Here are the two textbooks which I believe are essential (for Australian OUM students anyway):
1. General Practice by John Murtagh
2. First Aid for the USMLE Step 1
1. General Practice by John Murtagh
2. First Aid for the USMLE Step 1
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Saturday, September 12, 2015
AMC MCQ prep
I am beginning to prep for the AMC MCQ exam. I said I wasn't going to start yet, but I am not feeling confident in my abilities of an almost-doctor that I want to have a focused kind of "revision" of actual "what to do" when treating patients so I figured AMC prep might help me have some sort of plan.
I've been looking around the net and I think I'll do the HEAL bridging course, but not yet. It's 6 weeks so that it a trouble in the first place as I only get annual leave in 4 week blocks.
RACGPs has a 10-week fully online course but it's really only a MCQ question bank and I resent having to pay $2000 for 400 questions. Maybe I'll do it once I graduate. For now there are plenty of free resources around to keep me occupied.
This is my current strategy:
I have John Murtagh's General Practice text book that I'm using as my core text. There are 141 topic it! Too many to tackle cover-to-cover.
I have the RACGP list of top 30 conditions treated by GPs. I will list them for you:
I've been looking around the net and I think I'll do the HEAL bridging course, but not yet. It's 6 weeks so that it a trouble in the first place as I only get annual leave in 4 week blocks.
RACGPs has a 10-week fully online course but it's really only a MCQ question bank and I resent having to pay $2000 for 400 questions. Maybe I'll do it once I graduate. For now there are plenty of free resources around to keep me occupied.
This is my current strategy:
I have John Murtagh's General Practice text book that I'm using as my core text. There are 141 topic it! Too many to tackle cover-to-cover.
I have the RACGP list of top 30 conditions treated by GPs. I will list them for you:
- hypertension
- immunisation
- acute URTI
- depression
- diabetes
- lipid disorders
- general check-up
- osteoarthritis
- back complaint
- prescription
- oesophageal disease
- female genital check-up
- acute bronchitis/bronchiolitis
- asthma
- anxiety
- test results
- UTI
- dermatitis
- pregnancy
- sleep disturbance
- sinusitis
- gastroenteritis
- vitamin/nutritional deficiency
- malignant neoplasm of the skin
- abnormal test results
- atrial fibrillation/flutter
- oral contraception
- solar ketosis/sunburn
- ischaemic heart disease
- virus
So, I think knowing the top 30 conditions is essential, but also are the rare but life-threatening conditions.
Murtagh's has clinical boxes with an asclepius listing medical conditions which are important to know so I hope to go through those too.
On Facebook, I've liked the https://www.facebook.com/AMCprep page. They put up free AMC MCQs, only one every few weeks, but if you go to their page all the old ones are listed so you can work your way through those before you pay the $100 a month or whatever it is on their website.
So I'm beginning with that and hope to complete by the end of the year.
There's also a few things on YouTube if you hunt around.
I also have to hunt around for my next lot of placements.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Stress and motherhood and placements: the update
I wanted to quickly update on where I am right now with my stress, motherhood, and my clinical placements.
Stress: much, much better. So it turns out that after 8 years as a paramedic I do have some PTSD which motherhood and an unfortunate incident triggered. I was also living in a place where I felt unsafe. I will NEVER put myself or my children in that situation again. I have returned back to work and MY house now and things are so much better. The stress at work is completely manageable, but if something happens that makes me feel the personal security of my child is threatened, I have a strong, physiological response (shaking, racing heartbeat). I know I have some work to do on this because I'd like to do some travel etc and I can't always control my environment. It has been a horrible time in my life and it has made me realise the safety of my nest is paramount.
Motherhood: It's getting easier now Bubby is 13 months. She's a bit easier to manage these days. Being back at work has helped me feel more "normal", and I schedule one day a month for myself where she goes to daycare and I do my own thing. She's in daycare 2-3 days per week which is perfect for all of us. This won't be the case when I do my next clinical placement, which I'm a bit worried about. Today, for example, I took the day off work sick (I was really crook yesterday and a bit better today but still sent her to daycare). I am getting everything done in one day lol. I also get everything done at work in my downtime between jobs.
Placements: I have 32 weeks to go. I need: O+G (8 weeks), surgery (4 weeks), IM (12 weeks), and 8 weeks of electives. I am currently speaking to four local hospitals that all sound promising. I have until March 2017 to complete all these plus my final MCQ exam and OSCE. Then I'm done! I am hoping to be done next year though and then look at internships.
Internships: so, if I do my AMC in time I can apply to Australian hospitals for internship. If not, I have to wait until the following year. I am HAPPY to take an extra year to prep for AMC and get a good score, also to work a bit longer as an ambo and maybe save some money before I drop down from senior paramedic to junior doctor. I'm looking at internship in Australia, Samoa, or NZ at this stage.
Here's the thing: I'm 8 years in my job. We get 4 months long service leave at 10 years, which you may take early (from 8.5 years) if you intend to stay until 10 years. I am thinking about potentially doing my internship in Samoa (or elsewhere) while on LSL (8 months half-pay, plus accrued annual leave). That's the game plan atm. I will also see what is around in Australia and what is best for the family. My partner loves the idea of living overseas for a year. I, however, "like" the idea of a sibling for my daughter and there's no way I'm going to be pregnant or have a baby as a medical student (again) or in Samoa. And as I'm 37, I'm running out of time (and for anyone who says I can have a baby at 42, I think they're mad).
Goals: visualise with me here please! (Hey, I wanted to add you really need to write down your goals so you can work towards them, otherwise who do you know here you're going...?)
Stress: much, much better. So it turns out that after 8 years as a paramedic I do have some PTSD which motherhood and an unfortunate incident triggered. I was also living in a place where I felt unsafe. I will NEVER put myself or my children in that situation again. I have returned back to work and MY house now and things are so much better. The stress at work is completely manageable, but if something happens that makes me feel the personal security of my child is threatened, I have a strong, physiological response (shaking, racing heartbeat). I know I have some work to do on this because I'd like to do some travel etc and I can't always control my environment. It has been a horrible time in my life and it has made me realise the safety of my nest is paramount.
Motherhood: It's getting easier now Bubby is 13 months. She's a bit easier to manage these days. Being back at work has helped me feel more "normal", and I schedule one day a month for myself where she goes to daycare and I do my own thing. She's in daycare 2-3 days per week which is perfect for all of us. This won't be the case when I do my next clinical placement, which I'm a bit worried about. Today, for example, I took the day off work sick (I was really crook yesterday and a bit better today but still sent her to daycare). I am getting everything done in one day lol. I also get everything done at work in my downtime between jobs.
Placements: I have 32 weeks to go. I need: O+G (8 weeks), surgery (4 weeks), IM (12 weeks), and 8 weeks of electives. I am currently speaking to four local hospitals that all sound promising. I have until March 2017 to complete all these plus my final MCQ exam and OSCE. Then I'm done! I am hoping to be done next year though and then look at internships.
Internships: so, if I do my AMC in time I can apply to Australian hospitals for internship. If not, I have to wait until the following year. I am HAPPY to take an extra year to prep for AMC and get a good score, also to work a bit longer as an ambo and maybe save some money before I drop down from senior paramedic to junior doctor. I'm looking at internship in Australia, Samoa, or NZ at this stage.
Here's the thing: I'm 8 years in my job. We get 4 months long service leave at 10 years, which you may take early (from 8.5 years) if you intend to stay until 10 years. I am thinking about potentially doing my internship in Samoa (or elsewhere) while on LSL (8 months half-pay, plus accrued annual leave). That's the game plan atm. I will also see what is around in Australia and what is best for the family. My partner loves the idea of living overseas for a year. I, however, "like" the idea of a sibling for my daughter and there's no way I'm going to be pregnant or have a baby as a medical student (again) or in Samoa. And as I'm 37, I'm running out of time (and for anyone who says I can have a baby at 42, I think they're mad).
Goals: visualise with me here please! (Hey, I wanted to add you really need to write down your goals so you can work towards them, otherwise who do you know here you're going...?)
- Graduate from med school mid-2016
- AMC exam early 2017
- Apply for internships in 2017 for 2018 start
- 2018 first year as a doctor, Bubby will be 3-4 years old and in kinder. I will be 40!!!
- I will be 40, but look and feel 30!
- Internship local and do a year as dr overseas after, or the inverse
OUM - my thoughts now from this perspective
Hi Guys,
Well, here are my thoughts on OUM now I'm in my final year.
I'm actually a LOT more positive about the course than in previous years. Probably because I'm not as stressed, isolated, and full of self-doubt as in the beginning. Those were all things only I could control, but I believe there are steps current and future students can take to help alleviate some of the symptoms of being a distance student in a non-traditional med school. Her are some quick tips:
Well, here are my thoughts on OUM now I'm in my final year.
I'm actually a LOT more positive about the course than in previous years. Probably because I'm not as stressed, isolated, and full of self-doubt as in the beginning. Those were all things only I could control, but I believe there are steps current and future students can take to help alleviate some of the symptoms of being a distance student in a non-traditional med school. Her are some quick tips:
- meet a least one other student face-to-face and become their "buddy/wingman" during the course
- phone other students to chat (vent) privately one-on-one
- participate in the student union and fb groups
- don't get sucked into the negativity - its all too easy when you're stressed
- remember why you started the degree in the first place
- remember no medical degree is perfect: if in doubt, find someone from another, traditional med school and ask
- remember why you chose OUM in the first place (and own it)
- keep your eye on the prize
It also helps to be able to talk to faculty members to get word straight from the horse's mouth.
To recap, these were my reasons for studying at OUM:
- I didn't want to relocate to another state and my grades were never going to be good enough for the local university
- When I did the cold, hard maths, OUM was cheaper than the place I was offered interstate
- I was a brand-new paramedic and wanted on-road experience before changing career trajectory
- I wasn't really sure I wanted to become a doctor as I loved paramedicine so much. This way, I could keep my job and simply drop-out of med school if I changed my mind
- I didn't want to stop working full-time and go back to living off two-minute noodles and share housing. I REALLY didn't want to do that for another 4 years
- Getting medical degree was more about learning medicine and challenging myself than it was about where I got my degree from
- My intentions were to work as a doctor overseas in areas of extreme poverty, thus where I went to medical school was relatively irrelevant
- My studying-style is more suited to distance learning. I can read a textbook and retain the information MUCH faster than I can sitting in lectures
- I like to be different
Hope this helps some of you xxx
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