Several months ago I secured my first
exciting piece of work experience. After emailing Jane Stiddard, head of work
experience at the BRI, I sat an interview with her and a colleague the
following week. Soon after I found that I had been accepted for a 3 day
placement during half term which I realised was a great opportunity. My
placement was split into three departments and so I have chosen to break each
day down into a separate post!
On the first day I shadowed Dr. Marcus Brooks
a vascular consultant in theatre where I was able to observe several
operations. Both patients treated had been diagnosed with having an AAA, or
aortic abdominal aneurysm. This is where the large blood vessel that supplies blood to the
abdomen, pelvis, and legs balloons outwards and becomes abnormally large. If it
is left untreated it may rupture and this could lead to death in the worst case
scenario! However, despite both patients having the same diagnosis, Dr. Brooks
decided to use different forms of treatment on the patients. This was due to
their medical histories being rather different. The first operation performed was what
he called a traditional repair. A large cut was made across the abdomen and
after the aneurysm had been located, it was replaced by a man made graft that would
perform the function of a healthy aorta. Conversely, the second operation
performed was called an “endovascular stent treatment”. This form of surgery
offered a quicker recovery time and was probably chosen by Dr. Brooks because
of the other medical complications this man had. In this surgery, a stent was
fed through the arteries in the man’s groin, up through his aorta, until it
acted as a replacement for the damaged area. The team of surgeons did all of
this while watching via X-Ray imaging to guide the stent.
I
found the day particularly engaging and it made me even more aware of just how
amazing the technology used today is. I found the way in which the surgeons
took the prognosis and history of each patient into account before surgery, in order to determine which of
the several procedures they would use very interesting, although I hadn’t
really thought about it before! So this was day one... I shall write another
post about my second and third day of work experience soon!
Thanks,
Sam
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ReplyDeleteHi Sam, i'm Sifut, I went to medlink as well! Absolutely loved it :) Your placement sounds amazing! Did you just email voluntary services to get an interview? Your placement will be sooooo useful when you're applying to med schools!
ReplyDeleteHi Sifut! Glad to hear you enjoyed it as much as I did! Well I did a small bit of research as to who I should contact. When I had found out who was in charge of work experience I sent them an enquiry and had a follow up interview shortly after. I'm sure it will be! It was such a great experience and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, that sounds great! The biggest problem I find, is that no one gets back to you! Argh! Will have to try again, and yes, it definitely is a great oppurtunity! :)
ReplyDelete