Ann On A Mouse

Faculty have sent out an email this week reminding us of the need to remove all identifying patient information from case reports when we hand them in. They have then requested that we do not use initials either.

This causes minor issues in referring to the cases with educational supervisors, and also with supervisors checking the patient details to ensure that we have got the interpretation of investigations correct.

It would also seem to me that 3 blocks into the year is maybe a little late to tell us!

Where?

Up until now, lectures and FRS' etc have taken place in one of 4 buildings on campus and any offsite activities have had nice clear instructions on where to go.

However (you knew that was coming)

Today we had a FRS moved to the X Lecture theatre, Y Hospital. Now this hospital is nice and easy to get to, but finding the X lecture theatre was harder. Faculty's advice was that it was in the X department. Finding this department required some jugging on University maps, hospital maps pinned to the wall outside the main entrance etc. Then when we got to the building, no one seemed to know which lecture theatre we were talking about. The FRS wasn't in subject X, and thus the staff didn't even know the facilitator we were talking about.

Faculty had also changed the timings of this FRS, from Tuesday 9-12, to Tuesday 9-10.30, to Friday 9-10.30, to Friday 9.30-11. So all in all, no tutorial for me today as I couldn't find it. A failure in the timing, location and day I guess.

Community Care?

Well the Medical faculty are certainly being interesting this year......

It had been said that although not having to do an LCP coursework this year, I would have to attend the Clinical practice in the Community section of the course. this is basically attending a GP's one full day every fortnight in pairs and practicing clinical skills, history taking and observing the Primary Healthcare team in action.

However, when the list of allocations was published yesterday (for allocations starting next Tuesday), my name wasn't on the list. In a mild panic, I emailed the administrator, and she said that she had been advised by the faculty that I didn't have to resit that component, and that as such, and because they are short on GP's to take students this year, I was being taken off the list, and would get a chance for skills revision in Springtime.

This means I now have alternate Tuesday''s free, and potentially more time if i do not have to attend the Communication Skills sessions as well.

Are faculty there to help or hinder?

Ok... the Medical school are confusing me again.

• Term starts on Monday 27th August
• My resits are 9-10 August
• Results are released in week of 20-24 August.
• My Year 4 could start with an SSM
• I want to self propose an SSM, so I need to contact a supervisor and sort SSM details.
• The medical school won't tell me which cohort I am in until the results are released. Thus at the moment they say I cannot plan year 4 until 3 days before it starts!

I emailed the Year 4/5 administrator today, and she has conceded to tell me that I will "start the year with an SSM if I pass" and I "can self-propose but you must inform my supervisor that the SSM is dependent on passing the resit".

Note the nice pessimism in the response from faculty!

But so far the fact that I do start with an SSM means that i now know I am in either chhort C, E, or J. So I have narrowed my choices by 25%.

Random thoughts about Medical terrorism

• In response to several requests, I have been through the timetable for years 4 & 5, but since it doesn't say if we go to Paisley RAH, I don't know if we get to do the course bomb making 101.
• It is amusing to note though that the bombs in London failed because NHS syringes, believed to be from Paisley Royal Alexandra Hospital didn't work as the bombers had hoped. Forget about the Nu Labour slogan of 1997 which was "One day to save the NHS", it seems to be becoming "One day the NHS will save you".
• Since we are on elective break / holidays, I haven't seen any friends who had 3rd year clinical teaching at paisley to find out if they can claim that they were taught by someone that the police have arrested. It would seem unlikely since most 3rd year teaching is Consultant odr SpR led, but you never know.
• Faculty have sent us n email reminding us to wear ID at all times, and to be ready to state our business to anyone who challenges us.
• The fact that it seems 8 junior doctors became terrorists is hardly an issue for me - their job wasn't material to their actions. The radicalising of young muslims though does worry me.

Year 4/5 timetable

They have moved the exams!!!!

Finals will now be in February/March 2009. This apparently allows time for resits, extra learning and health issues to be cleared up. This is good, since there had been suggestions that resits were to be removed from the final year.

We now also get a "Preparation for Practice" block to learn about FY1 year, assessment etc. However to pay for it, we only get 3 SSM's in years 4/5 before finals, with a further one after the exams.

Each teaching block now starts with a one-day academic day on campus with communication skills and clinical teaching. The idea apparently is to avoid interupting the on-site teaching blocks.

These changes also means that 9apart from resits) our formal programme ends on 22 May 2009, to be followed by 4 weeks of PRHO shadowing and Resits.

So our timetable is now (all blocks are 4 weeks long):

• 3 Medical blocks
• 3 Surgery blocks
• 2 SSM before Finals
• 1 Psychological medicine
• 1 Obs / Gyn
• 1 Child Health
• 1 GP
• one week academic week (8-14 December 07)
• 4 week elective in summer 08
  

Followed by a 4 week revision / exams period (9 Feb - 13 Mar 09) and then a P for P and an SSM.

In final year we also get a 4 week Christmas holiday, and a 3 week one in 4th year.

The exact order of blocks is laid out in 10 cohorts, each of which has its advantages and its disadvantages in terms of block timings - such as starting with an SSM in September 07; having both SSMs either side of Christmas 07; starting with Obs&Gyn; having GP just before finals in winter 2009; etc.

The faculty listened

Thank you!!!

At last the faculty have listened to teh students (well actually that's what we think they have done). In their words, they have changed the way that we pick our teaching programme for the next two years due to their ongoing process of improvement. Well since we have been campaigning for it for 2 years, i guess we can let them think it is their idea.

You may wonder what this revolution is. It is ranking.

Yes we may have done to get into, and out of, medical school for several years, but now we can do it to choose SSM and cohort booking.
Their email says

Due to the recent problems with the SSM2 booking process for SSMs, we have proposed that the "first-come, first-served" booking systems should be replaced with "ranked preference booking systems."

The "ranked preference approach" is preferred, and is fair in that:

• no student is disadvantaged by not being able to access a terminal at a particular point in time.
• a real-time indication can be given of how people are making first choices to assist in the process.
• there is a short cooling off period (1 week) where students can change their preferences (until booking is closed)
• all matching of requests to places is done using the same standard advanced matching algorithm.

When applied to the recent SSM2, over 75% of students got first or second choice.

So basically the old system failed and the computer lost all the results so we have adopted the idea that the students suggested in 2004, and which is in fact the one we used until 2003, using bits of paper.