The University Diaries

I am now Year 3, and about to go into my penultimate ambulance placement block. Preparation for placement is important for making your life much smoother whilst on shift! A smooth home life definitely takes the stress off placement. Fortunately, I live with my boyfriend, so although we live in a house (with a garden which requires maintenance) and we are always busy keeping it ship-shape, we are able to share some of the housework. My boyfriend does a lot in the house, especially when I am on placement, so I am very lucky! Food Preparation In the couple of weeks prior to placement, I cook larger meals than my boyfriend and I can physically eat. I portion them up, label them and put them in the freezer so that we both have meals if we are both busy when it comes to cooking dinner. My boyfriend is a teacher, so most of his evenings are taken up with lesson planning so we have more time together at the weekend. This is far cheaper than take-aways and ready-meals, and much healthier...

Left to right: high vis trousers, purple stethoscope case, 2018/19 diary, deodorant, epaulettes, hand-cream, lip balm, hairbands, phone charger, PAD, tissues, pens and dried fruit. I have had two years now to work out what I need in my placement bag, and I think I have nearly got it down! My placement bag is a plain old rucksack, which is big enough to fit all my kit in it, but small enough to fit in the kit locker. Trust kit bags are usually long holdalls, and kit lockers were definitely not built for three of these! Here are my placement bag essentials. PPE So first off, we have our personal protective equipment.We get issued with a pair of high vis trousers and a jacket. I have never used the trousers, although I could see myself using them on a long job when it is cold, dark or wet. My trousers live in my bag (with most of the labels on them still... oops!) and my jacket lives in between my bag and just in the kit locker. I try to make sure my jacket it accessible at ...

So my second week of hospital placements was in Labour Ward! This was really exciting to me because I wondered whether or not I should be a midwife and I am really excited for the first time that I will catch a baby on my own on the road! If you have not read about my first week of placement, that can be found here . Background So I required 37.5 hours for this placement block, which equates to three long days as the midwives work 12.5 hour days. I worked Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (and then I moved house!) so the week was quite tiring. I was at the same hospital that I did my Acute Medical Unit placement in, which was great as I knew roughly where to park and how long it would take me to get to and from placement (approximately 30 minutes). I was not given any prior information and I was not designated a mentor, so I just turned up on my first day! Day 1 My day started at 6am (which is quite the lie in after the previous week!). I had breakfast and some tea and left the house...

The Practice Assessment Document (PAD) will rule your life during your 10 weeks of placement in your first year of uni. Here are my tips for passing your PAD, and how to make it easier. Enjoy! What is the PAD and what does it include? The PAD is your evidence for completing certain skills whilst on placement which is pass or fail. Your mentor (or PED) has to fill it out identifying which jobs you have been exposed to, and how you handled them. They can grade you as assisted (needing help), minimal supervision (the odd prompt here or there) or independent (woo, go you! Did it safely all by yourself). It includes skills from your Skills Passport and adds in other essential skills too, such as: airway management, cervical spine immobilisation, fracture splinting, IM injections and signposting to alternative pathways. There is are patient assessment pages, which patients fill out about how they feel you treated them, and there is a personal review on your time on placement. Your me...

I am the definition of a poor student (without a maintenance loan oops) so I have established some handy ways to save money. Let me know if I have missed anything and I'll include it in my next version! Enjoy! Student Amazon Prime (for free) I use Amazon Prime for all my stationery, household items and gifts. I am the Queen of forgetting people's Birthdays (at least I am honest!). I always use (student) Amazon Prime to get reduced price items with free next day delivery. This means I can forget a Birthday until the night before and buy something to give to them the following night. If you use this code then you can receive 6 months free then have a massive reduction to less than £4 a month for a subscription. This also includes films, music and discounts on textbooks. I find it really handy to use as I can decide I want something at 10pm and have it at my door the following day without having to go out and get it. The best part of student amazon prime is that you can can...

So in the first term of the first year at my university, we are required to complete a Skills Passport as part of our Preparation for Clinical Practice module. This was a pass/fail document which was required to pass for you to be able to pass the module alongside an essay and presentation. I do not know if every university completes this module in the same way, but feel free to comment below either way as it is interesting for me and other people! So the passport included various basic skills assessed by peers, such as taking temperatures, manual blood pressures, blood glucose readings (BM) and various manual handling techniques. It also comprised of slightly more serious basic skills assessed by tutors, such as adult and paediatric airways, c-spine immobilisation and basic life support and automated external defibrillator (BLS and AED). There were also requirements to complete the online training modules for areas such as safeguarding and data protection. There were lots of oppor...

Placement is such a hectic place! Due to my shift schedule I am five weeks in but have done 4 blocks due to the four days on, five days off schedule. Somehow I am currently working almost full time over the placement block. I will finish at 6.30am on my last night shift, come home and head to sleep until 12pm, wake up and head to work. This is a great way for me to be able to afford placement, but I don't have a life! It is very difficult acting this way, especially as I am either on placement or asleep the rest of the time. Fortunately due to the crews I am working with, I am enjoying the shifts so much it feels less like a job and more like a lifestyle. Update on my First Five Weeks I have had such a variety of shifts. I am placed on the border of London, but as we do not respond to London Ambulance Service (LAS) calls, we can only head out in one direction, which means we regularly finish (very) late. On the plus side, you must have 11 hours between shifts, so usually if yo...

My placement schedule is usually 2 days, 2 nights, 5 days off (which is really good). One in every 4 shifts there is an extra day shift in there as this is the pattern my mentor has on her line, which I follow. With this placement I have been really lucky to get a mentor who is on a line at a station as this means that my shifts are set (basically a year in advance) and I only have one mentor (unless I have to make up any shifts as I cannot do them). On placement, I am one of the lucky ones! Lots of people have multiple mentors and stations, and I am very lucky that I have been given consistency as I do get quite anxious at not being in control of the situation and not knowing what the outcome will be. This week went from being a long, 3 days and 2 nights, week, to a 3 days and 1 night. I have had a shift moved, which my mentor kindly discussed when we could both do this shift as she had to change it due to her mentoring course (to mentor me). Some mentors are willing to be flexibl...

My First Week Experiences I was terrified before my first day on placement (which was clear if you have read my last post). I got up at 4am to get to the station at 6am (as you always ought to get to station at least 15 minutes early). I met my mentor who was lovely (and probably nearly as nervous as I was) and the shift begun! My mentor and I discussed what I felt comfortable with and what I wanted to do. I was her first student as she was a mentor in training so we were both in the same position to start off with. I chose to take a back step to begin with, but quickly she encouraged and helped me to get more involved. My main concern is doing things wrong, however in the service there are plenty of ways to do things - all paramedics do things differently - so it is important to have a go so long that it is safe. All mentors are different, but communication is key. I found that everyone I encountered was helpful and friendly to me. People were happy to show me what to do and guid...

'Twas night before placement when all through the house, I worried and I packed, fluttering nervously like a mouse. Kit bag was packed by the front door with care, Waiting for 5am when I would be leaving there. (adaption from 'Twas the night before Christmas') Tomorrow, bright and breezy I start my placement. I am very nervous obviously. I have never been on an ambulance before and having not been at uni for the past 5 weeks, I feel as if I know nothing! I am excited though! This is what I am expecting for tomorrow: 4am ~ Wakey wakey rise and shine! Breakfast time and time to get ready. 5am ~ Leaving the house, sat nav and coffee at the ready. 6am ~ Arrive at the station with enough time to get myself sorted out. 6.30am ~ Shift starts! Beginning with a station induction for approximately 1 hour then off on the road. 6.30pm ~ (Hopefully) shift finishes on time and off on my way home I go! Obviously this depends on if we are on a call or not. My pockets content...

Many reasons can determine your decision for living away or at home as a student. I am a 'Living at Home' medical student with placements, and here are the reasons behind my choice and also an evaluation of my circumstances. I hope this is able to provide some clarification, as when I was choosing a university I did not really know what I was looking for. Making Friends Those living in halls have a head start when making friends. Generally they move in about a week before term, take part in all the freshers events and get to know everyone they are living with. Making friends this way is really easy, especially as halls tend to mix courses, so you do not spend all day in lectures with people you are living with. If you do not live at uni, on your first day it can be a bit daunting as you may not know anyone there. Fear not! So many other people are in the same position as you! The nice thing about uni is that everyone talks to each other and it is really easy to make frie...

Hello. I am a paramedic science student, living at home. I have recently completed my first term of university and this is a collection of my thoughts. University is an incredible place. I am lucky to attend a small uni which means that the experience is more personal. It is 30 minutes from where I live, making living at home and transportation relatively easy. My course is a larger cohort for the subject, with 80 students in lectures and 40 students in labs. I understand that this is far smaller than regular science courses, but we are the largest healthcare cohort in the uni. My cohort is diverse, formed of 18 year olds who are fresh out of school, those who already have a degree in another subject area and parents with children. It is interesting having such a wide range of opinions and experiences because everyone brings something different to the table. In the lecture hall you find love, conflict, laughter and tears. This course hits everyone differently at different times. I...