DScollon
31st May, 2001, 1:25 PM
Well, it seems a little cold and bare in here, but I'm sure that will change. It's probably because the invitations to the party have only just gone out.
My name is Derek and I suppose you could say that in a way I was the first to do a work experience "thing" at Monklands. I've been friends with Elliott for more years than either of us can remember now. He used to try to make me feel old by telling people I was in Monklands a decade ago (seriously, he used the word decade!) but it's more than that now.
I think this is the first time I've sat down and laid out my thoughts on paper (or in this case, phosphor) about the work experience I had at Monklands.
Elliott had been looking for someone to do what he thought was boring work in the lab for a summer to help out with a research project they were doing at the time. I was looking for something to do in the summer between finishing school and starting university. I got the job and found that the work he needed done took up roughly half of each day. So did I have a half day every day? No, because Elliott was kind enough to make arrangements for me to visit a different department of the hospital each day.
Even at that time, it was an advantage to have seen round a hospital before you tried to get a place in a medical course, now it's even more important to show the efforts you've made to find out about the job and the system. Anyway, I already had my place at Glasgow to study medicine and I'd already seen round a hospital, so why do the whole thing again? What was different? Well, at Monklands, I actually spent time in each department, maybe just a few hours, but always enough to get to know the people who were showing me around a little, to see a little more, to understand a little of how the individual departments fitted together.
Even now (yes Elliott, many years on) I think I have a better grasp than many of my colleagues of how the different departments of a hospital work together, where they work well together, where the stresses and strains are, where a department's workload comes from, and where my own department fits into the bigger picture.
The "Monklands Experience" was not about how to do the job of being a doctor (they should hopefully teach you that at uni), it was about learning the best ways of getting the job done. Just as an example, how many people will a consultant radiologist see (in person) in the course of a day if he's on call for CT scanning? Not very many! They sit in a darkened scanning room with a machine and a couple of radiographers and spend most of the time looking at a monitor. As a result, you're 100 times more likely to get your urgent CT scan arranged smoothly if you take 2 minutes to run round to the department to speak to them in person. They're usually glad to see a face, someone who is willing to come and discuss a patient with them rather than just send them a request card. They don't tell you this at uni.
So where am I now? Back at Monklands! I went off and did my medical course (with electives in Belfast and Canada) and have worked in many of the hospitals in the West of Scotland area doing a variety of jobs, from thoracic surgery to general medicine, urology to orthopaedics, all with a view to getting experience for Accident & Emergency work. I'm currently in the A&E department at Monklands, keeping in touch with Elliott over the occasional cup of coffee and sometimes even showing work experience students the workings of an A&E department.
Full circle, you might say.
To those of you who've already been, I hope you got as much out of the experience as I did. You'll probably be feeling the benefit for years to come in ways you can't even imagine right now. To those who are coming or thinking of coming, I hope I'll meet you soon.
All the best,
My name is Derek and I suppose you could say that in a way I was the first to do a work experience "thing" at Monklands. I've been friends with Elliott for more years than either of us can remember now. He used to try to make me feel old by telling people I was in Monklands a decade ago (seriously, he used the word decade!) but it's more than that now.
I think this is the first time I've sat down and laid out my thoughts on paper (or in this case, phosphor) about the work experience I had at Monklands.
Elliott had been looking for someone to do what he thought was boring work in the lab for a summer to help out with a research project they were doing at the time. I was looking for something to do in the summer between finishing school and starting university. I got the job and found that the work he needed done took up roughly half of each day. So did I have a half day every day? No, because Elliott was kind enough to make arrangements for me to visit a different department of the hospital each day.
Even at that time, it was an advantage to have seen round a hospital before you tried to get a place in a medical course, now it's even more important to show the efforts you've made to find out about the job and the system. Anyway, I already had my place at Glasgow to study medicine and I'd already seen round a hospital, so why do the whole thing again? What was different? Well, at Monklands, I actually spent time in each department, maybe just a few hours, but always enough to get to know the people who were showing me around a little, to see a little more, to understand a little of how the individual departments fitted together.
Even now (yes Elliott, many years on) I think I have a better grasp than many of my colleagues of how the different departments of a hospital work together, where they work well together, where the stresses and strains are, where a department's workload comes from, and where my own department fits into the bigger picture.
The "Monklands Experience" was not about how to do the job of being a doctor (they should hopefully teach you that at uni), it was about learning the best ways of getting the job done. Just as an example, how many people will a consultant radiologist see (in person) in the course of a day if he's on call for CT scanning? Not very many! They sit in a darkened scanning room with a machine and a couple of radiographers and spend most of the time looking at a monitor. As a result, you're 100 times more likely to get your urgent CT scan arranged smoothly if you take 2 minutes to run round to the department to speak to them in person. They're usually glad to see a face, someone who is willing to come and discuss a patient with them rather than just send them a request card. They don't tell you this at uni.
So where am I now? Back at Monklands! I went off and did my medical course (with electives in Belfast and Canada) and have worked in many of the hospitals in the West of Scotland area doing a variety of jobs, from thoracic surgery to general medicine, urology to orthopaedics, all with a view to getting experience for Accident & Emergency work. I'm currently in the A&E department at Monklands, keeping in touch with Elliott over the occasional cup of coffee and sometimes even showing work experience students the workings of an A&E department.
Full circle, you might say.
To those of you who've already been, I hope you got as much out of the experience as I did. You'll probably be feeling the benefit for years to come in ways you can't even imagine right now. To those who are coming or thinking of coming, I hope I'll meet you soon.
All the best,