So, time to explain all about 'mini-medical schools' practical session! Sorry it has taken me so long to update but i've been REALLY busy.
So, on one cold november morning, i awoke early to prepare for my day of being a doctor, how exiting! I hopped on the bus with two of my very good friends, who were accompanying me on the journey and who were also taking part in today's challange. When we got to newcastle, i followed like a sheep, one of these friends, because even though i have lived in newcastle all of my life, i had no idea where i was going. Eventually, after a very pretty walk through newcastle university grounds, we reached the fabled, MEDICAL CENTRE. How exiting!
Our day consited of 6 20 minute sessions with a break in the middle. I thoroughly enjoyed every single one of these sessions which were run by doctors from the university. The first was about ultrasound, of which i had studied in health and social care, but not in this way! The guy, who was extremely funny and very interesting, used the ultrasound to look at the blood vessels in one of the attendies neck. Who was this victim you may ask? Well it was me. And it was awesome. I never realised ultrasound could be used in that way, and boy im glad i do know now. He then procceded to talk about other bodily functions such as the lymph vessels, again very interesting.
Next was suturing. A part i was dreading, as last time i did this, i was so terribly bad, i lost the needle, of which the doctor who was running this session (in nottingham uni as part of the nursing lectures) said he had never seen before. However this time i had made a remarkable improvement, i didn't lose the needle, or snap the string, or poke someone's eye out. So i would count this as a success, however, i still don't think anyone should trust me with suturing equipment.
Next was examinations of the eye and ear, which was very interesting as i have always wondered what doctors see when they poke that bloody light, painfully, in your ear. It turns out, not much, or i was rubbish at it. I did manage to hurt my victim, so she wouldn't let me have a go again. Ahh well. The eye examination i have never had done on myself as i have never really had any problems with my eye, but it turns out you hold the eye examinator, which has a very bright light, and go so far in to see the eye (and hopefully the retna, which you are supposidly aiming for) you almost end up kissing the patient. Beautiful. I hope i never have to examine anyone's eye with bad breath.
Next was CPR, which im sure would be very interesting to some, but i found it an 'alright' session. This was mainly because i have practiced CPR countless times (not on real people, don't worry) as part of my first aid courses i've had to do to be a leader.
Next was possibly my favourate and was blood taking! Really interesting, however, i wasn't brilliant at it but the woman that was running the session said it was the fake arm, not me as it was being 'temperamental,' which was a little disconcerting, i hope real arm's arn't like that because i stabbed that arm countless times to try and retreave blood. Really fun though!
The last session was child birth, one i was definatly not looking forward too. And yes, we watched a very graphic and rather brutal real life birth, that has put me off having children, and certainly being a midwife (something i didn't really want to do anyway) for life. The guy that run this session however was very interesting and after the video, the session did pick up a little.
Over all, the practically session was definatly worth it and i enjoyed it 100%. Hopefully some of these skills will come in handy when i'm a nurse, although i think i might need a little more practice...
Bon Voyage!!
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Friday, 11 November 2011
Topic: Feeling a bit stupid at times, but generally having an interesting time
You may be asking yourself, after this title, what on earth are you talking about Megan?
Well I am, of course, talking about 'Mini-medical school,' Hurrah! Sounds rather interesting doesn't it? Well it totally was! Mini-medical school is what i have been attending for the past 6 weeks and involved 2 hour sessions every week with a practical one, on the weekend, in the middle. It was run by Newcastle university and was based in the centre of life... In Newcastle. I have to say, i really enjoyed it, however, as the title suggests I did feel quite stupid at some points because most people who attended wanted to be doctors, which generally meant they were all REALLY clever. Where as I am not as clever, and don't want to be a doctor, but want to be a nurse, so i felt like the blue smartie when it came back: there wasn't many of them and everyone looked suspiciously at them like they shouldn't be there. Smooth.
So the first lecture was entitled 'Life can be a pain' by Prof John Spencer and Dr Richard Price. I was hugely intrigued by this title as i was hugely stressed about A-levels. However, they talked about physical pain, not emotional or intellectual pain. I found this very insightful and both lecturers were very good and kept my attention for the whole time, which is one mean feat!
The next lecture I missed because i needed to do a presentation but the third one was called 'Seeing inside the body' by Dr Michael Drinnan and colleauges. I have to say out of all of them, this had to be my favourate, most likely because it connected to what i had recently be learning in my health and social care lessons, so i have stored a few points from this lecture in my brain to dazzle examiners in January, so watch out! This lecture was mainly about imaging techneques, such as ECG's and Ultrasounds, pretty cool what they can see and do with a piece of machinary, all be it very complex and expencive machinary!
My third lecture was entitled 'Life and death under the microscope in suspicious circumstances' by Prof Alastair Burt and Dr Nigel Cooper. This one definatly had my interest before i even got in, i mean, who wouldn't be interested in a title like that! This lecture was split into two the first about Pathology, so the diagnosis of disease, and the next about death at crime scenes. The second one definatly did interest me because im sure, like everyone else in the room, i was clearly thinking of CSI and how cool it is. Probably quite immature i know, it is a very fine art, but i know it flashed though everyone's mind in that room at some point!
The Fourth was called 'Light, Camera, Scalpel' By Dr Sean Sarma. Again, like the last one, this definatly interested me before i even got in and even though im not interested in being a surgeon what so ever, i found this lecture completely mesmorising. This was mainly down to the lecturer, Dr Sarma, who was so engaging and brilliant, i couldn't keep my eyes off him. He's the sort of person who if he told you to jump off a bridge you would. Absolutly facinating!
The 5th and last lecture was 'Teeth, a challange for the old as well as the young' by Prof Angus Walls. Unfortunatly, this was a really bad lecture to end on. Dentistry, much like Surgery, had never interested me, however unlike the last lecture, Prof Walls was a very uninteresting speaker. Yes, of course he know what he was talking about and clearly was very knowleable, of which i respect him for, but his presentation was very dull. Too many graphs and too much monotonal talking almost had me drifting off.
There was a practical session too, but i'll post that sometime in the future because this post has been dragging on a bit.
Over all, the experience was brilliant! I utterly enjoyed most of it and found it extremely insightful and interesting. Most of the things we learned was probably very basic and may not apply to me in later life, as i don't plan on being a Doctor, however it was very good in giving me the experience of attending a university level lecture, which i hope i will be getting lots of in the future.
Bon Voyage!
Well I am, of course, talking about 'Mini-medical school,' Hurrah! Sounds rather interesting doesn't it? Well it totally was! Mini-medical school is what i have been attending for the past 6 weeks and involved 2 hour sessions every week with a practical one, on the weekend, in the middle. It was run by Newcastle university and was based in the centre of life... In Newcastle. I have to say, i really enjoyed it, however, as the title suggests I did feel quite stupid at some points because most people who attended wanted to be doctors, which generally meant they were all REALLY clever. Where as I am not as clever, and don't want to be a doctor, but want to be a nurse, so i felt like the blue smartie when it came back: there wasn't many of them and everyone looked suspiciously at them like they shouldn't be there. Smooth.
So the first lecture was entitled 'Life can be a pain' by Prof John Spencer and Dr Richard Price. I was hugely intrigued by this title as i was hugely stressed about A-levels. However, they talked about physical pain, not emotional or intellectual pain. I found this very insightful and both lecturers were very good and kept my attention for the whole time, which is one mean feat!
The next lecture I missed because i needed to do a presentation but the third one was called 'Seeing inside the body' by Dr Michael Drinnan and colleauges. I have to say out of all of them, this had to be my favourate, most likely because it connected to what i had recently be learning in my health and social care lessons, so i have stored a few points from this lecture in my brain to dazzle examiners in January, so watch out! This lecture was mainly about imaging techneques, such as ECG's and Ultrasounds, pretty cool what they can see and do with a piece of machinary, all be it very complex and expencive machinary!
My third lecture was entitled 'Life and death under the microscope in suspicious circumstances' by Prof Alastair Burt and Dr Nigel Cooper. This one definatly had my interest before i even got in, i mean, who wouldn't be interested in a title like that! This lecture was split into two the first about Pathology, so the diagnosis of disease, and the next about death at crime scenes. The second one definatly did interest me because im sure, like everyone else in the room, i was clearly thinking of CSI and how cool it is. Probably quite immature i know, it is a very fine art, but i know it flashed though everyone's mind in that room at some point!
The Fourth was called 'Light, Camera, Scalpel' By Dr Sean Sarma. Again, like the last one, this definatly interested me before i even got in and even though im not interested in being a surgeon what so ever, i found this lecture completely mesmorising. This was mainly down to the lecturer, Dr Sarma, who was so engaging and brilliant, i couldn't keep my eyes off him. He's the sort of person who if he told you to jump off a bridge you would. Absolutly facinating!
The 5th and last lecture was 'Teeth, a challange for the old as well as the young' by Prof Angus Walls. Unfortunatly, this was a really bad lecture to end on. Dentistry, much like Surgery, had never interested me, however unlike the last lecture, Prof Walls was a very uninteresting speaker. Yes, of course he know what he was talking about and clearly was very knowleable, of which i respect him for, but his presentation was very dull. Too many graphs and too much monotonal talking almost had me drifting off.
There was a practical session too, but i'll post that sometime in the future because this post has been dragging on a bit.
Over all, the experience was brilliant! I utterly enjoyed most of it and found it extremely insightful and interesting. Most of the things we learned was probably very basic and may not apply to me in later life, as i don't plan on being a Doctor, however it was very good in giving me the experience of attending a university level lecture, which i hope i will be getting lots of in the future.
Bon Voyage!
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