25 Tips To Get You Through CP1 (As told by 4th years) 1. MAKE SURE YOU OWN A STETHOSCOPE and consider having your name engraved on it. Junior doctors will often wander off with them after borrowing them for "a few" patients. 2. Be aware that you don’t know everyone. So you’ll almost definitely mistake someone from your year as a GEM. Awkward. 3. Don’t expect lectures to get any better: it’ll still be too warm, dark and comfy to stay awake in Friday afternoon teaching. 4.
‘Kumar and Clark’ will still be a paperweight/door stop/draft excluder. Instead, buy the lighter and more useful Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine (the "Cheese and Onion").
5. Take opportunities! It may seem a little bit scary at first but you'll gain a lot. Ask questions and volunteer yourself to do things. You’ll learn much more by getting involved and most doctors are more than happy to talk to you if you seem interested! 6. Buy a cheap black biro and when it gets lost or 'stolen' buy a whole bunch more. There is always a shortage of pens on a ward and everyone from doctors to nurses to the pharmacist need more. What better way to make friends than to be their dealer? 7. Never, ever write on a patient notes in blue ink. Just don't. 8. Get (and actually use) an iron: those that don't iron their shirts will be silently judged by all around them. As will those wearing bow ties. 9. The answer to pretty much every question is either 'I would do a full history and examination' or 'ABCDE' (Airway/ Breathing/ Circulation/ Disability/ Exposure/Everything else). On a similar note, gallstones tend to come up quite a lot for no apparent reason, so if you’re stuck for an answer, suggest them. 10. You can’t learn everything from a textbook. Most people find that they learn the most important skills by going onto the wards and speaking to as patients and doctors. History taking is a particularly important focus of CP1 so think carefully about your questions and get as much practice as possible! 11. Once you have taken a history, try and present it! You will have to do this in the practical exam at the end of the attachment, so find someone to listen to you and ask for feedback. 12. Remember CFU? Yeah, it's time to start checking what your patient has been up to in the months that you've not spoken to them. 13. Invest in a loud alarm clock and some strong coffee.
14. To get the disappointment out of the way: Grey’s Anatomy lied. There are no (or at least very few) attractive consultants or registrars. Or F1s for that matter. 15. CHOOSE YOUR BIBLE: The Herron’s and Red’s guides were written by past students and provide a decent guide to what information you need to know to pass the knowledge exams. Heron's has a jazzier font but Red’s is less waffly. Both are available from the Lenton Print Shop or Heron’s is available for free on the NLE! (Log onto the NLE. Go to CP1>change the year to 07/08>CLP>Student area). You may decide that these books are slightly out of date, don’t include enough diagrams or are partly copied straight out of leading text books BUT they act as total lifesavers in the last frantic few weeks of revision. 16. Invest in a tendon hammer (the clinical skills centre do them cheaply). Essential for neurological assessment practice towards the exam and handy to lend to that medic child you’ve been taking such good care of (Hint. Hint.) for their OSCE practice. 17. People will constantly ask you to work out a differential diagnosis using 'the surgical sieve'. This is really confusing until you find out what the sieve actually is! Essentially, it gives you a structured approach to finding a diagnosis/answering questions/taking a history by sorting the causes of a presenting complaint into various categories; Congenital, Infection, Inflammatory, Degenerative, Trauma and Mechanical, Neoplastic conditions, Metabolic/Endocrine, Neurological, Iatrogenic and Idiopathic. 18. Know your limits. Make sure that you talk to someone if you find yourself in a situation you aren’t comfortable with or find upsetting. Similarly, getting to watch surgery may be really interesting but if you feel funny at any point say so and take 5 minutes out. Surgeons would much rather you do that than deal with a passed out medical student. It's quite common and nothing to be ashamed of. 19. Stay on top of your learning. CP1 is a huge learning curve with many new things being thrown at you throughout and there’s no four week holiday to cram everything this time. Use the objectives at the back of your log book to help guide you through. 20. Invest in a fob watch/time keeping device that’s not worn on your wrist. It’ll make it much easier to take respiratory and heart rates every time you do a clinical examination. 21. Prepare an answer to "What specialty do you want to go into". You'll be asked it a lot and saying "I don't know" quickly becomes tedious. Consider telling the consultant that actually, you're quite interested in <insert the name of their specialty here>, as it might just make them like you more. 22. Placed in Lincoln or Boston? Take your own duvet! You’re provided with hospital bedding but it’s not great. 23. Placed at Derby? Costa does 25% off for staff on a Friday. This may not seem very relevant at the moment, but closer to exams this will make you very happy. Curry Thursdays at Derby are also incredible. Even if you are placed in Boston, this trip is recommended. 24. Plan something fun for your two week summer: 2013 is going to be a LONG year! 25. Most importantly, enjoy it! This is what many of you have been waiting for since you started medical school so go out there, get stuck in and have a fantastic time.