Work

I have just finished my first 8 month rotation. I loved it and will miss it a lot, mainly the staff. Mainly the nursing staff.
Being part-time I work 24 hours a week on average. This means 2 days some weeks, 3 others. After 4 months I got a job share locum which means my days are more regular now - it actually matters which days I turn up. There are pros and cons of being part time. The major downside I found was that I didn't know as many of my patients as I'd have liked. Those that were in long-term I got to know but day case or 2 day patients - more than likely I'd only be there for one of those days so didn't really follow their management plan. Not that that would have changed, neurosurgery being way over my head! The pros meant that thanks to a good deanery manager I do 8 month rotations instead of 4. Getting to know the nursing staff and the consultants was much easier, and I got to witness 2 lots of SHOs changing round which was beneficial
I was the most junior doctor on a neurosurgical unit. I learnt how to cannulate properly (first night shift, very steep learning curve), how to catheterise quickly and that most of the job is paperwork. I also learnt how to take samples of brain juice, how to comfort a patient with a brain tumour diagnosis and how not to piss off the nurses.
Seeing the SHOs rotate meant I could teach them some of the specialist tasks I'd learnt - changing EVD bags, taking CSF samples, treating SAH principles. I may never need these skills again but I like to think that learning new skills has kept my brain active.
In the next rotation which I start next week I would like to revise some proper medicine, as I think during 8 months prescribing analgesia, fluids and laxatives I've forgotten a lot of the theory.