3rd Med
Semester 1
Please see "2nd Med semester 2". it's the same scenario all over again but tougher.
This is where things begin to get a little tougher. You may have to cut down to 1 or 2 nights off study a week from your accustomed 4 to 7. But by now, you love medicine and medicine is your life so it’s ok. Plus you can do a lot of social life recovery in semester 2. It is a difficult semester in that you have two very large modules with a lot of new content. Having said that, the content is much more interesting and makes a lot more sense than previous years. Real doctory type content, which is nice.
Health and Disease II (H and D):
When you get back you realize you have forgotten everything over the summer which makes things slightly more difficult, but it’s manageable nonetheless. Actually doing a little prep work before the tutorials goes a long way. Indeed it’s very possible to sit there with nothing prepared and get through it by avoiding eye contact with your tutor, but keeping up to date with them makes your life easier down the road.
Staying organized is important, if you can’t keep up to date with knowing everything, at least try be aware of how much you don’t know, try to download the lectures slides every week regularly and do try and go to some of the lectures!
Microbiology lectures are quite important as you can find yourself very confused come study time if you have never seen them before. The slides are quite tailored to 'live' teaching, so even if you go to them and don’t take notes, you will have some familiarity of the material and the references made.
"In regards to H and D, I think starting early is essential and repetition is key to succeed, as there are so many lectures to cover."
- Someone who was successful in 3.1
Global Health and Development (GHD):
With Globalization comes the need for a global doctor with a greater awareness of what’s going on in the world. Apparently.
Probably the most actually interesting but less immediately relevant module. Similar sort of concepts to PHHP are covered in this module but more on a global scale. There’s usually a nice lady from WHO who comes to talk to you. If you are interested in politics or are interested in public health and medicine on a greater scale with a dash of sociology, you will probably really enjoy this module.
Part of the module is to do a group presentation on topics given to you by the lecturers (or you can come up with your own topic). It’s a bit of craic and you get out of it what you put into it. Also this is your opportunity to learn how to use Prezi.
Core Clinical Skills
With CCS, Start with the lectures and work your way through what you can of Tally and O‘Connor. Don't freak out if you haven't gotten to everything, just focus on the parts from the lectures. Spend a good bit of time preparing for the OSCE - really would be worth while. Try and practice on the heart sound dummies earlier in the semester before people start dry humping them.
Do the Problem Based learning questions for the seminars, they really help for the Short Answer Question exam for Core Clinical Skills
This is where things begin to get a little tougher. You may have to cut down to 1 or 2 nights off study a week from your accustomed 4 to 7. But by now, you love medicine and medicine is your life so it’s ok. Plus you can do a lot of social life recovery in semester 2. It is a difficult semester in that you have two very large modules with a lot of new content. Having said that, the content is much more interesting and makes a lot more sense than previous years. Real doctory type content, which is nice.
Health and Disease II (H and D):
When you get back you realize you have forgotten everything over the summer which makes things slightly more difficult, but it’s manageable nonetheless. Actually doing a little prep work before the tutorials goes a long way. Indeed it’s very possible to sit there with nothing prepared and get through it by avoiding eye contact with your tutor, but keeping up to date with them makes your life easier down the road.
Staying organized is important, if you can’t keep up to date with knowing everything, at least try be aware of how much you don’t know, try to download the lectures slides every week regularly and do try and go to some of the lectures!
Microbiology lectures are quite important as you can find yourself very confused come study time if you have never seen them before. The slides are quite tailored to 'live' teaching, so even if you go to them and don’t take notes, you will have some familiarity of the material and the references made.
"In regards to H and D, I think starting early is essential and repetition is key to succeed, as there are so many lectures to cover."
- Someone who was successful in 3.1
Global Health and Development (GHD):
With Globalization comes the need for a global doctor with a greater awareness of what’s going on in the world. Apparently.
Probably the most actually interesting but less immediately relevant module. Similar sort of concepts to PHHP are covered in this module but more on a global scale. There’s usually a nice lady from WHO who comes to talk to you. If you are interested in politics or are interested in public health and medicine on a greater scale with a dash of sociology, you will probably really enjoy this module.
Part of the module is to do a group presentation on topics given to you by the lecturers (or you can come up with your own topic). It’s a bit of craic and you get out of it what you put into it. Also this is your opportunity to learn how to use Prezi.
Core Clinical Skills
With CCS, Start with the lectures and work your way through what you can of Tally and O‘Connor. Don't freak out if you haven't gotten to everything, just focus on the parts from the lectures. Spend a good bit of time preparing for the OSCE - really would be worth while. Try and practice on the heart sound dummies earlier in the semester before people start dry humping them.
Do the Problem Based learning questions for the seminars, they really help for the Short Answer Question exam for Core Clinical Skills
Semester 1 Books/resources
- Talley and O'Connor
- Robinson's pathology
- geekymedics.com
- Pathology mcq question books, ECGs made easy, Oxford handbook.
- oscestop.com is a great website for OSCE practice
- Prezi
- Robinson's pathology
- geekymedics.com
- Pathology mcq question books, ECGs made easy, Oxford handbook.
- oscestop.com is a great website for OSCE practice
- Prezi
Semester 2
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Key Skills for 3.2:
- How to forge signatures (we joke, no one actually does this....) - How to identify lovely interns to sort your logbook - How to read charts filled with scribbley doctor language How to Dress: Girls: Think of something you'd wear to dinner with the Gran and Grandad. You don't have to look Amish, but looking like you're going straight to Electric after placement isn't ideal either. You'll have to bring your notepad, pen, stethoscope and Oxford handbook around with you a lot, so a small shoulder bag is a good investment. Guys: Shirts, trousers, sensible shoes. Simples. Some doctors want you to wear a tie, some don't. You'll find out more about this as you go along on placement, so don't stress. You're going to be running around not knowing where you're supposed to be a lot, so remember to be comfortable in what you wear. What you'll need: -Stethoscope -Tendon hammer (You'll use this twice tops, but some doctors are very surprised when you don't have one) -Thick skin (Some consultants have very high standards that you will never meet. You're going to get questions wrong, they're going to get upset. Brush it off and know it for the next time) Books: Talley & O'Connor and the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine and you're golden. Some consultants will tell you you need more than this, but some consultants also think statins do more harm than good. :/ Talley's and the Oxford Handbook are loads to get you through 3.2. |
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Respiratory Medicine
This is a lovely rotation, enjoy it! Seriously though, I started on this rotation and absolutely loved it, the timetable isn’t as packed as some of the other rotations, so use this opportunity to lie in and do fun things (go out). Try not to miss things; seeing as the timetable is less taxing, it’s fairly noticeable when you don’t show up. Some reports I heard from other students were that it was quite disappointing not being able to see many patients in this rotation so when you do get the chance to take a history and examine them, grab it. Resp exams are straight forward but like everything they get pretty easy once you practice them. Like other rotations, you’ll spend time on the wards and in outpatient clinics. You’ll also be scheduled to go to Merlin Park to see bronchoscopies and pulmonary function tests; go on your designated day or there’ll be too many of you standing in the procedure room and chances are you’ll be less likely to get a bit of teaching from the doctors and nurses. Aside from seeing these and possibly the sleep study equipment for people with sleep apnoea, there’s not much else to do in Merlin so do your time and spend the rest of the week in bed. Schedule: 1 week inpatients, 1 week outpatients, 1 week Merlin Park Rotation Difficulty Rating: 5/10 Chance of Lie-ins: High Gastrointestinal Medicine Gastrointestinal medicine is made up of two parts: medicine and surgery. For medicine, you’re assigned to one of two areas; General Internal Medicine (GIM) or the Consult Team. My advice for medicine would be to make sure to bleep the intern of whatever team you’re on, on your first day to figure out where you’re supposed to be and when. Try not to bleep the wrong intern and spend two days on the wrong team not having a clue what’s going on like I did, it wasn’t fun. There is a fair bit to be gained from going to clinics and endoscopies, but once you’ve seen a few it can get a leeeeettle bit old, so try find a sound intern and get the rest signed off if possible. There are plenty of opportunities to practice GI exams, and I’d say this was the rotation where I got to take the most histories, it might seem boring but trust me, it does pay off! GI surgery was iffy for me; some days I loved it, others not so much. It can all depend on whose team you’re on. I learned this too late, so please do take my advice on this one: if you’re offered a chance to scrub in, DO IT. You honestly get so much more from seeing what’s going on first hand, and getting to say you helped out in a surgery is pretty cool (you didn’t; if anything, you were a hindrance and in the way a lot but hey, it’s how we learn!). Schedule: Half GI Medicine, half GI surgery Rotation Difficulty Rating: A solid 6; not drop-out-of-medicine difficult, but it’s no professionalism Chance of Lie-ins: Moderate Care of the Elderly There are a lot of parts to the Care of the Elderly module, it’s not all cute old people giving you sweets and talking about the good old days! It’s probably the module I found to be the most diverse in the range of things you get to do. Your group will be divided into three subgroups: Care of the Elderly 1, Care of the Elderly 2 and Merlin Park. For COTE 1 and 2, make sure you go to the consultant-led ward rounds, chances are they’ll teach you as much as they can along the way and might take you for a bedside tutorial if they get a chance too. Attendance is monitored very closely on this module, so make sure if you miss something you have a good reason. It’s always a good idea to email in advance if you know you’ll be out. For Merlin Park, it’s kind of the same as Resp, only there is more to do. There’s a long checklist of things to get done in Care of the Elderly, I got most of it done (and by done I mostly mean I saw someone else do it and then got it signed off) in Merlin. As much as it will pain you to think about studying this early (sorry), I’d definitely recommend going to all the tutorials as the list of things they examine at the end of the semester is pretty set. Learn the core topics and you’ll be fine! Schedule: 1 week COTE 1, 1 week COTE 2, 1 week Merlin Park Rotation Difficulty Rating: 7, if only for the bulk of the timetable Chance of Lie-ins: Low/Moderate Critical, Perioperative and Emergency Care This rotation consists of some standing around in the Emergency Department looking like an idiot who has no clue what to do, some standing in surgery trying to master the art of intubation, and some time in Intensive Care trying not to get in anyone’s way or break any infection control rules. All that aside, it’s a pretty great module! You spend your time in theatre, where you are attached to an anaesthetist, the emergency department where you are encouraged to take histories and see as many emergency cases as possible and the Critical Care Unit where you will see how patients in need of a dedicated team are managed. There will be times where you’ll be on your own, so use this rotation as an opportunity to build your confidence! Ask questions, see as much as possible and try help out whenever you can. There is a great deal to be learned here, from managing a patient in an emergency situation to learning of the respect and professional manner needed when dealing with those who are critically ill. In the emergency department, you’ll be timetabled on morning, afternoon and night shifts; try to make sure to get experience of each one of these, as there can be a big difference in the patients and emergencies that present at different times! Once I got out of the “why is nobody holding my hand and showing me things” frame of mind, I realised how much people are willing to teach you if you show a little initiative. Schedule: 1 week Perioperative (anaesthetics), 1 week Emergency Department, 1 week Intensive Care Unit. Rotation Difficulty Rating: 7, lots of E.D shifts to be done, along with a lot of tutorials to attend but they’re all generally interesting Chance of Lie-ins: Moderate General Medicine and Surgery There is a lot to do and get signed off for on this rotation, if you're looking for a nice, easy time, this ain't it. General medicine and surgery definitely had what I thought to be the most intense timetable. Where in other rotations it might be alright to skip say, a multidisciplinary team meeting if you’ve gone the previous week, it is NOT advised to do that here. Attendance is expected to be 100%, and the best advice I can give you for this rotation is to try your absolute best to go to everything. Apart from this, there’s a lot to be gained from GMS. You’ll learn a lot about various endocrine disorders (mostly diabetes) along with infectious diseases, depending on what team you’re assigned to. Surgery can be a mixed bag, again depending on the team you’re assigned to, but if you can, scrub in and try learn as much as you can in a front seat. Standing in the background trying to see someone’s thyroid gland be removed through the tiny gap between two surgeons’ shoulders is just not fun. A final word of advice for GMS, you’ll sometimes be expected to be in two places at once. You may annoy someone for missing a bedside tutorial because your consultant decided to give a spontaneous tutorial, but don’t stress; it happens. Smile, apologise for not being Hermione Granger and move on. Schedule: 1.5 weeks General Medicine, 1.5 weeks General Surgery Rotation Difficulty Rating: 9, all down to the 100% attendance expectations and sometimes unrealistic timetable Chance of Lie-ins: NONE YOU WILL NEVER GET A BREAK DON’T EVEN TRY YOU FOOL! Cardiovascular Studies Cardiovascular Studies consists of a log book that expects you to get a crazy amount of things seen in three short weeks, so this is definitely a rotation where you'll need to prioritise. For us, the rotation was split into three one-week sections: Vascular surgery, Cardiothoracic surgery and Cardiology. This can be a daunting part of placement as some of the cardiovascular tutors can seem intimidating at first, but all you need to do is show up, try your best not to look too scared and you'll be fine. Try your best to see as much as you can, on the wards and in theatre. The tutorials you'll be given will come in VERY handy, make sure you study them for exams. OSCE stations from this rotation seem difficult too, but actually are quite nice to gain marks in as there is a lot of overlap in the steps for some of the exams. Schedule: 1 week Cardiology, 1 week Cardiothoracic surgery, 1 week Vascular surgery Rotation Difficulty Rating: Variable, some parts 5, some parts 10, if only for the intimidation factor Chance of Lie-ins: Low/Moderate Past Papers for 3.2:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/v2wmpuc4ckdwlsg/AABujn5H30RcBWsW5QHG4uvsa?dl=0 |
Dr. Bob Rutherford,
Respiratory Consultant and professional Brendan Gleeson lookalike
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"I don't get it; how can someone have a cute abdomen?"
