Medical student intake cut by 2%?

A government backed report recommends reducing the medical student intake by 2%. This will start in 2013- affecting me.

This is apparently to ensure that there is no money wasted in training more doctors than required by the NHS- not sustainable. Current medical school graduates are faced with medical unemployment due to the lack of junior doctor jobs to the number of qualified doctors leaving medical school.

Models show that demand for GPs would increase, and supply would fall short (supply increase by 29% by 2040) but the demand for hospital doctors will be too low for the increasing supply (supply increase by 64% by 2040)- according to a HENSE (Health and Education National Strategic Exchange) review and model Recent developments may mean all doctors working for two years longer and the aim for a 50:50 ratio of GP:hospital speciality entry level training posts- according to the HENSE model. 

First Injection!

Just gave a subcutaneous injection of insulin to my diabetic father- achievement. 

It was really satisfying and enjoyable...Without sounding too strange I hope...

Hope to use him as a practise subject again in the future.

MEDICAL INTERNSHIP- India

http://www.pulse-asia.com/

Very excited! Just secured 3 weeks of work experience in India for this summer- perfect. 

I will have the opportunity to shadow doctors, help on ward rounds, volunteer in an orphanage and even observe surgery! 

Quite nervous about going to a foreign country alone, but I am looking forward to the challenge it presents. I hope I can get a lot out of this experience, learn more about being a medic and lots to talk about in interview.

Wish me luck!

Non-Fiction>Fiction

According to my parents, I have never enjoyed reading fiction particularly- only really enjoying stories that were told verbally, I don't know why...To a certain extent, this is true to this day, although I have thoroughly enjoyed reading books such as: Dracula, A Brave New World, Frankenstein and the works of PJ Wodehouse.

Weekly visits to the local Library provided me with a fresh set of either anatomy or medical books throughout primary school...I was a bit of a weird child! I set myself challenges like memorising the major bones in the body, names of muscles and how organ systems function- instead of reading about magical worlds like my peers at the time. I suppose I didn't see the point in fiction when there were so many things to learn about, fascinating things that are part of us- the human body.

My enthusiasm to learn about science lead me to collect the 'Horrible Science' books- of which I would recommend to anyone, including adults. As well as diving into such books as 'Why Do Men Have Nipples' and other popular science books, whilst still in primary education. 

Now, as- what I would like to consider- a mature teenager, I read around the subject of medicine whenever there is a pare moment: the bus being a chosen favourite, with in front of the TV being a close second. 

At the age of 14 I subscribed to the NewScientist magazine, and consistently read it- cutting out particularly interesting articles around medical issues. Now I am older, the ethics of medicine has become more appealing  and I have started reading into it more.

Who needs a made-up story when you have a much better story right in front of you? (Life itself).

Book- Elephants On Acid

Re-discovered this old friend- I remember holding hands with my dad going into the book shop in search for some new reading material at the age of about 13 and the playful cover attracted my attention...They say never judge a book by it's cover, but in this case I was right!
I started to relish the challenge of reading above my level, picking up new vocabulary and learning fascinating facts. And of course, I felt the need to share my new information with my closest friends continuously, reading them passages and forcing the book upon them after finishing.

Book- Bad Science

I read this book when I was 12 years old- initially just to show off how grown up I was by quoting insightful comments, but I was captivated by how subjective science can be. 

The satire and humorous tone tickled my pre-teen fancy of popular science books- especially medical related ones.

Book- Medical Ethics

I have just completed this book...For the second time...After my head teacher lent his copy to me after discovering my determination to study medicine. I found this to be an incredibly useful tool to explore my views and challenge them.

At first, it was difficult for me to get my head around the philosophical jargon and unfamiliar concepts, but the clear structure aided this- at first explaining the principles behind the later discussions. 

Relaxing into the challenging reading, I became enthralled by ethics- I wanted to read into it more. Although the book gave me a good overview of medical ethics, I was aware of the obvious biased in the writing- cannot be avoided- but I now seek to find out more.