Less than 4 weeks until I begin work

Not sure how to feel

3rd of August. The first Wednesday of August. The day when doctors begin their new posts all over the UK.

Just over 3 weeks and one of those doctors will be me.

I begin my rotation in the acute internal medicine ward, AKA Acute Medical Unit (AMU) / Emergency Assessment Unit (EAU). This ward is basically a step above A&E.

So far, I have my rota, I have been introduced to my colleagues - F2 equivalent and F1s. I have been given a bunch of online modules to complete, some are basic stuff like fire safety, but then it gets more complex with things like safeguarding and prescribing safely.

I have quite a few things to do in my personal life too before the 3rd of August, such as move, sort out visa stuff etc. However, I need to find some time to sit down for a good week and do some studying.

Things I want to cover:

• A to E-assessment

• CPR

• Arrhythmias

• Common medical problems / emergencies

• Common prescriptions

• Go over all the medical apps to remind myself of how they work

My first 2 weeks seem chill. Just standard days of 8 am - 4 pm. However, I will be working 1 on-call week every 3 weeks. The nightshifts I am assigned are 4 nights in a row, luckily I get 3 days off after those.

I am really excited but I am also nervous. Nervous because I will be responsible for people’s lives and the care they receive and also because of being in a new setting and getting used to new people. It will also be the first time I have some form of authority, which will be nice.

Anyways, I just wanted to write a short one this week to just let you know of what is happening in terms of my new job, what I am asked to do and what is coming up.

I look forward to starting to work as a doctor so that I can have interesting stories for the newsletters to come.