After the blow to my confidence last week with obstetrics patients, I have developed a healthy fear of the uterus and have understandably been reluctant to see ante-natal, labouring, or post-natal patients. Any organ that bleeds 500ml a minute is a thing to be feared in my book. Of course the problem with my reluctance […]
Category: Junior doctors
Louise Kenny’s longest night
Before I arrived here, I was concerned about quite how bad my first on-call could be given the new environment, the language, and the vastly different presentations that I could see. I’d done my homework, I knew that Guatemala ranked highly in both maternal and infant mortality rates, but I’m not sure I’d taken the […]
Helen Carnaghan: ENT is like a lady’s handbag – you never know what you might find!
I am now working in the department of ear, nose and throat (ENT) and I have come across my all time favourite medical saying: “A thyroid is like a lady’s handbag – you never know what you might find!” This was said with glee by one of my consultants during a thyroidectomy. His point being […]
Louise Kenny: Lost for words
It wasn’t until the last couple of weeks that I began to have terrible, panic-stricken nightmares about my dreadful communication skills. I wake in a trembling state, sweating because I can’t remember how to ask my patient ‘Does the pain radiate anywhere else? Does it come and go? Is it sharp, stabbing pain?’ In my […]
Helen Carnaghan on the cost of becoming a surgeon
So you want to be a surgeon? As a new medical graduate do you really know what this entails? I thought I did, but quickly learnt otherwise. […]
Layla McCay on making junior doctors agents for change
We can’t wait to hear from a NASA astronaut and doctor. James Bagian is coming over from the US specially to speak at our conference, Junior Doctors: Agents for Change, on 1 June. He’s currently the Director of the National Center for Patient Safety at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and everyone who has […]
Zabair Ahmed: The new medschool
Three down two to go just started my fourth year. I am excited about sinking my teeth into some of the diverse fields of medicine. Orthopaedics, gynaecology and dermatology are some of the specialities I can look forward to. My excitement was short lived for I received my loan papers today. Granted my initial reaction […]
Helen Carnaghan: The messy business of learning
Many things have changed during my transition from medical student to junior doctor. For starters my bank account contains a mysterious thing called money, a 30 minute lunch break is something I dream about and leaving hospital on time a distant memory. Amongst the changes one of the biggest is the way I learn. […]
Tauseef Mehrali on ladybirds and tree-hugging
“Two hours – two f***ing hours!” he screams as he bludgeons his partner to a pulp in front of her four children for returning home late from the shops. The onlookers are reduced to a stunned silence. I look around, see their disbelief and share it. The fuming perpetrator is Simon, played by Ray Winstone, […]
Helen Carnaghan’s transition from medical student to junior doctor
Over the past seven months my life has drastically changed having gone from a perpetual medical student to junior doctor in the blink of an eye. Looking back on the transition from a more settled position I can see the old adage of “don’t get sick in August” is a true reflection of the fears […]