Personal Insight Flashcards
What’s the best thing about you?
I would say the best thing about myself is my ability to learn, it is a skill that I need not only in professional but also in personal life and allows me to constantly reflect and seek to better myself. I pride myself on my speed of uptake of new information and skills and this is a skill vital to a doctor both throughout medical school and your career as the field is constantly growing and you need to stay up to date with any new skills and knowledge to continue to provide good care.
What would you change about yourself?
If I could change anything about myself I would say I care too much about what people say to me and I would make myself able to distance myself from them more effectively. As somebody who is very compassionate I have always had the tendency to take things to heart and this has lead to me being hurt many times in the past, when in reality I need to just take a step back and realise why they are feeling that way and sometimes that people strike out because of other issues in their life and instead of being hurt, I could try to support them through their hardships.
What do you do to relax?
One of my favourite things to do to relax is play music, I play the piano and the cello and they really help me to clear my head because I’m just focused on the music instead of school or work or any other problems I’m facing, it just provides that sense of escape for me.
Another thing I like to do is play field hockey and this helps me to take all my frustrations out positively through sport and exercise instead of letting them build up and effect my mental health. Within this I have also made a lot of friendships through hockey and going back to a clubhouse for some food after a match is also a great way to just relax and enjoy time in the company of friends.
Finally I would say I always just enjoy going out with my friends, whether that’s to the cinema or to karaoke, just enjoying myself in good company always helps me to unwind from the stresses of life.
Give me an example of when you’ve felt under pressure.
Exams: as the youngest of 3 with two sisters who my parents thought should’ve achieved higher, the pressure is really piled on me as the youngest child to perform academically and sometimes the pressure of those expectations can get to me. I realise that they only ever do it because they want me to succeed and have options in life, but the pressure of feeling like I constantly needed to be the best and was compared to everybody else did get to me and at times I felt like I was going to crack, however as I’ve grown up I realised the only person who the exams effect is myself, so instead of studying because I was scared of failure, I started to study because I wanted to succeed and take charge of my own destiny. Since then the pressure of exams has never got to me as much, of course I still get anxious, but I have learned to accept all outcomes and use exams as an opportunity to grow.
How have you displayed resilience?
vaccination centre- as a patient facing role, I often received the burden of people’s healthcare complaints and people who weren’t happy with having to receive a vaccine or a specific type of vaccine would complain at me about this. However through this I have learned to understand where they are coming from and instead of taking their complaints personally, aiming to improve the system for their benefit
Resilience is a skill vital to healthcare workers as it can often be challenging and you are expected to face adversity when working but you need to be able to carry on working despite those challenges.
Tell me about a time you gave up
Learning Dutch- it was the summer and I had a trip planned to go and see family and I wanted to have improved my skills by the time I got there to a conversational level. However I had also started preparing for my UCAT and my driving test as well as still being at school and managing my own relationships. It got to a point where I was stressed out trying to learn all these completely different skills at once and felt like I was progressing as well as I wanted to in any of them. I realised I had to make a sacrifice and I gave up on learning Dutch. As somebody who is half Dutch but can’t speak it I feel very out of touch and it is something I always feel guilty about, however I am thankful that I was able to admit that I was overwhelmed and needed to reduce my own workload as otherwise I may have jeopardised my own future, mental health and relationships. At some point in the future I do want to return to it and I hope at some point I find the ‘right time’ but I realise that no golden opportunity will ever present itself and some time I will have to just take the dive.
Tell us about a time you’ve asked for help
After a breakup- it was my first ever relationship and it ended very suddenly and unexpectedly and I was heartbroken. In those moments I felt as if I would never have another reason to smile or carry on, I felt like just giving up on everything I had been working towards, but instead of giving in, I called my best friend. He was amazing, we went out with a group of friends and I laughed and smiled and it made me realise that everything was going to be alright and even though it still hurts to this day, thanks to him I didn’t give up and I got back on my feet and I know one day I’ll be able to return the favour to him.
How do you deal with failure?
Reflect
Understand why you failed- lack of preparation, underestimating or overestimating things, overconfidence.
Realise what lead to those things
Think about what you can do in future to avoid those things
Move on
Why is reflection important?
Vital skill in learning- without reflecting on mistakes we would never learn
Acknowledge what we did well and how to replicate that success
Think about how our actions impacted people, whether we want to replicate that or change something
How do you think junior doctors cope with stress?
Take time away from work- set aside time for relaxation
Make meaningful connections- colleagues and outside of work to escape the echo chamber but have people who understand your scenario
Hobbies- music for me, helps to not think of work
Exercise- release frustrations positively, stay fit and keep a clear head
When have you failed at organisation?
