tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18545479418936798582024-03-13T09:47:51.741-07:00Trying to be a (very) junior doctorI used to blog at www.tryingtobeamedicalstudent.blogspot.com - then I stopped being a medical student and became a very junior doctor and blogged here.
Then, being a junior doctor and having little time, I sort of lost motivation for blogging and now I'm mostly found on Twitter - @TryingtobeaDr. Follow me there!TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403617644754471234noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-17317477813103493422013-07-14T17:26:00.000-07:002013-07-14T17:26:22.225-07:00My blogpost on the feminist group blogI wrote an anti-disablism, anti-cuts, intersectional, feminist blogpost for Hampshire Feminist Collective for Disability Awareness Day.<br />
<br />
It can be read here: <br />
http://hampshirefeministcollective.co.uk/2013/07/14/disability-awareness-day-why-it-matters-this-year-and-why-it-matters-for-feminists/TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403617644754471234noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-41808954410019254822013-03-07T18:08:00.001-08:002013-03-07T18:15:38.482-08:00Here’s a toast… to abortion rights, on International Women's Day<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I wrote this some time ago (this will become obvious given that it mentions a few news items that are now not so topical), and not got around to publish it. Today, International Women's Day, seems like an appropriate time to share it.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><u>Here’s a toast… to abortion rights </u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><u>OR </u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><u>This is what a feminist doctor looks like</u></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Ani diFranco’s song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj0-UAJWleU&feature=related" target="_blank">Self-Evident</a>, which is mostly about the September 11<sup>th</sup>
attacks but also about so much more, includes the line:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">“Here’s a toast to all those nurses and doctors who daily
provide women with a choice”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Today I provided a woman with a choice – her choice for an
abortion. A termination of pregnancy. I administered and inserted the medication to end her early pregnancy. In practical terms, it was the same as what I often do for miscarriage, there was no
difference in the procedure; the difference was that in this case, the
embryo/foetus was alive. We were ending her pregnancy because she wanted us to.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I am really proud of this. I am pro-choice and proud of
the fact that I can help make abortion accessible to women who want it
(following appropriate counselling) and that we live in a country where this is
available. I believe women* have the right to choose.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">That’s not to say I think abortion is great; it’s a shame to
lose potential lives especially when there are so many people in the world who
would do anything to have a baby, but the right of the woman to have control
over her body and her future trumps any right of some cells and tissue that are
only a potential person rather than an <i>actual </i>person.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">In a month where the news has been full of debate about <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/14/ireland-abortion-scrutiny-death" target="_blank"><u>Savita Halappanavar</u></a>, the woman who died in Ireland, from septicaemia due to
infected products of conception (infected pregnancy/miscarriage), after she was denied an abortion for a
pregnancy that was failing anyway and making her very unwell. Although the
Irish law is extremely restrictive on abortion, it appears that they could have
ended her pregnancy, and increased her chance of survival, whilst still acting
within the law, given that there was “real and substantive” threat to her life.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">So this is how I express myself as a feminist doctor – I do
the same job as other doctors would, I just get a bit more enthusiastic about
it and about the opportunities that this job provides, opportunities for making
the world a better and pro-choicier place.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I’d stiill do this even if we had vile campaigners, (such as Abort67,
who have recently been targeting <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/10/22/abort76-brighton-targets-sussex-university-students_n_2000701.html" target="_blank"><u>university campuses</u></a><u> [graphic picture in link]</u>) protesting outside
the hospital, although I am very glad that there aren’t any. They’re probably
not aware that we do social terminations in the NHS hospital, since it’s not an
abortion clinic. The protest groups are deeply unpleasant, wildly inaccurate in the “facts” that they quote, and wave horrific
pictures, which must be so traumatic for anyone who has ever miscarried a
wanted pregnancy, to see – some of those pictures could bring back very painful
memories.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">In conclusion, I am glad I can do important things in my
job, and please would Jeremy Hunt and vile Nadine Dorries (the jungle could keep her)
back right off and leave me to do my job to the best of my ability with
the best medical evidence available. Kindly stop spouting rubbish about
abortions and throwing your political weight around, when we could be having
sensible discussions about how to ensure reproduction rights for women, whilst
also considering also the appropriateness of interventions concerning the
foetus. Note <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sensible</i> discussions. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Right, I’m off to a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Back_the_Night" target="_blank"><u>Reclaim the Night</u></a> march and rally
(gender inclusive).This is what a feminist doctor looks like!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">(yes, it's not Reclaim the Night time of <span style="font-size: xx-small;">year, but it was when I wro<span style="font-size: xx-small;">te this!)</span></span></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/---Fm5xyiWCY/UTlHb9bo_-I/AAAAAAAAACY/ZXFp5xxOqJE/s1600/women+in+medicine+badge+crop.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/---Fm5xyiWCY/UTlHb9bo_-I/AAAAAAAAACY/ZXFp5xxOqJE/s1600/women+in+medicine+badge+crop.png" height="320" width="246" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">This is a picture I took of the badge display at the Women's Library in London, which I visited recently. It is a wonderful treasure trove of feminist history, I'd thoroughly recommend it! (<span style="font-size: x-small;">V</span>isit before 22nd March, when it closes and moves to a new venue in June)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">As an aside, I recall a conversation amongst medical
students when I was in my 3<sup>rd</sup> year of medical school (5 years ago –
took the scenic route through medical school) about FY1 junior doctor jobs. We
discussed that gynae might be good, and someone pointed out that you’d have to
do abortions if you worked in gynae, and that really put me off. I remember
thinking that I agree with women having a right to an abortion, but I didn’t
want to actually do the abortion myself. I had a different, and rather
inaccurate, understanding of what the actual process involved, but I’m very
glad my opinions have changed since then. I’m glad the women I look after can
have someone performing their abortion who’s not uncomfortable about doing it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">*women and any other pregnant people – people with various trans
identities can have anatomy permitting them to become pregnant without defining
themselves as women. It wouldn’t be the first time (e.g. the American Thomas
Beattie, and the wonderful <a href="http://www.berlinale-talentcampus.de/campus/project/profile/87355" target="_blank">Jason Elvis Barker</a>). I have frequently referred to
“pregnant people” in a range of contexts, rather than “pregnant women” and
almost every time, it gets me a funny look, but I maintain it’s more accurate
and inclusive.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Personally I’m a lot more comfortable with the term “woman”
to describe myself than I was a few years ago (one can be both trans/of queer
gender <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> identify as a woman
without being a transwoman, they are not mutually exclusive) but even so, if I
were to become pregnant, I might rather be thought of a pregnant person than
everything being “woman” somehow. And my own identity and preference doesn’t
make me any less of a feminist.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">One day, I intend to follow up this post with another post looking into what happens when women are denied the right to abortion, and also what happens when they do have an abortion - there is some interesting research I'd like to collate. Watch this space.</span> </span></div>
TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403617644754471234noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-44907367606943407622012-12-30T15:40:00.003-08:002012-12-30T15:46:01.553-08:00Christmas #2 - the depressing side of the season<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Although I wasn’t working on actual Christmas day, I was
working on Christmas Eve, and as <a href="http://tryingtobeajuniordoctor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/bah-humbugs-yum-minty.html" target="_blank">mentioned previously</a>, a 12 day stretch in the
run-up to Christmas. Christmas around the hospital can be a pretty depressing
affair, not because people have to stay in over Christmas and "isn’t that sad?" –
it is, but family visiting can make up for it, and when patients are properly
ill they seem content to be in the right place and receiving intensive medical
intervention, even if the timing is a bit rubbish. It’s depressing because of
the patients who <i>want </i>to be there, because hospital at Christmas is the best
they’ve got.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I’ve come across a number of patients recently (it’s more of
an issue in general surgery than it was in gynae) who are in hospital more
because they want to be than because they need to be. I can imagine the
outcries of “how is this possible, the NHS is stretched enough as it is!” but
the difficulty is that it is very difficult to boot patients out, kick them out
and onto the street. Discharge is a collaborative process, and requires the
patient’s input, or if the patient has no capacity for this input, then the
family or nursing home etc are involved. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">There are the patients who were content at home, but came
into hospital for surgery, and rather enjoy the multi-bed ward and socialising
with other patients, the being cooked for, the lovely nurses and the nursing
care, and suddenly realise that home is desperately lonely and they don’t like
it anymore. This manifests itself as them realising, or proclaiming, that they
need care at home, and it then falls to the hospital to try to organise this,
which is a very lengthy process. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The time taken for this is why many patients, particularly
in an elderly care ward, will have days of “MFFD” recorded in the notes –
medically fit for discharge, i.e. awaiting the social situation to be sorted
out. Obviously sometimes this is absolutely essential, such as for elderly
people with a very high care requirement and complex medical needs, which
cannot be catered for in many care homes so it takes time to find the right
one. But there are others for whom the care given is less essential, they coped
without it previously and they are hardly less able to cope now, but it’s
become understood that it is required.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">A specialist nurse I work with believes the cuts to day
centres have led to an increase in the number of patients who decide to stay in
hospital because home is lonely. If they could go to a regular day centre, home
wouldn’t be as lonely, and therefore hospital wouldn’t be as appealing. Yet
another example of how cuts can lead to increased costs elsewhere…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">There are the patients who can’t possibly go home because
the problem they came into hospital with has not been fixed; they are still
suffering with pain or sickness or whatever brought them in. As much as I love
the idea that we can fix everyone who comes in the door, solve every problem,
and make everyone feel better, that is sadly not how it works in reality, but
sometimes is how it works in a patient’s head. It’s a sad thing, an unpleasant
situation, to send a patient home still suffering, and with an end to that
suffering not necessarily in sight – but sadly we are not magic. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Explaining to the patient that our thorough and extensive
investigations have shown no cause for their pain, there is no acute or
life-threatening problem, there is no cancer, there is no obvious disease,
there is essentially, nothing that can be fixed by a hospital stay, and nothing
that can’t be improved by some pain relief, regular review with the GP, and
community-based input such as physiotherapy, is not always a fruitful exercise,
and some patients end up staying longer in hospital because they think they
should be there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Those patients are slightly less likely to stay in hospital
over Christmas, because they may eventually have somewhere better to be, once
they have realised that there really is nothing more that the hospital can do
to “fix” them, and being in hospital over Christmas is not the best thing that
life has to offer them, and the benefits of going home start to outweigh the
(perceived) benefits of staying in hospital.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The most depressing thing is the patients for whom staying
in hospital, or even worse, being readmitted to hospital following discharge,
is the best thing life has to offer them at Christmas. Their family either
don’t want them, or don’t make it clear to the patient that they are wanted, so
the patient has the sense of being a burden on the family, even if they aren’t
(this seems to be a depressingly common occurrence amongst the elderly). So
having a hospital bed over Christmas is the nearest they can get to seasonal
happiness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">That doesn’t reflect well on us as a society. Look after
your old people – if only for the sake of keeping the hospital beds free for
the people who really need them.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">(I realise this may come across as hypocritical following my
complaints about my grandmother in my previous post, but she has never spent
Christmas alone. The responsibility is shared between my relatives, not because
she is a burden, but because we have a sense of duty to ensure she feels
welcomed and as happy as possible each Christmas, and regularly throughout the
year.)</span></div>
TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01930526308897660464noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-22308719188111197352012-12-26T06:59:00.001-08:002012-12-26T07:02:11.481-08:00Bah, humbugs. Minty!<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">(NB This was written around the 22nd, but not finished and edited til Boxing Day) </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I am not really feeling Christmas this year. I am never a massive Christmas fan, since it often involves my granny, who is acceptable in small doses but beyond that her sickly sweet manipulativeness and inability and unwillingness to cope with my sister's complexities (mostly her autism/Asperger's) get too much. Or it involves balancing my family and my other half's family so that we see both families and still see each other (one of the rare times I'm glad our families live near each other). Or it involves going mad getting stressed out on the high streets trying to buy EVERYTHING.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">On the day, I do enjoy it, that I get to spend time with my family (parents and sister) and the other half, and there seems to be a Christmas tradition that a load of my home-friends, from the various schools I attended, go out on Christmas eve so there's a general catch-up which is great. So there are good bits. And I enjoy the proper time off - always at least two weeks, as a student, even though last year that was spent stressing about finals, and most years it involved a couple of days working in my wonderful job in my wonderful museum, which even though it was work, was still a break.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">This year I have two days off, Christmas day and Boxing day, and since I've just worked a very difficult and draining 12 days in a row (someone insert a joke about the 12 days of Christmas here please) I'm not going to be the life and soul of the party. That takes more energy than I have! I'm just hoping that I get to the party/Christmas eve gathering in the pub at all, and that I don't finish work so late that I've missed everyone by the time I get there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Today, 22nd, is the first time I've done any proper Christmas shopping - I've picked up the odd thing here and there, the first was in June (be impressed) but I haven't had any time until now to actually shop for anything. It's rubbish that not having time for Christmas shopping is such a big deal - Christmas shouldn't be about the shopping. Or the presents. Or the commercialism which is massive and horrific and all-pervasive.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">This year, having seen something on facebook a while ago denouncing the commercial nature of Christmas and encouraging shoppers to support small businesses in their Christmas shopping. It was only a facebook thing but I took it to heart. I have bought three things from a chain shop, the rest from festivals or Christmas market stalls or Amnesty International online shop, and it feels wonderful. My money has gone to small and independent business, who actually pay their taxes (Amazon, you aren't getting any money from me, tax-avoiding scumbags, even if it is legal!). I'm really happy about this, and I like the idea of continuing this in future years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Work, being a very junior doctor on a new rotation where I know nothing yet do everything, means that my energy for doing and enjoying Christmas is at an all-time low. The first time I actually have money and might therefore be expected to buy decent presents, I have no time or energy to do so. On the plus side, it means my expectations for Christmas are non-existent. All I want is a break, and the chance to spend some proper time with my family, time when I'm not meant to be busy doing something else. I am so, so looking forward to that. I don't care about the turkey, it's too much effort and takes time away from just spending time together.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I feel I've neglected my family - the last time I spoke to them was on day 1 of 12, and day 12 was yesterday. So two days where it's just me and my folks, and some of the time the other half, and maybe some friends on Boxing day, sounds amazing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">So on the one hand, I'm not in the Christmas spirit in any way. On the other hand, I am massively looking forward to it. And to getting some proper sleep for a night or two. Father Christmas better not wake me up.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">A post-script: I did get out of work in time to travel home and get to the pub on Christmas eve, although the older we get the more people have moved away and the fewer friends are there, but it was fun nonetheless. I then fell asleep on the sofa after the pub, and my mum had to wake me up and make me go to bed. I woke up late on Christmas day. My sister and I made a dedicated and concerted effort to spend all of Christmas day in our pyjamas, because we could, so we did. I was knackered and had a head-cold (still! stupid virus) but that was no big deal. Working 12 days in the run-up to Christmas, with the weekend off being busy and full of Christmas preparations, clearly took its toll.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">But Christmas was pretty much everything I had hoped for. Lovely. </span>TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01930526308897660464noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-55207625843884770902012-11-20T18:10:00.003-08:002012-11-22T16:18:24.607-08:00Remembering our Dead<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Today is <a href="http://transactivist.wordpress.com/2012/11/20/this-isnt-about-us/" target="_blank"><u>Transgender Day of Remembrance</u></a>, and we<a href="https://transmedic.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/on-remembering-our-dead/" target="_blank"> </a><u><a href="https://transmedic.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/on-remembering-our-dead/" target="_blank">remembered our dead</a></u>. We remembered and celebrated the lives of 265 people
who have been killed due to having a gender identity or gender presentation
perceived to not be “normal”. 265 in the last year.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Many of them will not have been remembered or celebrated on
any other day, or by anyone else, except for the day of remembrance. Some didn’t
even have recorded names, only recorded brutal manner of death.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">We remembered, and acknowledged that those transgender people
who are more likely to be killed are women, people of colour, those who don’t
live in Western Europe, and particularly those who live in Latin America, and
those who were sex workers – usually due to the above factors combining to make
it very difficult for them to be accepted in any other line of work. Whatever
the factors, none of them deserved to be brutally murdered.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Today I remembered with about 200 other people (a rough
estimate – generally LOTS, the chairs ran out) in London. The last time I went
to the service in London was four years ago, and we fitted into a much smaller
venue then. To have a bigger service with more people paying their respects is
significant. Sadly although the numbers of participants and audience in the
service has changed, I think there has been little change in the number of
names read out. Just to give an idea of the scale, reading out the name, age,
and location of each person murdered in the last year, takes about an hour in
total – no breaks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It also required readers who were adept at Spanish and
Portuguese pronunciation – a vast majority of those murdered had lived in Latin
America, specifically Brazil and Mexico, and some in Venezuela. Countries
further south in America, such as Chile and Argentina, were not represented in
the names in any number.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I can’t help but wonder what on earth they must be doing to Brazilian
boys and young men to instil a culture in which gender conformity is everything
and anyone who disobeys society’s gender rules deserves to die, and it is their
right to ensure this happens. What goes on in a society to cause that to be commonplace?
And what can be done to counteract this?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I don’t imagine this blog has any Brazilian or Mexican
readers, why would it, but just in case it does: look after your country’s
trans people, and do all you can to create a culture in which gender diversity
is not only not stifled with death, but actually accepted. Love each other – if
only love could stop murder.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It sounds strange, but I found it almost difficult to be
moved by the service. So many, many names, they start losing their meaning and
stop being people, if you don’t engage your brain and emotions and register
what’s actually been happening to them and what’s being said. Today’s service
didn’t include mode of death – it did a few years ago and some of the youngest
participants at the service were understandably very upset. But on the other
hand, it forces people to acknowledge the horrors that have happened and not
just allow the hundreds of names to wash over them. I forced myself to really
think about it, and even then it’s impossible to fully comprehend the scale of
systematic transphobic murder that’s taken place – I’m lucky and privileged
enough to not be able to get my head around it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I try every year to attend a trans day of remembrance
service – I didn’t two years ago, I went on holiday, and it felt a bit wrong. That
was one of the first blogposts I almost wrote (but didn’t quite) about how
important it was to me, even though I hadn’t attended. The other half and I even
attended the service in Berlin, six weeks after arriving there, and we added
some words to our German vocabulary, that we had never wanted to add (e.g.
geschossen = shot). Attending today’s service was one of the deciding factors
in me taking today as leave and being in London. Even though I find some of the
more upbeat parts of the service slightly difficult to swallow given the
juxtaposition with the sombre nature of the service (some feel it’s also a
celebration of life/want to ensure people don’t go straight from the service and
into the Thames because it’s so harrowing), I’m glad I went.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Here’s to a shorter list next year. And every year
thereafter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Footnote:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Just to dispel some misconceptions, which I picked up on in
the comments of this <u><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/20/transgender-remembrance-day" target="_blank">Guardian article</a></u> from last year:<u></u> TDoR does not commemorate trans
people who have died by suicide. There are many – being trans is a significant
risk factor for experiencing mental health problems, self-harm and suicide, but
TDoR is specifically for trans people who have died at the hands of others, not
their own.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It has nothing to do with Remembrance Day or poppy day or
Remembrance Sunday at all, except that both are to do with remembering dead
people. The trans people who we remember at TDoR did not fight for us or die
for us, they simply lived their lives, tried to be themselves, and were
murdered for it. Nothing whatsoever to do with soldiers and war and Remembrance
Day.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Also, although I refer to “service” there is nothing
religious about it. Some people may choose to bring a spiritual element to
their remembering, but it is not a church service and is not religious.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">To finish, because sometimes art speaks better than prose, and because it was such a poignant and appropriate piece to have in the service, I am sharing the poem Elaine read out, with her permission. It makes the reality hit home further.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It’s not about us.<br />It’s not about those of us sitting here, standing here, living here.<br />It is about those who cannot be here.<br />Those who should be here with us, somewhere in the world.<br />Those who are gone.<br />It’s about them.<br /><br />It’s not about us.<br />Yes, we have many things to say, and many things that need saying, and maybe our voices are often ignored but we can still speak.<br />It is not for us to put words in the mouths of those who have had their breath stolen from them.<br />Those who should still be able to tell the world who they are.<br />Those who were taken from this world for who they are.<br />It’s about them.<br /><br />It’s not about us.<br />I stand here white, middle class, here in London with a warm bed to return to.<br />It's not about us.<br />Because this world finds so many ways to hate, to silence, to erase those it deems less worthy.<br />Their race is not incidental. Their work is not incidental. Their nationality is not incidental. These things are not incidental but integral as this is intersectional.<br />And did we pay them any attention before they were gone?<br />It’s about them.<br /><br />It’s not about us.<br />We are still fighting battles, personal and cultural and political. And these are battles to be fought but<br />These people are not martyrs, these people did not die for a grand cause.<br />Their deaths are pointless, senseless, symptoms of violence and racism and misogyny and the ways we casually turn people into nothings.<br />Their deaths should not be our politics.<br />It’s about them.<br /><br />It’s not about us.<br />We are not here for us.<br />We are here to remember and to mourn and to mark those who society finds so easy to overlook.<br />We are here for them.<br />These people are so much more than names, a photograph, if we even have those to remember them by.<br />These people deserve to be remembered but far more they deserve to still living their lives, telling their truths, laughing and crying and dancing and smiling but they are dead.<br />It’s about them.<br /><br />And not just the people on the list, all 265 of them when even 1 would be too many.<br />It’s about those people who are not on the list because nobody noticed, nobody knew, or nobody even cared.<br />Those who were further erased in death, identities taken and torn apart from those no longer able to defend themselves.<br />Those who never even made a footnote in the paper.<br />Let us think of them.<br />It’s about them.<br /><br />It’s not about us.<br />We can always have tomorrow.<br />It’s about them.<br />They don’t even have a today.<br /><br />It’s about them.<br />And next year, may the list be shorter. </span></div>
TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403617644754471234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-21580277955346076132012-10-22T15:27:00.000-07:002012-10-22T15:45:53.383-07:00Once a faily student, always a bit faily (or ex-faily)<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
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Was thinking yesterday* how my final exam fail (and other
final exam near-fail) probably contributes to why I dont have as much clinical
confidence as I'd like, and explains why I'm not as methodical as I should be.
Or rather, my lack of logic and method explains why I failed.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Meeting with educational supervisor:</div>
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<br /></div>
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Supervisor: foundation years are a steep learning curve,
especially when you've probably always done really well and never failed
anything...</div>
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me: actually, I failed a final exam...</div>
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ES: really? Why on earth did we give you an academic job
then?!?!</div>
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me: you gave me the job before I failed</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
ES: oh well, it's not the end of the world</div>
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me: it certainly seemed like it at the time!</div>
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<br /></div>
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I guess it's something that I'll never forget about, but the
significance will hopefully fade over time. It should stick with me long enough
to prevent me getting much too big for my boots anytime in the next few years- I
know I could still be capable of screwing up.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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However, some days after this conversation, I had a
potentially good idea: I know, and documented extensively on the previous blog
(<a href="http://www.tryingtobeamedicalstudent.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/i-want-to-fail.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.tryingtobeamedicalstudent.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/like-little-piece-of-charcoal.html" target="_blank">here</a>) how horrible it is to fail a final
exam and to have confidence shattered and to get totally burnt out and have to
find some way of picking yourself up and carrying on (or relying on others to
pick me up and carry me on – I am still so, so thankful to the <a href="http://tryingtobeamedicalstudent.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/i-get-by-with-little-help.html" target="_blank">wonderful people</a>
who helped me prepare for my re-take).<br />
<br />
Maybe I can help other faily students to
pick themselves up and carry on, help motivate, help practice, help them
realise that help might be there for the asking (if their fellow students are
as wonderful as mine were). A little investigative work tells me the number of
students currently retaking final year at the place where I’m working (I’ve got
an academic foundation job – it should come as no surprise that I’m working at
a hospital involved with a medical school) reaches double figures, so perhaps
there’s a market for this concept, for want of a better word. I just need to
work out who to contact about it, and see if the other openly faily F1 doctor (who
has of course, now passed, that’s why they’re an F1) wants in on this.</div>
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I don’t have training in motivating people, but I think
personal experience that would be relevant here. Watch this space…</div>
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* Not yesterday, actually ages ago, but that’s how long it
takes me to write a blog these days.</div>
TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403617644754471234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-19684248762846905382012-10-22T14:53:00.002-07:002012-10-22T14:56:25.187-07:00I'm not dead, just being a doctor<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
Sorry it's been forever (well, 6+ weeks) since I last posted. Or not sorry (I did once blog about how I shouldn't feel obligated to blog... but then I also planned to blog three times a week).</div>
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I'm not dead, just been busy working. Which is very busy. Though apparently will get worse when I'm working in surgery and moved on from generally-reasonably-well-supervised gynae.</div>
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A three day weekend seems to have got my creative blogging juices flowing again, slightly.</div>
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Also, I STILL have lack of internet to blame, partially, for my lack of blogging - thanks Tesco totally rubbish Home Pho-one and Broadband (yes I still find it odd and mildly entertaining that the woman on their phone message pronounces phone with two syllables... I have spent FAR too much time listening to her!).</div>
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Here's to the blog. Or not.</div>
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TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403617644754471234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-83850926834854076092012-09-03T17:38:00.001-07:002012-09-03T17:38:45.588-07:00Amazing day, awful day<div><p>Today had some amazing bits and some awful bits. </p>
<p>Amazing: at the Paralympics, watching the incredible Pete Norfolk, GB flagbearer, and his doubles partner play fantastic tennis and get to final, watching 7-a-side football, goalball and basketball, watching swimming on big screen, wearing a Union flag as a cape all day, other half wearing 8 mini flags and Union Jack tie, soaking up the atmosphere, the beatbox, not getting sunburned despite super sunny weather, the wonderful Games Makers, and the impressive diversity of Games Makers, the accessibility of the park and the enormous number of (visibly) disabled people spectating at the Paralympics.</p>
<p>Awful: supporting something sponsored by ATOS, selling a ticket to a friend but forgetting to give friend said ticket until we were halfway through Olympic park and friend was stuck back at mobility, unable to get through security without his ticket*, missing GB's football match, Tesco totally useless broadband & Homepho-one (call them and listen to the introduction lady. "Phone" apparently has two syllables!) and BT engineer not turning up to install phoneline and internet, so very helpful friend sat in our house for 5 hours for nothing, leaving Olympic park at the same time as athletics ended and stadium emptied, huge queue for train, not boarding train in first-arrived order, javelin train we got on being delayed, being made to queue through the entire length of St Pancras station after getting off train, all causing me and other half to each miss our respective trains so arriving at home around 2.30am, both working tomorrow morning, realising I had no keys as given to friend waiting for phone engineer and having to wake flatmate to let me in, using all my phone battery on useless London 2012 spectator travel website which said today is not valid as not during paralympics, and Waterloo and Riverbank Arena not valid locations, then gave useless info anyway (journey duration and number of changes, but not where to change I'd how to get there), therefore phone dying in early afternoon, being conned for pricy phone charger in dodgy offlicence, sore neck back from the number of jumpers in my bag in case of bad weather - it was 26C...</p>
<p>The awful list is far longer, and we'll both feel rubbish tomorrow, but I think it was worth it.</p>
<p>Would I do it all over again? I'd have left the park slightly earlier to avoid stadium crowds and missing train, but ultimately, yes. Emphatically and resoundingly, yes.</p>
<p>*this really happened. I gave ticket to friend, he gave me money, he needed help due to broken wrist so I held his ticket while he sorted his bag, I did not give ticket back. I went into park with ticket, and only discovered half an hour later when I saw the many missed calls. I went all the way back through park, out exit, gave ticket to friend, I got back in with spare ticket we hadn't managed to sell (lucky!).</p>
<p>I can't be trusted with a ticket, yet I am daily trusted with people's lives... this is a little concerning.</p>
<p>I blame it on having just done the weekend on call. Yesterday's shift was 13 1/2 hours, with no lunch, just banana and cake. In future, I should spend my post-on call weekend Mondays sleeping, nothing else. The Paralympics was the exception. In future, sleep, no responsibility.</p>
<p>Regardless, best day ever. Or for a long time. Now planning our trip to Glasgow 2012 Commonwealth Games. Do the Commonwealth Games have Para-Commonwealth Games?!?!?</p>
</div>TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403617644754471234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-48533034124561063172012-08-20T15:22:00.003-07:002012-08-26T07:18:41.284-07:00Like a baby log<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
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Not sleepy, but totally exhausted. I had two nights in a row
where I’ve fallen asleep before I’m ready for bed. One night I slept the whole
night with only half my pyjamas on because I fell asleep whilst getting
changed. That kind of total exhaustion only ever happens after exams (occasionally), and always
for one night only.</div>
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I have not been this exhausted since the weekend after
Freshers’ week when I first started university seven years ago. That was a week
of moving house (into halls), new experiences, meeting new people, getting my
head around the work, just as the last few weeks have been. Except this time it’s
a lot less social, and a great deal more work focused. To say this is the most
tired I’ve been in seven years is no understatement. Jetlag is nothing compared
to the past week.</div>
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I have been an Olympics-aholic the past few weeks, watching
every possible moment in the evenings and at weekends, following TeamGB on
Twitter, and yet I was so exhausted that I slept through half of the closing
ceremony. I was gutted – I wanted to watch the whole thing, but no matter how
hard I tried, it wasn’t going to happen.</div>
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This kind of tired will wear off – it has to, doctors couldn’t
function like this long term! Once I get more confident in what I’m doing, and
once the voice in the back of my head saying “ohmygod do I know how to do
this/am I allowed to do this/do I know what this drug is/can I prescribe this
medication/what the hell is wrong with this patient and what can I possibly do
about it” every time a nurse asks me to do something has decreased in volume,
the job will be less mentally exhausting. I will be less tired – I am
determined to be. I have to be.</div>
TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403617644754471234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-46003437331997707882012-08-15T17:30:00.001-07:002013-03-07T19:23:11.385-08:00Human again<div>
I've just been out for a lovely dinner with my new colleagues. Suddenly I feel like a person again, like there is so much more to me than being a doctor, once again. There is more to life than being pestered over patient discharges.<br />
<br />
I laughed more this evening than I have in ages. It's lovely to feel more normal again. I need to remember this next time I'm worked to the ground (ie next weekend I'm on call, if not sooner).<br />
<br />
But now that I'm unfrazzled, I'm no longer totally shattered, and emotionally and mentally tired. So I can't sleep.</div>
TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403617644754471234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-13883309291686820972012-08-14T16:32:00.001-07:002012-08-19T06:22:09.984-07:00Down at Frazzle Rock<div>
I've now been a doctor for two weeks. It's not been the best two weeks of my life. I am totally frazzled, exhausted and mentally drained.<br />
<br />
The on call weekend was 38 hours work in three days, much of it on my own; the three other doctors away on other wards, at emergencies, and in operating theatre. There was too much work for one F1 junior doctor to manage, including emergency assessments patients of my own. Some pushy nurses didn't help, but kind and helpful nurses can make all the difference.<br />
<br />
I'm sure it will get better. I'll improve my clinical skills (like blood taking and cannulation - I haven't had a single successful cannula yet), learn to see patients more quickly - hopefully without spending less valuable time with patients, learn to call for help more promptly and to recognise when I need help. And learn to take a break, drink, and eat lunch. I didn't eat til 5.30pm the other day, having started at 8am.<br />
It will get better, at some point.<br />
<br />
This week's been good, however. More SHOs (slightly less junior doctors) means work is spread more evenly and I leave work at a sensible time. Long may that continue. <br />
<br />
* Frazzled = exhausted, knackered, not burnt out but going in that direction.<br />
Fraggle Rock = muppets-like TV show. I was once told I look like a Fraggle... <br />
The picture isn't a Fraggle, but it's near enough!<br />
<br />
<img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-7kzwbqO0xXM/UCyRslbSV5I/AAAAAAAAACE/SFrjVcb1lgI/Kermitsdoctor.png" /></div>
TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403617644754471234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-58157471531551069952012-08-05T15:13:00.001-07:002012-08-05T15:19:02.644-07:00The first emergency<div>
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My first emergency as a qualified doctor did not come, as one might suspect, in the hospital, but instead on the street, at night, in a different city.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It was a horrible "oh god I think I need to </span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">stop... don't I? should I?" moment, not quite sure what to do but thinking I probably should do something. I walked past as if to scout out the situation, and a bystander was on the phone, clearly to an ambulance. When I heard them say "... seizure..." my heart sank as I realised it wasn't just some drunken japes and I would need to get involved.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I was relieved to realise I recognised one of the bystanders, the person on the phone - a medical student who I'd got to know a few months ago, when they were in third year. This meant that hopefully anything immediately lifesaving that needed to be done, such as opening the airway, would have already been done. That's a nice emergency to arrive at.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Though it was all under control, I stayed around, partly because once you've arrived you can't really leave, and partly because I thought the others might want me to stick around. Much as I was relieved to see medical students there, I imagine they were considerably more relieved to see me - if I was a third year medical student attending an emergency, I would have breathed a huge sigh of relief if a medical student or junior doctor two years my senior turned up. So I guess that was a nice role to play, even if I didn't do a great deal medically, except stop the patient from rolling over, check every now and then that he was still responsive (ish) and talk to his relative.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The patient and relative had recently left hospital, and I can't help but wonder if the fact they were still wearing hospital pyjama trousers meant they had self-discharged... I think it's likely, which made me a bit more clued up to the situation.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">For some reason the police arrived before the ambulance, even though the students called the ambulance, (maybe they send police to anything that might be alcohol related?). Another thing I don't understand is that the ambulance people on the phone said to roll the patient onto his left. He was nicely in the recovery position on his right hand side, and since rolling him onto his left would have involved rolling him into the road, they left him as he was, but I have no idea why the left would be better.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Anyway, the ambulance person arrived and was happy for us to go, so we left, after I'd had a bit of a catch-up with the medical student I knew, and I hope I made clear to them both that they'd done a good job. I realised later that I didn't tell the ambulance person that I'm a doctor, and maybe, since they were on their own, they might have wanted me to stick around and help had they known that, but never mind - they're experienced at working on their own I'm sure.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Despite the anxiety whilst walking up the situation, I'm quite relieved by the quiet, mild confidence I felt whilst looking after the patient - hopefully that will stay with me when something more traumatic happens in the hospital.</span></span></div>TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403617644754471234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-30086487116099042962012-08-04T16:45:00.001-07:002012-08-05T15:19:46.630-07:00The small things<div>
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Yesterday, my sister, who is autistic, got a bus for the first time since being diagnosed with epilepsy. Yes, she's got buses on her own before, for the last year or two, but not since her seizures.</div>
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This is an important step towards regaining, and continuing to develop, her independence.
It's a small thing, getting a bus, but at the same time it's a big thing. </div>
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I think in the medical profession, we're often quick to overlook the small things, the life things, the less directly medical things, and never notice that to patients (and their families) they can be big things.
</div>
</div>TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403617644754471234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-54169360467650402642012-07-31T15:09:00.005-07:002012-08-19T06:24:47.501-07:00Grey Wednesday?<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
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Tomorrow is “Black Wednesday”, the day when all the brand
new doctors start. I should be terrified, but I’m not – tomorrow I have an
all-day induction. I may be on call for two hours after the induction, but with
at least one other new doctor and the evening on calls seem fairly quiet
anyway.</div>
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On the one hand, a comprehensive induction is great. On the
other hand, it’s just delaying the nervousness until tomorrow evening. I feel
like I’m missing out on something – spending the evening with other new F1
doctors, who don’t have induction and therefore tomorrow is their first dose of
responsibility and first real opportunity to accidentally kill someone, there
was a sense of nervous, slightly excited anticipation. I don’t really have
that. Partly because I’m not really starting tomorrow, and partly because in
gynae, we’re not really trusted with being allowed to do that much, most things
have to be approved by a senior. There is a great deal of discharge summary
writing. But, it’s a very nice way to ease into the job.</div>
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We realised that we’ll never have this feeling ever again. Never
again will we be brand new terrified doctors. Whenever we start a new job in
the future, it will just be the next thing, not the whole big new thing. Never again
will we be not-quite-doctors and then suddenly actual doctors. One of my new flatmates
said she wanted to savour this feeling forever, this moment to last forever,
and I wouldn’t quite go that far, but it is an interesting time.</div>
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So for me, tomorrow is perhaps Grey Wednesday. For all those
new F1s for whom it really is Black Wednesday, good luck, don’t be scared, and
remember to breathe. For anyone who has the misfortune to fall ill tomorrow, or
in the next week, I honestly wish you the very best of luck, though hope with
all my heart that you don’t need it.</div>
TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403617644754471234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-48731012301246521812012-07-30T15:53:00.000-07:002012-08-19T06:25:35.323-07:00Service update<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
I've just moved house - it was essential for the job. I don't yet have internet or recently, much time, so although I've got a few posts in my head relating to shadowing week, I won't get them all up before shadowing week ends and proper scary actual doctor work begins.</div>
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I'll probably play around with the scheduling settings, but please ignore if the posts seem out of sync - that is why. I hope it will be clear.</div>
TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403617644754471234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-2247168740234205592012-07-30T15:46:00.002-07:002012-08-19T06:27:26.215-07:00Me and my shadow...<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
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This week is compulsory shadowing week, where we learn
how to do the job before we have the terrifying responsibility of doing it.
Theoretically, it should reduce the mortality rate on “Black Wednesday” – the
first Wednesday of August, when every brand new junior doctor (F1, or
foundation year 1 doctor) across the country starts working. Our lack of
experience is, apparently, evident in the number of patients who die on those
first few days, compared with the rest of the year.</div>
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I wasn’t particularly nervous before the start of shadowing
week. I feel like I should have been, meeting all those new people, starting a
new job, even if the actual responsibility isn’t added in for another week. But
I’d had no time for nerves – I was at <a href="http://www.otw.org.uk/" target="_blank">camp</a>, far too busy having <a href="http://www.seriousfunnetwork.org/About" target="_blank">Serious Fun</a> to
worry about suddenly being a doctor. For anyone who is likely to be nervous
about starting F1, or any other scary job, I’d definitely recommend doing
something amazing before starting, partly to take your mind off it, and partly
to remind yourself that there are more important things in the world (like
campers) than work.</div>
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Shadowing week is interesting in that we’re not actually
allowed to do anything. Anything that involves procedures, signatures (our own,
rather than hassling someone else for one – will make a nice change!), or even
almost touching a patient. It’s bizarre, for this one week in which we’re all
qualified and about to do the job, we’re allowed to do a lot less than we were
a few weeks ago as medical students. We’ve signed to confirm this, but as usual
not everybody sticks to it. Some new F1s have a “never mind that” approach. I’m
a little more cautious – we’re not allowed to do anything because we’re not
insured to, apparently, and wouldn’t necessarily be covered for a needlestick
injury. I’d rather not have one of those (touch wood) but if I did, I’d like to
be properly covered for it and get the post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP*) as
required.</div>
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So really nothing much has happened during shadowing week. I’ve
learnt a bit and sat through lots of “this is how we do things here” lectures,
but I imagine most of the learning will be on the job. Which is a bit
terrifying.</div>
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* PEP, or post-exposure prophylaxis, is the term for a
28-day supply of anti-retroviral drugs to prevent you contracting HIV if you
might have been exposed to it, for example through a needlestick injury. It’s
not just for doctors and medical staff, however, anyone who could have been
exposed to HIV through unprotected sex (with someone of a high risk group),
needle sharing etc, can receive PEP from A&E or some genito-urinary
medicine/sexual health departments, if you go there within 72 hours of
exposure. It’s an unpleasant 28 days as the drugs have numerous side effects,
but it’s better than a life of HIV, even if that does mean a chronic disease
rather than a death sentence these days. And it’s only a chronic disease if you
know about it – undetected and untreated it could very possibly be a death
sentence, so get tested!!</div>
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TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403617644754471234noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1854547941893679858.post-51090460674310479112012-07-27T12:13:00.000-07:002012-08-19T06:29:09.124-07:00Another obligatory introductory post<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
Hello, I'm trying to be a very junior doctor. I've just finished five years
of medical school with two extra years (the scenic route), and for the last
nearly two years I've been <a href="http://www.tryingtobeamedicalstudent.blogspot.co.uk/">Trying to be a
medical student</a>. However that's no longer an appropriate blog title, since
I'm no longer a medical student... so welcome to Trying to be a junior doctor.</div>
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<br /></div>
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It's called this because years ago my younger sister (about whom I blog now
and then) said told someone I was "trying to be a doctor" when she
meant training to be a doctor. It's kind of stuck. And of course, because I am
a junior doctor, and I can’t do that without trying. I’m hoping that sometimes
I’ll succeed, but even when I don’t, I’ll still be trying (hard) to be a good
junior doctor.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
So here's where I'll blog about any struggles and more interesting aspects
of life as a (very) junior doctor, and anything particularly interesting about the
National Health Service, hospitals, patient care and research. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I also like to blog about other things that might be interesting and are
relevant to me - there's more to me than just medicine! This might include:
feminism and gender, autism, disability and my sister, maybe politics, my other
half (who is NOT a medic!) and the newly long-distance relationship, and
potentially anything else that takes my interest, in addition to the medical
side of things.</div>
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<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
I may yet make occasional posts over at <a href="http://www.tryingtobeamedicalstudent.blogspot.co.uk/">Trying to be a
medical student</a>, if anything particularly student-related comes up. I’ve got a few
revision course reviews and textbook reviews that have a been a long time
coming, and the student blog is probably the best place for them.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
As before, I blog anonymously, and will publish a separate post explaining
this (link to follow). I therefore don’t write about the exact place that I’m
working, other than that it’s in England, or the medical school that I trained
at, which was also in England. That’s all you’re getting!<br />
<br />
I have no intention of becoming a whistle-blower, or of highlighting problems. I just blog about what I do and what I see and my thoughts about it all. </div>
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I fully anticipate that the next few weeks and months of being a very junior
doctor will be challenging and trying, so bear with me. Welcome to the blog,
and do have a read of the previous blog if you haven’t already.</div>
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TTBA(v)JD</div>
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TTBA(v)JDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09403617644754471234noreply@blogger.com0