Today was very different from yesterday, obviously due to me being in different departments and also because of different people. The people who you shadow and who explain things to you really affect your overall experience. Although the majority of people are very kind and understanding of my low level knowledge, a few seemed very frustrated and annoyed at having to spend the time explaining things to me. I am very greatful for those who are sympathetic because I understand that in many working environments like these where there are important deadlines, it really puts people out to explain every minute detail. This taught me about how precious their time is to get the job done properly.
That aside, I learnt and experienced a great deal today, similarly to yesterday, a lot of great machines have recently taken over many of the jobs which previously had to be done manually, saving time and improving detail. However, controls and tests need to be done both internally and externally; quality assurance schemes send specimens to check that the results in all of the labs around the country are consistent and accurate. These are very important as inaccuracy could mean, in the case of blood transfusion, sudden death for the patient. In science, new developments constantly change the working environment, allowing more precision and ease, this makes it an exciting field to work in. Medicine especially, because there is a great demand for new knowledge so there is a vast amount of research carried out in all fields.
Today I also got the opportunity to look at some bacteria under a microscope, and even with a stain it was very difficult to recognise, also photos of different white blood cells and different bacteria on agar are extremely difficult to differentiate, perhaps I was being very naive thinking that cells would just simply be obvious, there is challenge in the diagnosis, despite all of the handy tests and detail. As one of the ladies I met today said 'bacteria don't read textbooks!'
Whilst in the blood transfusion section the message that blood, platelet and organ donors are still greatly needed despite the recent campaigns raising awareness. When I told the man about the assembly that I plan to give to my year about donating these, he was pleased- especially due to the fact that my school has a high ethnic minority proportion and the demand for donations from these ethnicities are significantly higher than for white British donations. He advised me simply to tell them the facts, to simply educate and not preach in a judgmental fashion. This is probably the best persuasion method, especially in an area like this which some people may be sensitive about.
Similarly to yesterday, whenever the patient record appeared anywhere, I couldn't help but think about the situation of the individual, wanting to know their story and whether they recovered well or not. This leads me more strongly to believe I would like to be a general practitioner, working with the same people over a prolonged period of time and be able to offer continuing support.
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