An update

It’s been almost two months since my last post and a lot has happened in that time. A lot of my previous posts were me stressing over my exams. I sat my exams at the end of May and got my results last month. I passed all my exams!!! I had 4 exams - 2 written papers and 2 practical exams. I was convinced 2 of my exams had gone badly and was so sure that I’d have to redo them. I ended up passing all. I still remember the moment I got my results. My heart was pounding and my fingers trembling as I clicked on the page. Then being overwhelmed by a wave of relief and then joy. I burst into tears and just sobbed uncontrollably. We found out 2 weeks after we sat the exams so after the exams I was in limbo. Not knowing whether I’d passed and not being able to relax and enjoy the beginning of the holidays because I was so worried that I’d done badly.

But by a miracle of God, I passed and now look forward to the end of August when I go back to university to start 2^nd year. 2^nd year sounds a lot more exciting than first year. We get to do another community placement like last year but we also spend 2/3 days a week in hospital shadowing consultants. I am so excited about that. Since starting medical school, I’ve not had much clinical exposure. I spent a day with a GP sitting in on her clinics then the afternoon with another GP on home visits. And we also got to visit a family with a young child in their home environment. We got to ask them questions about their social situation, health care experiences and about their child’s developmental milestones. A lot of people in my year found it a waste of time but I found it exciting. We got to go out into the community and we met real people of different social backgrounds. I found it a real eye opener to see into someone’s life and to understand the difficulties that they face. It helped me understand the area that I am studying and learning in much better. I think that’s very important in medicine as to provide a holistic approach to patient care we need to be able to understand the person as a whole not just their physical ailments.