Work experience Flashcards
What did you learn/observe from your HCA role?
• Making difference to people in their most vulnerable state
o E.g. teddy
• Communication/interacting with patients as I’m an extremely sociable person
o e.g. MS patient
• Teamwork between professionals
o E.g. MDT – aggressive patient
- Problem-solving aspect
- Variety and continuity of care
Adapt communication skills - Makaton
Empathy - patients and family too
Teamwork - aggressive patient, when felt abused
Resilience - death
Respect and dignity - take time to listen and treat as person, not patient - noughts and crosses. Make sure have as much independence as possible. Own furniture. Lots of choice. 2 married people
Integrity and honesty - lady who fell
Challenges of medicine
What did you learn/observe on the ID ward?
Say pros of medicine
Challenges medicine poses
Patient with TB
- not physical, but mental too
- explain in simple terms
- encourage - you’re doing well etc.
- Plan to get home as quick as possible - felt included in decision making process
Shows partnership, communication skills, listening skills, empathetic
MDT - teamwork to determine best patient care
Problem-solving
Work within limits of competency - sent to Cambridge
What did you learn/observe in the GP surgery?
Say pros of medicine
Communication skills - clear, understandable way - leaflets and used translator too
Teamwork - receptionist, other doctors, nurses, pharmacy too
Problem-solving and holistic - end of life care
Showed empathy, listening, families concerns too, included patient in decision making process too
Looked at 4 pillars of ethics
• Autonomy – competent
• Non-maleficence – didn’t know cause – no sign of improvement
• Beneficence – best interest for her to go to hospice
• Justice – had she got a will sorted/families thoughts
Challenges of medicine - only 10 minutes
From Your Work Experience, Can You Tell Me About A Difficult Situation You Observed/Had To Deal With And What You Learnt From This?
Aggressive patient
- learnt teamwork, communication, empathy
• E.g. aggressive patient – grab arm and try to hit other residents
o Empathy – their feelings are real to them, she was probably scared
o Respect personal space – 1m away, decreases anxiety
o Non-threatening/non-verbal communication – give eye contact but remain calm
o Moved residents, alled nurse to ask for help, doctor, filled out distressed chart
o Learn to distract/change topic with her - mits with buttons, give babies
o Learnt: importance of adapting communication skills to remain calm in these stressful situations e.g. distract, empathy, teamwork – nurse
Late to patient
- same as above
Doctor - death every day previous week - importance of empathy, communication, teamwork
What Qualities Did You Learn Are Important From The Doctors And Nurses During Your Work Experience?
Teamwork - aggressive patient
Adapt communication skills - deaf patient
Empathy - end of life care, AD and family
Resilient
Self-aware - when to ask for help
What Did You Like Most About The Work Experience You Undertook?
• Making difference to people in their most vulnerable state
o E.g. teddy
• Communication/interacting with patients as I’m an extremely sociable person
o e.g. MS patient
• Teamwork between professionals
o E.g. MDT – aggressive patient
- Problem-solving aspect
- Variety and continuity of care
Why Do You Think We Ask Candidates To Undertake Work Experience?
- It is a long course requiring a lot of motivation/determination – people need to know what they’re getting themselves into
- Shows if will enjoy clinical placements which are similar to work experience
- Provides insight into challenges e.g…. more realistic
- Also shows the positive aspects e.g…
- Showed me I have the relevant skills to persue medicine e.g….
Reflecting On Your Work Experience, What Event, If Any, Changed Your Views On Modern Medicine?
- Showed me the more challenging sides of medicine that you can only really appreciate first hand
- Importance of MDT/teamwork
- Importance of family in the patient care
Give An Example Of An Interaction Between A Doctor Or Nurse And A Patient That You Observed During Your Work Experience. What Skills Did You Find To Be Important For This Type Of Communication?
e. g. when GP came to assess patient
e. g. GP - palliative care
empathy, listen, adapt communication, compassion, resilience
During Your Work Experience/Shadowing, What Three Skills Did You Observe And Could You Rank Their Importance?
• Being able to adapt communication is most important
o This is because it is extremely important for consent
o Explain in simple terms
o E.g. Makaton/louder tone/write things down
• Teamwork
o Constantly working within MDT
o E.g. handovers – need to be aware of illnesses etc
o E.g. death, aggressive patients
• Empathy
o More trustworthy, feel understood, more likely to engage with treatment or tell you things
o E.g. family
How Did Your Work Experience Help You Confirm Your Desire To Pursue A Career In Medicine?
• HCA
o Teamworking e.g. MDT
o Make a difference to people at their most vulnerable e.g. AD/teddy
o Communication with patients e.g. MS
- Also learnt of the challenges medicine poses from ID
- GP – problem solving aspect – end of life care
After Your Work Experience, How Did Your View On The Medical Profession In Real Life Compare To That Depicted By The Media?
• Usually depicted in 2 ways – either as superheroes who could seemingly solve any problems or described as incompetent and neglectful e.g. with medical lawsuits
• Superhero – especially during COVID
o Yet they do make mistakes e.g. paralysed e.g. me getting lady dressed
o Also seeing a doctor break bad news to the family that their mother needs to go to a hospice - extremely busy in a stressful environment opened my eyes to the importance of particular qualities that make a good doctor, such as communication, patience and empathy
o Teamwork – e.g. MDT
Tell Me About The Roles Of The Allied Healthcare Professionals That You Met
- Dieticians
- Paramedics
- Physiotherapist - wheelchair into and out of bed
- Prosthetists
- Speech and language therapists - swallowing after stroke
- Podiatrists - feet
What happens to patients from the minute they enter until they leave the hospital
- When a patient visits the hospital, depending on their circumstances, they can be designated as an outpatient (only there for an appointment and leave the same day), a day patient (where you are given a bed for the day while tests or surgery are performed but there is no overnight stay), or an inpatient (where you stay in the hospital for one or more nights for tests, medical treatment, or surgery).
- Once your appointment is confirmed with the hospital you receive an admission letter and this contains all the details about your appointment. This should be presented to the receptionist on the day of the appointment.
- If you enter the hospital due to an emergency an appointment will not have been made for you but admitting procedures are performed. Taking down name, address, date of birth and other information. The hospital will also ask for any advanced directives e.g. DNAR
- You then begin your appointment with your doctor, usually a GP if you are an outpatient, you describe your symptoms and hopefully receive some relief as to your diagnosis or prescription of medicine if need be. A follow up appointment or further tests may be assigned If needed.
- If it is an emergency situation you will be triaged in A&E and then seen by a nurse who will take your medical history.
- After leaving you may have a simple or complex discharge depending on whether you need further care or not once you’ve left.
What Have You Learnt About Medicine From The Doctors You’ve Spoken To?
• Challenges of medicine
• Importance of including patient in decision making process – autonomy – improves compliance – feel listened to e.g. end of life care
o Shows empathy, compassion, patience
• Importance of teamwork
o E.g. MDT – aggressive patient, handovers
o Support system
• Communication is important
• Importance of work-life balance
• Rewarding to be able to make a difference to peoples lives at their most vulnerable
