Clinics

What a perfect day on urology, despite the freezing frosting early morning start. A few patients on morning rounds, followed by outpatients clinic. Sitting in with consultants who were friendly, great teachers, and had impeccable patient manner. Seeing lots of common cases of kidney stones and benign prostate hypertrophy. Followed by coffee in the hidden garden area of the cafe opposite the hospital. Last week was similarly pleasant. These mornings are worth climbing reluctantly out of bed for. I would consider urology, if surgical training wasn't involved.

Out of all hospital activities, I enjoy clinics the most. I saw my first patient in medical outpatients for the first time in the first few weeks of clinical school last year. Just starting to learn how to take a full history at that time, I felt like a doctor in a room alone - well, an imposter one, still it was fun. Since then I still love sitting down in a quiet room, and being able to talk in without interruptions. If we're with consultants, it's great how clinics usually happens at a pace where you can ask questions and be asked questions.

In our first semester of medicine, we had a few sessions of clinical placements. I remember my first one was at surgical outpatients in N Hospital, and the first patient had pilonidal sinus, and the second was a man who had been circumcised at an age of sixty or so. Back then we looked away awkwardly when those first two patients had to take off their trousers to be examined. That doctor saw patients at an astonishing speed of thirty patients over two hours. So we thought that's how fast patients are usually seen by doctors, haha. That was until we went for our second placement at a private specialist clinic at M Hospital, with the first consult running for over one and a half hours - we were really struggling to stay awake. Time use to pass so slowwww during those placements because you didn't know enough to understand the conversations or learn anything useful.