Work Experience Days 3, 4 & 5 :)

Each day I was at the hospital from 8 (or sometimes before if we were early) until 5:30. Every night when I got into the car, it suddenly hit me just how tired I was. Each morning, I went to the morning case hand over meeting first thing. Then I went on ward rounds with the team, and after that I did different things each day. I loved seeing the patients each day, as a lot of them were there for the duration of my placement. Most of them were really friendly, and some of them talked to me. I really enjoyed intereacting with them, and I learnt so much about how to talk to patients. Each day I ate with the team. I really liked hearing their stories and banter, and they were all so friendly I didnt feel too out of place. Whenever we had an interesting case, someone would always explain the technical stuff to me. I learned so many medical terms and conditions that I had never heard of before!
    On Friday I got to go to Cardiology for a little while, and I got to see an ECG, a stress test and a heart echo being done on patients. It was really interesting. It was amazing to see the heart as a 3D moving shape, and all the valves from various angles, rather than the flat picture in our science books! Over the week I also observed and assisted the intern when she was taking blood from patients, and I learned how hard it can be to get a good vain! One poor patient had to have the needle put in 4 different places befroe we got any blood! I learned a good technique from one of the S.H.Os about taking arterial blood so hopefully I wont forget it!
   Every day I was excited going to the hospital. Every day was different in it's own way, and I loved it for that. Every patient brought a new challenge to the day and although the days are long, the hours actually fly by. Even the doctors who have worked there for years say it. It was really nice to see how thankful the patients are for the care the doctors give them, there are loads of cards around the place and often the patients and their families shake the hands of every doctor on the team before we leave them.
   I loved talking to the doctors, and I was so grateful for their honest opinions. It was great to get an insight into their personal lives, and I saw how much commitment the job requires. They gave me really good advice, and they told me of ways to  do medicine if i don't get the points. I had an amazing week :)