21 Moments Every Medical Student Will Recognise
All students know that every course comes with its ups and downs. But for some reason it feels like studying medicine has a disproportionate number of downs for every up. Five years is a long time to be training, and during these long years you experience a lot more than long hours at the library. Here are 21 things all medical students have experienced at some point:
1. When you walk into hospital in summer clothes, and instantly get frostbite as the AC hits you.
2. When you go to see a patient’s abdomen, and you accidentally see his penis
3. Or when he decides to show it to you himself
4. When you have to explain to the mother, father, nanna and cousin twice removed that you’re not the nurse or doctor, and cannot tell them when they’re going to be discharged
5. When patients complain about the food and you smile weakly cause you understand the food tastes like a rubber glove.
6. When you feel like a pro because you just got an ‘all access’ card around hospital
7. Which means you no longer have an excuse when it comes to visiting relatives
8. When studying is bilingual and you have to know what gall bladder is in Maltese
9. And you pretend to know what the complicated procedure the patient just explained in Maltese is
10. When you’re so confused because of the trauma that is delivery suite but the heaven in the neonatal ward
11. When older patients pray for you and you’re blessed with divine nanna prayer energy (sorry guys, we’re stealing all your grandparents’ prayers for our studies)
12. When every patient is related to someone you know
13. When you freeze during surgery because of that one doctor who always feels hot
14. When you’re thrown in the deep end and asked to do a rectal exam on the spot with no time for mental prep
15. When a caffeine diary becomes important because you realize you’re having 5 coffees a day (plus a few canteen coffee breaks, but those don’t really count do they?)
16. When you realise medical students throw the best parties (Ballu anyone?)
17. When you start making bets on whether or not the lecture you waited 4 hours for is going to be cancelled
18. When babies make your day just by being
19. Despite them having unpronounceable names
20. When an “easy and fair” exam involves 200 years of advances in medicine
21. When attendance sheets become a new type of Pokemon #gottacatchemall
