my special study module!

I am so excited. finally, after looking at peoples eyes for two weeks I have finished my ophthalmology attachment! It was kinda fun, but a little bit too specialised for me, not sure I could deal with just looking at peoples eyes for my whole career!

Anyway, that's over now and on Monday I start my special study module (SSM). Most medical schools run these, and it's usually a chance for you to choose a 4 week attachment in an area of medicine that you want to discover more about. I'm choosing maxillo facial surgery (max fax). max fax surgeons have to study medicine and dentistry. They deal with things like trauma to the face, cleft lips and palates, temporomandibular joint problems and oral cancers. So it's really quite varied and i'm hoping it's gonna be exciting. the only bad bit so far is that i have to turn up at 7:30 am to begin! Usually you have to turn up at 9 so that's a pretty mental time to have to get in for! I'll have to wake up at half 6! how awful!! i hope it's worth it.....grrrr

a summer.......in Nottingham

Well my two week summer hols are over, it's flown by just a bit too fast and now i'm back to coal face slaving away on my 2 week ophthalmology attachment. I suppose it could be worse, it's actually very interesting just not that hands on (and i'm angry and the lack of stethoscope use!). Ophthalmology as i'm sure almost everyone knows, is all about eyes. Interesting areas include diabetic retinopathy (how your eyes mess up long term if you have diabetes) and as always, a bit of trauma goes down well.

I got my exam results yesterday, and happily I passed everything so I know have a degree (a Bachelors of Medical Science). Everyone at Nottingham who completes 3rd year gets this degree without having to intercalate making the med school very attractive to people who want to do a bit of reasearch in their degree but not give up a year of their life.

I'm looking forward to the beginning of next week when I get to start my special study module (SSM). For 4 weeks of your 4th and 5th year students at nottingham get to choose a speciality that they find super interesting or think they need more practice at. I've chosen maxillo facial surgery. That is stuff like trauma to the face and head, clef lips and palates and cancer of the face and head. Really cool stuff, but to become a max fax surgeon you have to do dentistry and medicine! mental!

Exams are over! Now for my 2 week holiday......

Yes, at last I dont have to spend any more time in a library. Well, i didn't spend that much time in a library in the run up to the exams, flipping world cup! The exams went ok in the end. They were very hard, but we're getting to the point in the degree now where they have to really root out and cast off the dumb people (but don't worry dumb people out there, a few always get through).

So now I have finished my 3rd year, it sounds odd calling myself a 4th year medical student, you sound to old and acomplished and yet you still feel like you know nothing. Well, I suppose some of us really do know nothing! As i'm at Nottingham and we all do a intercalated B.Med.Sci I now also have a degree, which is very strange. I don't feel any different, but i'm told I am....

I have a 2 week holiday now before 4th year starts which means i'm going to be in Nottingham over the summer! Gone are they days of the 14 week summer holidays. I only have time to go abroad for a week. I was going to go to Lisbon, but after the football on saturday I'm going to boycott Portugal and go to Greece instead! That'll teach them! And I also get to work at Medsim this summer in a bit of free time, so that'll be awesome - waking up you guys at 4am really is a joy! mwhahahahaa!