Student blogs

I had my mock viva voce last week, which is a speaking exam. We get three topics which are to do with complicated childbirth and ours are: epilepsy, management of labour and neonatal jaundice. For the mock we got to choose our topic, (I did epilepsy) but for the real thing in January we could get given any one of them. So my Christmas holidays will probably be spent frantically trying to learn everything about neurones and bilirubin.

Complicated childbirth is our topic for the first semester in third year. It's super interesting and includes topics like premature labour, shoulder dystocia and post-partum haemorrhage. These are all things that a midwife hopes not to encounter on her shift, however a minority of women do experience these problems and the midwife's actions can really make the difference between life and death. I would have to say that it's also pretty scary learning about these things!

The viva voce makes up part of the assessment and the other part comprises of a ‘practice assessment document' which is done during placement. You get graded on outcomes by the midwife mentor you have been working with. I've done my labour and postpartum aspects of the document and so only have my antenatal section left to do. I start my shifts on the antenatal ward this week, so I'll hopefully get a large chunk of it done before the holidays and that'll be one less thing to worry about. Yay!

Amongst all of that I also have my international assignment to hand in just before Christmas. I've decided to focus on childbirth in Afghanistan, after reading shocking figures about the maternal and infant mortality rates over there (Here's the link if you're interested: http://www.atlasofbirth.com/). For the assignment I have to make an information pack for midwives in the UK to read and also back it up with a rationale. The international module is fascinating and I love learning about midwifery practice - the good and the bad - all over the world.

In third year we also have a neonatal placement and mine is in the first week of December. It ties in with our complicated module because often if there are birth complications babies will have to be taken to the neonatal unit so it'll be good to see how it all works! I have a booklet to complete for it, so will be heading off to the library to fill it in!

I've been emailing a French hospital so fingers crossed I'll get a placement for my elective next year. It's good to be speaking and writing French again, I love it! No woeful cycling tales this time - the cars have been relatively sane and I've only nearly been hit twice. That's a good month! Lastly, it's a month until Christmas and I'm pretty excited! I haven't done any shopping yet but my housemates are on placement today so I might sneakily attack the house with tinsel and fairy lights. They'll love it, I hope!

Well hello there my lovelies! Are you all well?

It's November, and there's only thirty six days left until Christmas - Stress! But other than being the forerunner to Christmas, November is also Kingston University's graduation month, yey! I was lucky enough to be working as a graduation assistant this year and my week as part of the team was interesting to say the least.

I learned that some people managed to go three years at the University without ever visiting Penrhyn Road campus.
I took phone calls from people who left their graduation preparations until the last minute (almost literally - one bloke rang up an hour before his ceremony wondering if it was too late to register his attendance.) I took approximately five thousand pictures of families and friends. I was even asked to be in one or two - though I think that had a lot to do with the fact that I had a tea cup on my head at the time. I saw some very smart guys in polished shoes and suits bought specially for the occasion. Some looked so out of place it wouldn't surprise me if this was their first time in a suit ever. I loved the over protective mothers fussing around them adjusting their ties and flattening their hair for them! I also saw some girls in the tightest and shortest dresses imaginable, tottering around on heels Lady Gaga would look at and go, ‘ooh, bit too much of that...' They all looked so uncomfortable and it was as if they were auditioning to be the poster girls for the adage "Beauty is Pain."

I'm not judging, they all looked lovely regardless and the atmosphere of celebration around the whole thing was brilliant. Mine may not be until 2014 but I'm already getting really excited about it!

I have however made some decisions regarding the ceremony that won't change between now and then:
1. I am graduating in flat shoes. I do not want to be "that guy" that falls over when crossing the stage (and there is always one.)
2. My parents are coming down the night beforehand. They will not be missing my big day because they got stuck on the north circular.
3. I'm going to grow my hair out a bit. I tried on a cap and with my hair this short I looked bald - not attractive.
4. I will develop a new smile for the occasion so all the photographs don't show me looking a) hideously awkward or b) like I'm planning who to murder first.

Of course I actually have to get a degree first...

It's the time of the year again - 70's porn star moustaches rocking the world again! Hence, as a newbie I thought of following the extravagant Movember trend. A minor addition personally included a detox month with not a single drop of alcohol being consumed, but that's another story. ;)
So more than half way through and I still can't stop laughing at how people are looking at me with my new companion - Mr.Moustache. :D

First of all, for all the clueless people reading this (I was in the same position a couple of weeks ago) Movember is a funny portmanteau of the words NoVEMBER & MOustache- obviously, haha. So basically the men grow a moustache during the month of November to raise awareness of prostate cancer and other male cancer. This event is run by the Movember Foundation http://uk.movember.com/ and the official goal of Movember is to "change the face of mens health".

Unfortunately I realized a bit too late that you could register yourself on a Movember portal and keep people updated with your progress; actually the layout reminded me of MySpace. Additionally people could donate to the profile, as all the money would go to charity. Pretty awesome thing to do I must say.

I might have done it the unorthodox way, but I left my fully unshaved beard till the 15th (halfway through), when the moment of truth came. Although there were a couple of EPIC moustache variations, http://z6mag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/movember-styles.jpg, I went with the classic stache. These were exactly my reactions:

So now my stache has grown on me and we started doing everything together - best friends hahaha!

Anyway 9 days to go and then it will be time to say goodbye to the moustache, which has enlightened many people and produced many awkward moments. I will miss you, but for now let's enjoy our final days. #movember

P.S: Here is a nice article about Movember if you guys want to read more into it: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/brain-flapping/2012/nov/20/movember-science-moustache.