Earlier in term we spoke with F1 Doctor Katie Marston about her top tips for Fifth Year - now it's Fourth Year's turn with Hannah and Jessie!
Hannah and Jessie are both current Fifth Year Student Doctors at the School of Medicine. Hannah is in her sixth year of study, having intercalated in Medical Law, whilst Jessie is in her fifth year of study. They both took electives during their Fourth Year; Hannah to Vietnam and Jessie within the UK.
Some of their top tips were:
👩⚕️ Make the most of your time on Clinical Placement by getting your DOPs sign offs done early: You will already know the importance of DOPs by this stage in your medical studies, but you'll have some shorter one or two week placements in Year 4, and this will save you and the Clinical Team stress. Try and get ahead with sign-offs for your DOPs so you are not under pressure in the shorter placements, and so you can focus on getting experience whilst at the placement site itself. Planning ahead and getting these done early will ensure you're able to focus on other aspects of placement. Practice is the best experience!
⛱️ Make the most of holidays: If you plan your work well, you don't need to work continually through any time away during holidays, and instead you can use them to relax. Doing little and often will benefit you much more, and ensure you end up coming back from holiday periods well rested and ready for exams. Look into how you structure you work and revision to give yourself those rest periods within the year, and then commit to using them for rest.
🤔 If you Intercalated and are returning to study, don't worry if you're a bit rusty at some Clinical Skills: It's understandable you would be after a year out! Ask for help if you need it when getting back into the swing of things - there is no shame in admitting you need some assistance to help you get back to practice. Doctors will understand on placements, as will your peer group, and the only way to refine the skill is to practice it until you're back at the level you were before intercalating.
❤️ Some placements such as Palliative Care & Oncology will present difficult material to you: Remember your own wellbeing is important during these and other placements & to make the most of any Wellbeing services if you need them. The School offer check in sessions during Palliative Care & you can always speak to your Educational Supervisor if you have too. Don't feel bad if you need to step out during these placement sessions, or for accessing these services if you find the material difficult. This might be your first experience of some of these illnesses, and there are options in place to help you cope with learning about them.
Thanks again to Hannah and Jessie 🙏
🎵 Jay (Prod. by Lukrembo) Link: here (link)