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Photo by Karolina Grabowska A sliver of early morning light broke through the gap between the curtains, illuminating Tim's bedroom. Tim grew increasingly restless in bed, slowly waking up to the most exciting morning of his year—Christmas Day. He balled up a little fist and reached up from under the warmth of the duvet to … Continue reading A Very COVID Christmas

It has been a couple of weeks since I last blogged and I regret that. It is mainly because I have been busy rescheduling my wedding, juggling two big research projects, revising for my surgical board exams, a full time job, one or two other small projects and trying to relax in the time between … Continue reading Why do young people hate their jobs?

Recently I have been coding much more thanks to my ongoing research. As such, I have been working extensively with data and R, an open-source programming language used for statistical analysis of big data and even machine learning. I first began working with big data sets and R about three years ago when I went … Continue reading COVID-19 visualised: One-hour challenge

Greyfriars Kirk graveyard, Edinburgh Three weeks ago, there was an outbreak of COVID-19 on my ward leading to 14 members of members of staff becoming infected and subsequently being absent from work. The ward was closed for two days, with no new patient admissions allowed into the ward. This resulted in cancelled elective surgeries and … Continue reading Save lives by testing asymptomatic NHS staff for COVID

The issue of racism has been thrust back into the spotlight in recent weeks with the murder of George Floyd and the widespread protests that ensued. Many have been outraged by the story of Mr Floyd and many other Black individuals who have been unjustly killed by police in the USA. Protests have swept though … Continue reading Racism is everywhere, even in healthcare.

Looking forwards... This week I submitted my medical portfolio for review to determine whether I have met the competencies required to pass my first year as a junior doctor and gain full registration with the General Medical Council. By the end of foundation year one training we are expected have completed three four-month rotations and … Continue reading Planning for the future: success and burnout?

COVID has had many unpredictable effects on healthcare and working life. One such impact has been the delayed presentation of unwell individuals to hospital. These patients stay away for a number of reasons: to protect the NHS; for fear of contracting coronavirus from hospital; or due to being wrongly diagnosed with coronavirus and actively advised … Continue reading Unfortunate cases of failing patients and staff in the time of COVID-19

Difficult conversations The theme of today's blog is difficult conversations. The life of a doctor is full of difficult conversations, whether that is discussing do not attempt resuscitation orders with patients, explaining to a family that their loved one will likely die on this admission, or explaining to your loved ones why you have to … Continue reading Difficult conversations: is your doctor as knowledgeable as he thinks?

It has been more than a week since my last blog post and a lot has happened in that time. I was working a long week last week, often starting in the morning and finishing late in the evening. As a doctor, the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed our way of working in rather unexpected ways. … Continue reading The new normal: this week’s challenges on the ward