Mandatory introductory post

"Good morning, my name is Miss Incompetent, and I'm a fourth year medical student. Would you mind if I sat here and spilled out my heart to you?"


No? Good. You're stuck here then with me then.

So, first things first: If you haven't figured it out already, I'm an undergraduate medical student in my fourth year of studies. I'm 20 years old, which is fairly young. Being young isn't a good thing because I'm essentially a baby in the hospital, and a lot of my fellow medical students are in their mid 20's, with a house, partner and degree under their belt already. I live with my darling parentals, I'm chronically single, and Medicine is my undergraduate degree.

Second item on the agenda: I have no idea what I'm doing.

Okay, that isn't exactly true (although if you talked to my consultant he'd say it was) considering theoretically I should have learned something over the past three years, but that's definitely how I feel on the ward!

Most other medical schools have a different format to mine, so this is basically how the university I attend works:
Year I: Introductory anatomy, anatomy and physiology of respiratory and cardiovascular systems
Year II: Anatomy and physiology of everything else.
Year III: Pathology, pharmacology, every infectious disease under the sun
Year IV: We finally hit the hospitals for clinical learning. And promptly want to run away screaming, or hide under our beds and never come out.
Year V: Clinical learning continues
Year VI: Clinical learning continues. I'm told it's really just like being an intern, but unpaid. Hurrah.

Let's put thing's in context, shall we? I'm in fourth year. I've just started my second rotation, but this is the first time I'm actually placed on a ward. So this is a huge learning experience for me!

Also: I find nurses scary. I find patients scary. And interns. And registrars. Especially consultants. Wow, I'm really coming off super cluster-C PD here, huh? Either that, or just a girl with a chronic case of being a wimp. 100mg of IV concrete, STAT!

I was planning to write a whole load more, but I have a ridiculous amount of study to do. I also think I have a life somewhere, but I'm too busy to go and search the Lost And Found box for it.

Homework: learn all of medicine so consultant doesn't bite my head off.
Optional: Try and find some time to eat or sleep.