Paeds

School's in. Or rather, I've gone back to the dreary, time-honoured tradition of trudging myself to hospital every morning with the noble aim of hoping to be seen by the appropriate supervisors. Ingesting any nugget of information would be a welcome bonus.

Actually, the paediatric attachment in Gateshead isn't that bad. I probably feel that way 'cause Jo painted a rather bleak picture for me, and having had the worst case scenario in mind, whatever I came across naturally appeared positively 'sunshiny'. The folks are ok (so far) and the consultants are rather keen on teaching. Which goes well with my plan of starting to learn stuff in the new year. A timetable has been set for the next 4 weeks, and it's pretty intense. The crappy thing about being attached to this particular trust is the fact that you have to spend quite a lot on transport costs, but since it's literally across the river from Newcastle, the med school will not reimbuse anything. And since I have to take a bus, I have the unenviable task of having to get in at 0830 each morning, and there are various sessions to be attended right up 'till 1700. Which translates to me leaving the house at 0730 and arriving home just before 1800.
One other bright side about this particular ward is the fact that they have good coffee (Kenco's blend of rich Columbian coffee). I tend to enjoy my coffee but the coffee available in hospitals tend to fall under the 'crap' category. But luckily enough for me, the folks here (including yours truly) are quite willing to pay a little extra for something that does not induce vomiting.

The kids so far have been of the pleasant type. Had a rather enjoyable session earlier. While the SHO was busy taking a history off the mum, I sat on the floor and played with a 4-year old boy and his twin sister. They were running around in circles (literally) and we got ourselves enganged in a rather serious conversation about how giraffes should be coloured yellow and not red. After the session, the SHO said 'You have no idea what's wrong with the kid, do you?' and I could only smile in reply.

Of course, paeds isn't all fun and joy. This morning, I had my first attachmeny with the Child Psychiatric Team, and my first case (or rather, the first session I observed) involved a cute little 8-year-old girl who was abused by her dad in various ways, including sexual. How anyone could even think of doing that is beyond my understanding. It is said that God has His reasons, but at times like these, you can't help but wonder what those reasons might be.

The little girl is currently suffering from a mixture of depression and phobic psychoses. I observed her thru a one-way mirror, and she was huddled in a corner playing with a worn-out teddy. The scene was kinda surreal, 'cause I've only ever come across such things whilst watching the telly. It's quite different in real life, 'cause you actually the consequences firsthand. Luckily for this girl she's now with a foster family and she is particularly attached to her stepdad (who reminds me of Hagrid). The poor thing probably feels protected around him.

I guess I'll probably come across more cases that are downright heartbreaking, but fingers crossed, there won't be many of them.