As medical students, we don’t get many opportunities to jump in and defib patients, or call code blues, or perform CPR. And honestly, we probably don’t want to. But we all want to help people. So here’s a handy guide on how to make a difference in med school. Donate blood. One blood donation saves three lives. (In Australia, we’re not paid to donate, but I understand this is different in some countries. Regardless, giving blood makes a difference, and not enough people do it. Volunteer. Okay, so maybe volunteering won’t save lives (unless you volunteer as a first aider), but it will definitely make the world a happier, shinier place. Keep yourself well. As a medical student, the most important life you can save is your own. Engage with your peers. Take a walk outside. Try not to drink too much coffee (I know it’s hard, and that caffeine is liquid gold. But have you ever had eight cups of coffee before a clinical exam? Because you shouldn’t. If your heart rate is 130 bpm and you’re trying to interview a patient, you know you’re going to have problems). Have fun occasionally. Watch Grey’s Anatomy without feeling the need to comment on the fact that Izzie wears her stethoscope backwards or bemoaning the fact that surgeons are rarely as hot as McSteamy. Help the nurses on clinical placement. Sure, the doctors prescribe drugs and write management plans. But in hospitals, the only reason anything ever gets done is because we have amazing nurses. Ask if you can follow a nurse around for a shift. Not only will you get a work-out, but you’ll appreciate the sheer amount of work they do. And most nurses have brilliant communication skills—you’ll learn a lot. And even little things, like settling a baby while a nurse is tending to another patient or offering to find the doctors and get them to chart drugs for a patient can make a huge difference. Speak up. Do you think the registrar has missed something? Ask them if it they think it’s important. I was in ED the other night, and a girl was seizing and had a rash over her eye, and my reg hadn’t commented on it, so I asked if it was of significance. It wasn’t, but the reg explained to me what she was actually looking for. Talk to patients. Again, maybe you won’t directly save a life. But have you ever been in hospital? It’s a lonely place. Not all patients get flowers and family visiting them. Not all patients have friends to drop by and say hi. Approach them. Ask if you can clerk them. Ask them how they are. Go and say goodbye when they’re discharged. Smile at them. It might make a world of difference to someone. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt. Not everything your supervisors say will be right. Always double-check drug dosages. Learn because you enjoy what you’re doing. If you learn because you have to, or because you have to be a doctor, not because you want to, you’re doing yourself and your patients a great disservice. Not everything in medicine will be enjoyable. But my colleague gave me some great advice yesterday: “I used to take copious notes during every lecture, but I wouldn’t learn anything. The next semester, I brought a coffee to every lecture, sat back, and let myself enjoy what was happening. Sure, it was more work and I had to make my own notes later, but I learnt things better.” Engage with your learning. Approach everything with an open mind and fascination. Dream. Imagine what you could do and how you might change the world. It may be naive, but this is the greatest strength of being a student—we haven’t yet been jaded by the system. We can still find ourselves inspired by medicine—and from this, innovation is born. Source
