What Do You Do?

Life can be pretty hectic sometimes; I've attended every day of hospital firms so far (apart from one when I was in Amsterdam; yes I still need to post my bit on that here, along with the EuroTrip memories), and I do usually stay longer in hospital than I have to, looking for 'extra' things to do. Yes, you could call me a 'keen' student, and doctors do usually have to tell me to go home. But when I'm not learning, I find I have A LOT of things on my plate. I'm president of Teddy Bear Hospital, I'm VP of Muslim Medics and Dentists, and write the weekly 'spiel' that goes out in the emails, I'm representing Barts on the Medical Students Committee at the BMA, Charity Week overseer, and I teach lower years their lectures (through the MESS society). These are the main positions I hold, and with each come a million jobs and responsibilities, where if things aren't organised and sorted out, people could be let down.

Sometimes there can be a 'conflict' between academia and extra-curricular stuff; for example last week (the week running up to Monday's exam), as with every week actually, I had something to do every day: helping out and giving tours on interviews days, a talk on the medical profession and mental health given by psychiatrists, meeting friends. Oh and a deadline on Friday for my essay to be marked by the cardiology consultant. A few months ago I had the choice of doing the essay on anything heart-related, but as there was a patient on the ward with Tetralogy of Fallot (a congenital heart condition), I thought it would be cool if I did it on that. Until the consultant wanted me to include a bit on the embryology of the heart, which is slightly difficult (let's say that people do their PhD's on just that). So Friday was slightly hectic with me trying to finish off the last few paragraphs with references, with the whole three weeks prior involving me on the tube reading various embryology books, trying to decipher the pictures of the developing heart, and typing out my interpretations on my Blackberry. And Friday culminated in me rushing to Newham Hospital to hand in a hard copy of the essay, and I think going to see friends afterwards. 

So in the end I had the whole weekend to revise Cardio/Resp/Haem for the exam on Monday. But that didn't really happen, I was way too chilled out for some reason. Was I too confident in myself that I knew everything? Not really, but coming out of the exam, I'm happy that I didn't stress. The exam was relatively straightforward, which could be because I spent way too much time on the wards and subconsciously picked things up. But only when the results come out, will I know if I have to make some major changes in my life.

In a way I'm glad I am this busy, as it's taught me much about how I work inside and how I deal with others. Staying behind and peeking inside other departments in the hospital has opened doors for me, and I've met many cool people as a result. Even helping out on student interview days has made me really appreciate what I have going for me, and I can see myself in all these keen beans wanting to get into medicine. I'm also quite saddened by the number of people in my year who don't really seem to enjoy what they're doing, and don't  grasp every opportunity that has so kindly been presented to them.

Crossing Paths

Today was the last of my four fortnightly GP days with this surgery. I have to say it has been an enlightening experience, certainly giving me a better insight into GP life than I had before. And we saw some really interesting patients, like another polio case today, heart murmurs galore and a stroke patient who had so much difficulty expressing what he wanted to say, it was upsetting. But the Muslim doctors were extremely nice and we were bought lunch every time we were there. At the end of the day, as everyone went to get their logbooks signed off, I went upstairs to pray, where I found the cleaner cleaning up. I went into a small room and prayed, and as I finished, the cleaner asked me to remember to turn the light off. Then he spotted the prayer mat in my hands.

"Oh you're a Muslim? I want to become a Muslim!"

It's funny how some things in life just happen; how if you intend to make one small step towards doing something good, the Heavens and Earth open up for you just to make it possible :)

Let go of the life you planned, to see what life is waiting for you.


So remember when I had that feeling I'd meet a very special person this time in 2012? I have a feeling their name starts with R. It's a very short name. I look forward to next November. :)

Sortie

It feels amazing to be back from our Euro Trip! We had a wonderful time in all the European countries, with all the different types of people and their languages and customs, and the scenic views and landmarks, and the drama experienced on the trip; both the highs and lows, but there is something different about home. The feeling I got when I stepped onto the crowded (new) Metropolitan Line train; metro newspaper (filled with articles people like to call news) under my arm, the announcer speaking in a language I could understand, the familiar roads in my area, the weather, and then home to the familiar musty smell of my bedroom, sitting down in my chair, surrounded by all my things, my wallpaper. The feeling I got when my mum had seen me returned safe and sound, listening to all the stories I had to tell. The cats, the gerbil and the rabbits. Unpacking my luggage and returning my possessions to where they belonged. The pile of post waiting to be opened. The pile of Medicine books waiting to be read. The friends waiting to be socialised with. The blog waiting to be updated.


There is no place like home.


P.S. I've returned to a house devoid of siblings; one has gone to Gaza, whilst the rest are visiting Grandma, which leaves just me and my parents; something that hasn't happened for 20 years! And now I'm off to play Fifa and Halo :)


(Btw, this new special person I'm supposed to be meeting at the end of next year, do they know me already? I'm confused.)

Summer So Far

Back from Norway, and currently lying in a hotel room in Budapest (Hungary) waiting for everyone to wake up so we can get on with the day's activities. So far (4 days in), we have had an absolute blast of a time, and even though we spent 23 hours straight on trains through Austria, Germany and Holland (including waiting outside a dodgy station in Venlow-Holland in the early hours of the morning), we haven't had a lack of entertainment. Bruges was stunningly beautiful, albeit a little on the touristy side, but definitely somewhere I'd like to go back to, even if it was just for their chocolate shops.

First impressions of Budapest weren't good; as soon as we left the station, it felt like we were still in a Soviet state; it just had that weird feel to it. But when we got more into the city, things started to look up, and so did we as we noticed the citadel and castle in the hills towering over us.

I plan to write about each place I visit and give it a rating out of ten, but that's as soon as all the places have been visited, inshaallah. If I don't misplace my passport. Yes it happened again, but this time it was in my bag and not in Seville airport!

Results

Do you remember when I said I'd be aiming for a 'merit' this year, after having narrowly missed out on one last year? Well, with the amount of extra-curricular work I found I'd taken on this year, that aim would have to be scrapped; no way could I be in the top quarter of my year group without dropping all of my societal commitments and becoming a bookworm for the rest of the year.

I can confidently say that I didn't do nearly as much work this year as I did last, and all that was on my mind during the revision period was just to pass and see myself through to third year Medicine. So for the three weeks leading up to exams, I spent all my time in the library, collating lecture slides I thought were the most important into separate powerpoints, one file for each module (or three in the case of Cardio-Respiratory). I had always intended to make a timetable and organise myself properly, but the sheer volume of work that needed to be covered, I thought, couldn't be compartmentalised into a simple tiimetable; as long as it's all covered, I thought, it should be fine.

My time in the library was funny; I mostly just sat there in front of a computer screen, reading stuff, occasionally going off for little walks, whilst everyone else isolated themselves in private cubicles and made colourful, detailed notes; occasionally interrupting me on their breaks and asking how revision was, to which my reply was always the same: 'it's alright I suppose'. And then they went on about how stressed out and 'behind' they were, when I know they clearly weren't, and they were just asking how my revision was so they could 'compete'; well that's how I analysed our encounters.

The last week before exams, a friend and I organised online revision sessions, covering one module's worth of PBLs a day. One person speaks on the microphone, guiding listeners through the Google powerpoint they made on their chosen PBL. It was a great success, with over 70 listeners on most days, but I found myself teaching many of the PBLs, and although this was good revision for myself, I thought the preparation time for all of these presentations could be put to better use. Time was running out, and things were starting to look desperate. The last few days of revision were dedicated to going through past papers and skimming through my powerpoints, and although we were assured by staff that past questions wouldn't be repeated, they were a good test of the knowledge I had, or I thought I had.

So exam day one: the Short Answer Question paper, the paper that everyone dreaded. I thought it went alright, compared to the majority of people who complained that it was too difficult. Their complaints continued the rest of the week with every other exam; the EMQ paper, OSCEs (practical exam where we get to see 'patients', and I always seemingly find pathologies that aren't supposed to be there), and the anatomy/microanatomy spotter, after which people's complaints were most vocal.

I thought all the exams went alright alhamdulillah; obviously some questions were impossibly difficult which just needed educated-ish guesses (and which were hotly debated over after the exam was done), but I found that my stress-free approach to things helped a great deal with getting through an exam as well as preparation for the next.

But by results day, when I logged on, I really was not expecting what I saw: I got a merit! Alhamdulillah :)

Free?