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Monday, May 29, 2017

Weekend update

I have been quite irregular of late - in updating this blog. My apologies to the regular readers. If you are stumbling upon this blog for the first time, welcome. I am an Indian-origin Paediatrician who writes about his life in the U.K. here. My name is Taher. It has been over 18 months since I moved to Blackpool. This is a coastal vacation town on the Irish Sea coast and geographically belongs to North-West England, and to Cumbria, and even more specifically, to Lancashire. 

I am working as a junior doctor in the NHS-run Blackpool Victoria Hospital. I am gradually learning a lot of practical skills and am able to navigate the system almost 100% now. 

Last week, a few positive things happened. I inserted a peripheral long line into a newborn baby for the first time - and it was quite easy. I was supervised by the consultant who is in charge of neonatal services at our hospital, and who is also MY educational supervisor. The baby was the second of twins and was born, like his sibling, 9 weeks earlier than term. I had observed this procedure 2-3 times but had never done it myself. Hence, doing it accurately and correctly the first time was extremely satisfying. To understand what this procedure is all about, see THIS YT video. 

On Saturday and Sunday, I went to Whiston Hospital to do locum duties. They had arranged for my accommodation within the Neonatal unit by allocating to me one of the rooms reserved for relatives of babies who are admitted to the unit. Hence, it was a breeze to work. The Paediatric department of the hospital has two wards - one each on the third and the fourth floors. This can mean a bit of running around between two floors. Their A & E is located on the bottom floor, and one keeps getting called there to see new patients who have been referred to them through the G,P, or the community walk-in centre. While Saturday was a relatively quiet day, I had several calls from the A&E on Sunday. I did, however, find the time to go for lunch in the hospital's top floor restaurant on both the days. They had a lamb rogan josh with rice on Saturday. It was very good. On Sunday, I had their lamb hot pot with pastry. This was so-so, but wholesome, to say the least. 

On both the days, I had dinner from my own supplies that I had brought with me from Blackpool. This was mostly a collection of samosas and lamb pattice with chappatis. In addition to the meals, I had a lot of tea and some coffee - machines with free tea and coffee are installed in every clinical area. Overall, it was a good experience. 

That's it for now. See you around. Do follow me if you wish by adding your email ID to the Follower's list. And, if you feel like it - do comment in the space below this post to tell me what you thought about this post. 

And hey, do view that video ... Thanks. 

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