Extra Long Matches

[Dr Noodle]

After careful deliberation I chose 'Extra Long Matches' as the name for my blog (in fact it took me all of five seconds when I saw the box of matches beside me). No deep meaning behind it but infer from it what you wish

A bit about me...(-_-)zzzz...

Ye, ye well I'm on a second gap year at the moment having failed to get into med school twice already. Got way too involved as PRO on the council for our JEDI debating league (Junior English Debating Ireland) but I have no regrets as I managed to convince eleven schools, including over a hundred junior students, to take part. Wahey! So that's the reason why I did fairly abysmally the first time though I suppose being on the student council, the hockey team, training in martial arts three times a week and working every Saturday and Sunday didn't help either. Damn fool.

Oh ye I should mention at this point that I'm living in Ireland. I grew up in Navan but moved out when I was eighteen and now I live in Ballymun which, despite it's reputation, isn't too shabby a place to live in.

Now to why I didn't get the grades the second time (I know I'm full of excuses). I started a natural sciences course in Trinity but soon realised I hated it. 450 students in each lecture and over 200 in so called tutorials? No thanks! So I decided to drop out. For some time I just worked, feeling a little lost. I got pretty bored after a while and, on the spur of the moment, decided to repeat my leaving cert and take another shot at getting into med school. It's what I've always wanted to do after all. I applied late and had to pay a shit load for it but it was worth the second chance. I kept on working full time as a HCA (and occasionally ward clerk) and studied in the evenings. I said to myself that if I didn't get in this time, I would forever give up and take what I got as it would mean I just wasn't capable. However in three months I managed to bring my grades up considerably. In shock, I thought 'hey, maybe there's an eensy bit of a chance, just a little, that I might just be actually capable'.

So here I am. Still working full time, applying to study medicine in the UK and planning to repeat my leaving for a third time with a view to getting a place at RCSI next year. Maybe I am like an extra long match, not willing to burn out and give up just yet. If that makes any sense.

(-_-)zzzz...oh I'm sorry, maybe I'll post something a bit more interesting next time;p

To finish up I'll post up a bigger version of my avatar so you can get a closer look at my ugly mug. This picture was taken about a year ago at my debs. I wore tails and a bowler hat cos the top hats were too big...



Oh by the way, in case you're wondering, the teddy bear in my signature is Kon. I'm a big fan of Bleach, an anime series.

[Dr Noodle]

So I got a letter on Monday from Peninsula med school inviting me for interview yay! I got loads of forms with it (well three) and I've already managed to mess up the CRB one. I'm also a bit screwed for the occupational health one because I don't have a GP. Last time I went to see a doctor was when I was six and I had chickenpox. My parents haven't got any documentation from that GP and they can't remember the name of the practice let alone the doctor's name. So possibly I have to have a check up with some random GP here in Dublin but thing is it ain't free and costs a lot of money which I don't have. No seriously I don't have any money. I was off sick the week before and stupidly slept in yesterday so didn't get my invoice for the nights I did last week in on time. I emailed admissions today but no word back yet. Oh I'll think of something, time to use my decision analysis skills

I was a little worried about going to Peninsula. I've heard some negative stories about PBL style courses and doctors graduating from them not having enough knowledge. So I've decided that if I get an offer, I'll accept it and work very hard to improve my knowledge levels so that I'm not at a loss when I graduate. With regards there being no dissection, I'll find a way around that, possibly doing an anatomy iBSc (which I think I would love anyway) and maybe some work experience with a local pathologist. Looks like there won't be much opportunity for nights on the piss but then again when you come from a place where that is all there is to do, you get pretty bored of it.

Anyway I've been talking to some really nice people on this forum who are either applying to PMS or who are already students there and they all seem so nice. Being with genuinely nice people makes one happier so I think it's certainly worth it

On to non-medically things, not much happening there! I'm on the second series of Bleach and it's really getting good. I've been through so many medical dramas- up to season 8 of ER, four seasons of M*A*S*H, six seasons of Scrubs, first season of Gray's Anatomy and the complete Cardiac Arrest That's a very good series actually, I'd recommend it. I bought it after I read doctors reviews saying it is the most accurate of the medical dramas. The first series is particularly good, when Andrew is still an innocent baby intern.

Anyway, 'nuff said for now. Better go prepare for that interview!

[Dr Noodle]

I've been feeling a wee bit shy of late so haven't posted here in a while.

I got an offer for Peninsula, whoop! It's conditional on my CRB checks and occy health form. There's a health centre exactly five and a half minutes walk from where I live so I really should go down tomorrow and get it sorted. But I don't want to go for a check up! Isn't that awful, I want to be a doctor but I don't want to go and see one...

My interview was...an experience. I had it in Exeter. I met Sephie there (another forum member) and we had a good laugh. All the lads and lassies were dressed immaculately in suits. I felt a bit of a gombeen in my jumper but sure it was comfortable and suits just don't suit me.

Three of us were called and we went into a room to fill out our questionnaires. The idea of being judged and my future being decided upon by three strangers was terrifying. My mind froze and for a few minutes I stared at the yellow and black blur in front of me. Thanks to Iceman_Jondoe (absolute legend!) I had prepared detailed answers in advance and learned them off my heart. I scribbled these down quickly and went on to read the scenario. My heart sank when I saw them. They seemed too straight forward. I'd been preparing for something on abortion, blood transfusions, the MMR vaccine and autism myth etc but none of these came up.

A very friendly looking gentleman came in and called me for the interview. I remember he had a bright orange coloured shirt. Kudos to him for that, it was nice! When we got to the room he introduced me to another man and woman who both shook my hand and gave me a friendly greeting. All this caught me completely off my guard. People had said here how the whole process was friendly but I still expected to see stern looking interviewers sitting behind a desk. There was no desk, just clipboards. I slouched into my chair and crossed my legs. A second later I realised what I was doing, jumped up, uncrossed my legs and sat ramrod straight with my hands palms down on my knees. The guy with the orange shirt asked the first question and as I started to answer a burning feeling crept up my face alongside a feeling in my tummy that you get when you have had at least four near black coffees that day and it's coming to the end of a busy twelve hour shift.

I was only semi aware of what I was saying. At the same time I had several thoughts buzzing around my head- 'am I squeaking?', 'am I speaking loud enough?', am I speaking too loud?', 'I wonder which one here is the doctor', 'she looks like a nurse', 'darn I'm scrunching up my hands', 'uh oh he's looking at my hands', 'damnit he's looking again', 'he's going to be wondering why I'm so nervous even though I'm twenty', 'need to look more mature', 'I really like his shirt', 's**t I shouldn't have said that', 'now I look like a twat', 'oh he's laughing, I wonder with me or at me...'.

The laughing came after I had said I was on the JEDI council in response to 'tell us about an achievement you are proud of'. I didn't mean it to sound funny but that's what we called it at school so it came out naturally. At the end of the interview the three interviewers got up to shake my hand and the guy who was looking at my hands laughed again. I walked out convinced I had made a complete mess of it.

Anyway I applied through the CAO for two colleges here and to do the leaving cert again. But I got my offer there at the end of January. I'm very tempted not to do the LC but the study will be good practice. I don't want my brain turning to mush and I think it's a good idea to go over everything again before I start so I don't fell completely lost.

I'm very excited and can't wait to start. I really want to have an assignment due or to have to pull an all nighter because I have an important exam the next day.

I've made a very nice ice-cream. I haven't thought of a good name for it yet so for now I'll call it chocolate toffee apple coconut ice-cream with a dash of cinnamon.

Bed time

[Dr Noodle]

Whoops haven't written on this in a while :/

It's the Easter holidays and I'm bored. Bored= word challenge on facebook and youtube, unfortunately. However, I do now and then come across some interesting things. Such as this: YouTube - Eddie Adcock plays banjo during brain surgery.

^Check out the modern miracle of medicine, tuned to the mellow sound of the banjo

Another, totally unrelated video, but one that tends to set people off on the giggles: YouTube - Hahaha

On that note here's an article about how 98% of babies are bipolar: 98% Of Babies Manic-Depressive | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

"we found that most babies...could not be counted on to take care of themselves" =p

The internet is a weird and wonderful place (though if they made MSN into a ghost in the shell-like chatroom that would make my day).

I suppose I should talk about my course a bit...

I love the PBL style of learning. Group work helps make difficult concepts easier to understand. There's one particularly smart dude in my group who explains everything so well I'm pretty much learning medicine from him. It does seem to depend on your group though, from what I've heard from others. I've been lucky, the two groups I've been in were and are brilliant with people who are smart and hard working but also relaxed and still up for a laugh now and then. Others apparently haven't had it so lucky so if you're checking out PBL courses, perhaps ask for a few opinions before making up your mind.

Still working as a care assistant though not as regularly as I'd like as the NHS seem to have the organisational skills of some twit from the Apprentice.

We're getting a lot of clinical experience which is great, tis my favourite aspect of the course. Twice every 2 weeks we get to dress up in our fancy blouses and make our way down to one of the local hospitals for a two hour session. Half of it usually consists of a communication skills sess with actors...and cameras :/ These scared me a lot at first but it's true, you soon learn to forget they're even there. It may sound faffy but I find these sessions incredibly useful. As well as the comm skills, we're also learning about symptom frameworks and there's quite a lot to take in with those. Glad I'm learning now rather than waiting til 3rd year and being thrown into the deep end.

I have a 3 week special module titled 'A life of pain' after the hols, so off to study (revise of course) the nervous system I go!