What most people say about the weather in England, especially Liverpool is so true. You do get to experience 4 seasons in a day!
It was summer this morning....warm, with bright sunshine. Nobody would have expected it to rain, let alone snow. Wind was stronger than usual...but it's Liverpool. It was expected.
Ok, it drizzled a bit while I was taking the bus to hospital. Then, it started hailing when I was making my way back! It was painful when the small pieces of ice hit my face. Luckily I had my umbrella to shield my face. Found out from my friend that it snowed a bit in town as well. The wind was stronger comparatively.
Forced myself to go to the library as I was planning to attend this talk about Paediatric Neurology in the evening. By the time I made my way there, the wind was extremely strong. There were times when I had to stop walking as it was taking too much effort. I even saw the traffic light swaying. That was how bad it was. I did wonder if it can be strong enough to blow me away. Now was the only time I felt glad that I was fat.
Fought my way to the old lecture theatre to find that they've mistakenly emailed us the wrong venue. Made my way to the new lecture theatre through the icy cold wind but it was all worth it.
Presented by one of the 42 consultants in Paediatrics Neurology around the United Kingdom, he was not only amusing, lively but really inspiring.
My favourite pointer from him was on aspects which medical students need to consider when taking up a speciality.
1. Money
2. Variation
3. Academic challenge
Money
Yes, that is quite a major factor. One of my dream was to retire young and rich, but have given up now as I can predict that I will be retiring old. Actually, I don't think that is such a bad idea. Looking at my dad, he is constantly finding something to do, like learning about options, investments, going for new courses, looking after my mum and sister. I mean, he needs to find things to keep him occupied at such an old age. People do say that the retirement is the time when you get to do what you've always wanted. But to me, that time will be too late. I prefer to do what I like while I'm still young. Besides, I'm just too lazy to start thinking what will I do with my life after retirement. But things will change and I might start to look forward to it when I start working.
So, is there a speciality where I can earn a lot of money and have a lot of free time to take regular vacations?
Variation
Would I want to do something which is repetitive for the next half a decade? An example which was given by him was an ENT surgeon. Basically, they do only 3 types of surgery for the whole of their career but they are highly specialised in them. Hmmm......I think I wouldn't be able to cope with the monotonous lifestyle. I would like to see a variety of cases. Maybe come across some rare cases which will at least spice up the medical world a bit.
Academic challenge
This part was quite funny. I don't know if it's true or not. On average, a student will know about 680 words prior to entering medical school. After graduating from medical school, the average medical student will now know 3280 words. (I just hope that I've subconsciously learnt something. Must be at the lower end at the moment.) The difference between a specialist and a GP is that, a specialist knows an extra 180 words. Hmmm....doesn't sound that difficult to be a specialist then.
Seems like dermatology has the highest academic challenge among all speciality. Considering how lazy a person I am. I think I'll pass.
It was important that we know which path will we go down at the time of 4th of 5th year of medical school. From that stage onwards till Foundation 2, we were advised to build up our cv as the competition for Specialist Training was getting tougher and tougher as time goes on. It was estimated that about 30% of F2 would not be able to get into specialist training as there were not enough places for everyone. That is really sad. Come to think of it, why are there only 42 consultants in Paediatrics Neurology?
To reach his stage, it begins with entering specialist training in paediatrics, then sub-specialise in paediatrics neurology. It does sound difficult.
While I was doing IB, my friends and I used to motivate ourselves by telling ourselves that we would only have to work hard till we achieve the results to get into university. How naive we were then! The hard work just doesn't stop there. We have to pass each year in medical school, graduate, complete the housemanship, maybe specialise, constantly reassessed for competency throughout our whole career. Come to think about it, retirement seemed like a dream come true.
What the speaker (I cannot remember his name) said today was very true. The most important factors were neither money, variability, nor academic challege. It was to follow your heart.
I want to end up doing a job which I truly enjoy, truly love, truly feel satisfied, and truly feel that it was worth all the effort. Only then, will I be happy.
It was summer this morning....warm, with bright sunshine. Nobody would have expected it to rain, let alone snow. Wind was stronger than usual...but it's Liverpool. It was expected.
Ok, it drizzled a bit while I was taking the bus to hospital. Then, it started hailing when I was making my way back! It was painful when the small pieces of ice hit my face. Luckily I had my umbrella to shield my face. Found out from my friend that it snowed a bit in town as well. The wind was stronger comparatively.
Forced myself to go to the library as I was planning to attend this talk about Paediatric Neurology in the evening. By the time I made my way there, the wind was extremely strong. There were times when I had to stop walking as it was taking too much effort. I even saw the traffic light swaying. That was how bad it was. I did wonder if it can be strong enough to blow me away. Now was the only time I felt glad that I was fat.
Fought my way to the old lecture theatre to find that they've mistakenly emailed us the wrong venue. Made my way to the new lecture theatre through the icy cold wind but it was all worth it.
Presented by one of the 42 consultants in Paediatrics Neurology around the United Kingdom, he was not only amusing, lively but really inspiring.
My favourite pointer from him was on aspects which medical students need to consider when taking up a speciality.
1. Money
2. Variation
3. Academic challenge
Money
Yes, that is quite a major factor. One of my dream was to retire young and rich, but have given up now as I can predict that I will be retiring old. Actually, I don't think that is such a bad idea. Looking at my dad, he is constantly finding something to do, like learning about options, investments, going for new courses, looking after my mum and sister. I mean, he needs to find things to keep him occupied at such an old age. People do say that the retirement is the time when you get to do what you've always wanted. But to me, that time will be too late. I prefer to do what I like while I'm still young. Besides, I'm just too lazy to start thinking what will I do with my life after retirement. But things will change and I might start to look forward to it when I start working.
So, is there a speciality where I can earn a lot of money and have a lot of free time to take regular vacations?
Variation
Would I want to do something which is repetitive for the next half a decade? An example which was given by him was an ENT surgeon. Basically, they do only 3 types of surgery for the whole of their career but they are highly specialised in them. Hmmm......I think I wouldn't be able to cope with the monotonous lifestyle. I would like to see a variety of cases. Maybe come across some rare cases which will at least spice up the medical world a bit.
Academic challenge
This part was quite funny. I don't know if it's true or not. On average, a student will know about 680 words prior to entering medical school. After graduating from medical school, the average medical student will now know 3280 words. (I just hope that I've subconsciously learnt something. Must be at the lower end at the moment.) The difference between a specialist and a GP is that, a specialist knows an extra 180 words. Hmmm....doesn't sound that difficult to be a specialist then.
Seems like dermatology has the highest academic challenge among all speciality. Considering how lazy a person I am. I think I'll pass.
It was important that we know which path will we go down at the time of 4th of 5th year of medical school. From that stage onwards till Foundation 2, we were advised to build up our cv as the competition for Specialist Training was getting tougher and tougher as time goes on. It was estimated that about 30% of F2 would not be able to get into specialist training as there were not enough places for everyone. That is really sad. Come to think of it, why are there only 42 consultants in Paediatrics Neurology?
To reach his stage, it begins with entering specialist training in paediatrics, then sub-specialise in paediatrics neurology. It does sound difficult.
While I was doing IB, my friends and I used to motivate ourselves by telling ourselves that we would only have to work hard till we achieve the results to get into university. How naive we were then! The hard work just doesn't stop there. We have to pass each year in medical school, graduate, complete the housemanship, maybe specialise, constantly reassessed for competency throughout our whole career. Come to think about it, retirement seemed like a dream come true.
What the speaker (I cannot remember his name) said today was very true. The most important factors were neither money, variability, nor academic challege. It was to follow your heart.
I want to end up doing a job which I truly enjoy, truly love, truly feel satisfied, and truly feel that it was worth all the effort. Only then, will I be happy.
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