Francesca Sandman

Cardiff University – third year Medicine – update

First of all I would like to thank you all for the financial aid you have supported me with for the past year, it has been really helpful to buy the equipment I need for starting the clinical part of my medical degree.

This year I started placement, it was really nerve wracking at first, going into hospitals,meeting patients and consultants! But it was a quick learning curve and I learned many skills that I will need throughout my career as a doctor. I learned how to examine patients and take a detailed history from them to help come to a diagnosis.

We had 3 blocks of 8 weeks, each to learn a different speciality. My first was GP and general medicine. I spent 4 weeks in a GP practice which I really enjoyed, and by the end of my 4 weeks I had really got to grips with talking to patients and making them feel at ease. I learnt how to take blood pressure and how to take blood for important tests. I then had 4 weeks in general medicine where I was on a gastrointestinal ward (for patients who have problems with their digestive system, including the pancreas and liver) there were a lot of patients some of whom were on the ward for the whole 4 weeks I was there and had been
there for a while before that, and some of whom came in as quickly as they left. The patients that were there for a long time you really got to know well and it gave me my first real sense of how it would be to be a doctor in a hospital and to see these patients every day, some of whom you can only help make comfortable. It was really difficult coming to terms with the fact that one of the patients, who I had known for the whole time I had been on the ward, had died in the night and was no longer there. It is something that I know doctors experience all the time and I know I will have to experience again and I hope will be
more prepared next time.

Francesca Sandman relaxing in the Far East during a study break

Francesca Sandman relaxing in the Far East during a study break

We also had a project this year where we were introduced to a patient who has cancer and we follow them from the start of their treatment until the end of the year and learn about their experience from a patient’s side of things. I think that this was a brilliant way to understand the patient’s perspective and it is something that I think doctors need to do more to really understand what their patients go through.

My second block was on surgery and rheumatology (which is all about joint problems such as arthritis). I helped in surgery and although I think that it is a very skilled job and I admire those that do it, I missed the patient contact that I had on the previous block.

My final block was on cardiovascular and respiratory medicine (heart and lung problems). I loved this block and I only wish I had more time on it. It was difficult though as I had to revise for my exams during this period too.

This year the exams were a little different, we still had a main written exam on everything we have learnt over the year but we also had a practical exam, testing us on the examination skills we had developed. There were ten stations where you had a certain amount of time to demonstrate in front of an examiner on a real patient or an actor your skills at examining, taking a history and coming to a diagnosis, explaining a procedure and several other practical skills such as giving an injection or taking blood. It was terrifying. All is well that ends well though, and I am going into my 4th year where I will be studying pharmacology
before I go back to finish my last two years of my medical degree.

I am really looking forward to it and again, thank you for all your help.

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