Almost the end of paeds

Wow paeds is hectic! It's generally said about paeds that it's not just adult medicine on little people, it's a whole other kind of medicine!

They're right.

I spent the first few weeks trying to survive on my meagre adult medicine knowledge (largely meagre since it was acquired in Bedford). After about 2 weeks when it was clear this tactic was leading to me being labelled as an idiot by the ward staff (even some of the kids). So I decided to do some reading. Then I got a bit scared as I realised how much there was to learn. So I stopped reading.

Luckily for me I discovered a series of textbooks called 'at a glance'. Somehow they manage to crush down horrible long complicated topics into a double page spread, which is much easier to learn. So Paediatrics at a Glance is now my new best friend. If I ever hear about a condition or disease i've never heard of before (this happens on a fairly frequent basis) I turn to my trusty book and quickly scan 2 pages of A4 to get up to speed! Pretty handy!

Paeds itself is fun. The babies are lots of fun. When a baby is first born before it can leave hospital it must be examined by a paediatrician to make sure it's working properly. You very broadly take a look at how the baby looks, check its lungs and heart and intestines are working ok, and check that its brain is working fine. It's quite fun, and they're very cute. Especially when they put their hands in their mouth and think its a dummy to start sucking on their own hands. Poor little guys. Less fun when they wee on you.

An important aspect of paeds is how quickly seemingly well kids can become very unwell. If a child comes in with what seems to be a meningitic rash you have never seen so many doctors and nurses move so fast in your life. Before you know it the kid will be pumped full of antibiotics and have all kinds of blood tests done! Speed is of the essence in paeds emergencies. Children it seems have a lower coping ability when it comes to illness. That said, they do bounce back very quickly once you get on top of the problem and treat them right.

Only a few weeks left of it now......and then summer hols YEAH BABY!