Saturday, December 06, 2008

It's Cambridge Season: Good Luck!

Me wishing good luck to all you poor masochists applying to Cambridge, Soviet-style.
Word of advice: find a psychiatrist NOW.

Sorry for the delay in updates, folks; I've been wading nipple-deep in clinical school and trying hard to survive. And in just these past few months of working in a hospital, one of the deep and profound truths of medicine has been revealed to me. Being constantly surrounded by people in pain and helping to alleviate their suffering has shown me, finally, a great secret of life that all those who walk this hallowed path of healing eventually learn:

That medical students - especially medical students who have been at a traditional stick-up-the-arse teach-them-theory-only university and therefore know nuts about clinical skills - really are the lowest, most base, most wretched form of life on the planet.

Cambridge University's stance on equipping its future doctors
(no, smartass, that is NOT a grammatical error.)

But more on that later - I'm still rubbing the latest boot-shaped bruise inflicted on me by the drug nurse this morning when I made the tactically brilliant move of interrupting her during her drug rounds. (Bonus tip for budding medical students: DON'T. Especially if said drug nurse is 6 feet tall, Samoan, and stealing a couple of Valium pills off her drug cart every few minutes. --Ed.)

Anyhoo, it's around the time of year that hundreds of candidates around the world buck up for interviews, study their pants off for Cambridge admissions tests and start making prayers/offerings/virgin sacrifices to their favourite deities; yes that's right - it's Cambridge interview season! I'd just like to wish all Cambridge applicants good luck (you poor bastards. --Ed.). I've written before on interviews and stuff - this page may help. Any questions can be shot to me at angrymedic [at] gmail [dot] com and hey, if you don't make it, you can always get the t-shirt - it's way cooler anyway. Don't panic!

11 comments:

Dr. Deb said...

There is nothing like learning as you go. It makes for great stories.

The Angry Medic said...

Dr. Deb: Whoa. So the rumours are true - you really don't sleep do you? And YOU'RE ON IMDB! *dies of jealousy* A consultant to Law & Order? Remind me to get your autograph the next time I see you :) and of course, you're absolutely right. As my next post will prove.

Ms-Ellisa said...

Aaaah the joys of clinical medicine after 4 years of theory...

I've wiped many walls with my robe while clinging onto them from fright, refusing to stand alone using *just* my feet for support.

:-D

Jade said...

Hey angry medic, here's funny and sadly false hospital hierachy we throw about to make ourselves feel better:
Head of department
Consultant
Registrar
Final year medics
Medical officers
4th yrs and 5th years (that's us)
Pre-clinical 3rd yrs and 2nd yrs
Nurses
Caf lady with hypercholesterolaemia
Student nurses
All other supportive staff incl. cleaners, cooks, porters etc
Scum between the hospital's toes - Interns
So see, it's not that bad. :-)

The Angry Medic said...

Ms Ellisa: LOL I know the feeling so well! Except it's slightly harder when you're male - ever turned the corner and latched onto a 60-year-old huge senior nurse by accident? Not pretty, let me assure you :P

Jade: Okay that had me wishing and WISHING away that it was true. But you're absolutely right - it does make you feel better :)

tracy said...

Heh, heh...i want a "CHiPs" t-shirt....and some of that Valium :)
Hi Angry, love ya!

The Pretty Junks said...

hahahaha!

ahhhh the 'joy' of being the least intelligent of 'em all. my fav daily routine would be to stand behind those towering interns and medical officers during the grand ward rounds, to hide my tiny self from being too conspicuous to the searching, hungry eyes of the evil consultants. but somehow, they always managed to catch hold of my sight. eventually. and that would be the moment when i got 'grilled' to perfection. such joy... =P

Foundation Trust Watch said...

if you don't make it

If you don't make it dears, there's always Durham...

Anonymous said...

durham(n) the grave yard of oxbridge rejects

The Angry Medic said...

Tracy: LOL were you a fan of the TV show? And hi - thanks for dropping by! Hearing from you always brightens my day :)

Melissa: Ah, how familiar that sounds. Must be a universal experience in med school huh? Hope you're holding up okay (better than I am, anyway) :P

FTW: LOL for some reason your nickname cracks me up. 'FTW!' is one of my close pals' favourite super-geeky exclamations :) I'm adding you to my blogroll!

Elitist Anonymous: Don't they say that about a lot of other universities? Imperial and UCL seem to consider themselves full of Oxbridge rejects too...

Foundation Trust Watch said...

O, I say. Blogrolled by a Medic at Old Posh...