My plans have shifted, I'm applying to south east Asia as opposed to the USA because of their late deadlines relative to the start of my elective period and excessive paper work. Also a consultant I spoke to who has trained and worked in the USA gave some eye- opening advice.

My flatmate's upper resp tract infection which I have managed to avoid, has finally caught up with me. My stomach hurts from too many tunes, don't worry I didn't exceed the stated dose.
I am flying solo on the wards this week, my clinical buddy is off for a week.

The birthday fiesta was lovely. Nandos on Thursday and dinner at a tapas place in canary Wharf on Saturday night. The seafood paella was amazing as were the millions of tapas we consumed, again my breathing was restricted.

Our next door neighbour decided to have an impromptu party at 330 in the morning so I got very little sleep on Sunday. Some people are so inconsiderate.

Moving at a Tangent

It’s crazy, you don’t speak to old school friends for a short period of time and your lives seem to be moving at a tangent. I am relatively good at staying in touch with old classmates when I want to (come on you can’t get on with everyone). However it is becoming increasingly difficult keeping in touch with friends in my year never mind friends from other universities or school. Thank goodness for the occasional birthday or end of exams celebrations. This weekend is a mammoth birthday fiesta. It should make up for my incredibly low-key weekend, self-induced I admit.

Clinical Psychiatry begins this week and I am having difficulty motivating myself after finishing paeds. I want to lie on a beach for 2 weeks only interrupted by waiters offering endless refreshments and my personal masseuse. My only consolation is that I graduate in 16 months and I just pray that I won’t be in that exclusive group of 30 something people who didn’t get any of their foundation job choices. Otherwise I may end up on that beach, contemplating my future.

Valentine's

Happy Valentine's Day. Rather than spend another valentine's day listening to depressed friends bitch about men and attempt to eat double their daily calorie intake as ice cream, I chose to do something positive. Went out to dinner with some friends. Lovely Spanish food, lots of couples, roses and weird stares but it was fun. Our favourite cocktail bar ran out of ice cream so we were forced to have proper cocktails. Disappointment doesn't quite cover it. There was much alcohol involved but I wasn't drunk (she says proudly).

State of Music

I got pretty shoes after some cajoling from a friend. O.k. maybe I convinced myself. In the evening my friends and I went to a fancy dress party. By the time we arrived everyone was wasted. Cue hilarious conversations with people knowing the details will be forgotten forever. I am the biggest chicken ever when I am attracted to people, I never go up to them or say anything. The one that got away….

Saturday was more relaxed despite walking into Trafalgar Square during the protests. I haven’t been in this world for a few days as everyone else seemed to know it was happening. The National Gallery was interesting as usual. The Monet and the Impressionist pieces are my particular favourites. Of course I had to visit my second home, the national portrait gallery (npg). The exhibitions hadn’t changed much since my last visit before Christmas. Then we wandered round Convent Garden, another one of my favourite past times. I had the resist the urge to go into HMV, akin to a druggie going past their dealer’s house. Godfather desserts to cap off the afternoon and feed my chocolate addiction.

Saw Clive Owen/Jennifer Aniston’s new picture, Derailed. It was weird. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone but the plot is quite similar to Match Point. I found myself laughing at the end. I don’t know why exactly considering I have the hugest respect for Clive Owen. Jennifer’s performance was o.k. if a bit short.

On Sunday I lazed around, tidied and watched Carrie and the girls on DVD. Series 4 where she gets back with Aidan and Samantha decides she is a lesbian. It’s hilarious entertainment.

On rotation at the moment, in no particular order:
Aaliyah- Age ain’t nothing but a number
Musiq Soulchild-JusLisen
TLC-Fan mail
Boyz II Men- II
Missy Elliott-Da Real World
Monica -The Boy is Mine
Next- Welcome to Nextasy
The Game- The Documentary
Gwen Stefani- LAMB; first half, the rest is not to my liking.
Damien Marley- Welcome to Jamrock
En Vogue- Funky Divas
Maroon 5- Songs About Jane

The state of populat music/ r ‘n’ b at the moment has triggered my musical regression. Certain radio stations insist on rinsing Ne-Yo’s So sick and Pussycat dolls/Will I am’s Beep. Guess what? Chris Brown is ‘so totally hot right now’. It has taken about 3 or 4 months for the UK mainstream to even recognise him. Thank goodness for the internet and used music. Again I reiterate from months back Lyfe Jennings is HOT. The album flows telling a story.

I start Psychiatry tomorrow. In case you cannot feel the excitement, I am leaping for joy in my head. It’s nothing personal against the specialty I just need a break.

She's Back

Written paper was o.k. Afterwards I had to commute to a volunteer interview for a large medical charity. After having less sleep than usual for the past three days, spending 45 minutes trying to sell myself was difficult. I pulled it off thought because I am going on their training course.

Spoke to flatmates in full sentences for the first time in 2 weeks. This mainly involved jumping up and down and saying 'I'm back'. Out with friends in Fulham, fulham road closed due to Chelsea game. It was good fun and great to be carefree. Cue group discussions about relationships and people's sex lives. One of my friends pushed all buttons on the cash machine keypad, sang karaoke style into her phone and harassed the cab driver. Isn't alcohol a beautiful thing? I think I got my tolerance back, I can actually drink now and not get tipsy easily but I kept it respectable. Got home late and crawled into bed. Out tonight? Abso-bleeding-lutely.

Pot Luck

I had the clinical exam today. Again this is where pot luck comes into it, I had to do a neurological examination on a toddler without touching her. She wasn't a huge fan of students and I can see her point. One more day.....

So sick

I am so tired of the revision routine, I think I could write a thesis on it, my colleagues and I have done it so many times. The five Phases of Revision:

Keenness: Unattainably high goals are set with naïve confidence.
Denial: The exams are easy; they want most people to pass. Then you sit next to a few people retaking.
Fear: Everyone knows more than you do, there’s too much to cover and you have not left enough time.
Irrational: You are convinced you will fail.
Ambivalence: You just want it to end and cannot revise anymore.


I just finished the clinical exam for Paeds. The wait to start was a mild form of torture. The exams always start late for some reason. The different characters are very amusing: ‘overconfident -who-knows-nothing-boy/girl’, ‘person whose uncle is a janitor/security guard/ secretary in the medical school who knows the exam questions’, ‘person who actually knows everything’ (you want their brain) and ‘secret reviser’ boys who are adamant they have been down the pub/watched sport the whole time.


We were discussing the merits of the OSCE examination. It tests for theoretical, practical knowledge, communication skills and logical thinking but is it really any better than long cases? OSCEs have a wider scope in terms of material they can cover whilst long cases are more limted. I think OSCEs are designed to pass the most people possible and make sure all trainee doctors go through a ‘check list’ approach to medicine. Long cases test your knowledge in more detail and benefit those who know the topics inside out, while OSCEs are geared towards more candidates passing especially at undergraduate level. There is no correlation between attendance and performance during clinical attachments and performance in the OSCE in my opinion. Long cases are very much pot luck depending the type of examiner you have. I was shocked to read on one membership OSCE exam guideline that they are not looking for outstanding candidates, merely a certain standard in all candidates. What happened to doing your best?

So we finally went in and went through rounds of stations. It did not go well. The second written station threw me off because I ran out of time and wasn’t expecting that much detail to be in the question. Another practical station with an examiner I had met on attachment and I could tell from her facial expression she was not impressed. The written stations were weird because the questions are always phrased awkwardly. I prefer direct questions e.g name causes of jaundice in neonates rather than which 4 points would you look for in a neonate who is irritable and feeding less? The options are endless as must be their mark scheme. So I don’t think I gained many marks on that. At least it is over, well almost the clinical examination and written paper is to come.

Fashion for a worthy cause

Check out the Red Dress Collection 2006 in aid of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHBLI). I love the Calvin Klein Dress Lindsay Lohan is wearing (someone post her a McDonald's voucher).

My paeds exams start tomorrow, wish me luck! I'll give you the details when it's all over.