AMA VICDOC Autumn 2024 - Magazine - Page 31
W
ith each rotation, we often have only
a few weeks to get to know a fresh
set of people, places and protocols,
before moving to the next. Looking
back on medical school, the
environments I've experienced have led me to
some insights I'll take with me into my future.
The environments of my medical education
so far have been diverse and varied. Sometimes a
spacious open-plan office with generous windows
and a view of the park; more often a small,
cramped room in the back of the ward. Sometimes
busy with doctors rushing to and fro; other times
quieter. The settings of medicine have perhaps
been even more varied since COVID-19, with the
addition of telehealth clinics and online teaching
as settings for study and work. What I have
found, though, is the feature of the environment
which impacted my experience the most has been
the people. The environments that energised me
were ones where I was surrounded by people who
were passionate about their work, were invested
in learning, growth and excellence, and had
compassion for each other as well as their patients.
This has weighed significantly in my mind, perhaps
even as the most important factor, in deciding what
to specialise in and where to train.
At the same time, this has given me perspective
on my own role in creating a positive work
environment. As a final-year student, and next year
as an intern, I have my own junior medical students
to supervise. Medical students appreciate that the
learning one has in a supportive environment,
where doctors know your name, talk to you and get
you involved, is vastly different to the experience
one has waiting outside curtains, hiding at the back
of the ward round and being generally ignored.
It's important for me to play my part, then, in
creating a positive learning environment for those
I supervise. The environment of one's work is an
important factor for many students and doctors
in training, including my graduating final-year
colleagues, judging by the focus of health services'
intern information sessions and panels. While
the usual questions about training pathways and
rotations feature, and we are all looking for different
things in our internship sites, there is always
attention and commentary given to junior doctors'
wellbeing and support, and attitudes towards
bullying and harassment. Indeed, with junior
doctors' mental health and AMA Victoria's class
action lawsuits in the news, it is fair to say the
work environment of doctors has reached the
public consciousness.
Now I am certainly only at the very beginning
of my medical career, and there will assuredly be
many more environments to see. Yet at the same
time, there is a sense in which the earliest years
of rotational training are the ones with the most
variety. As we progress through training, our
terms grow longer, our roles more stable and our
experience more specialised, which gives one pause
for thought. For example, with my own intern year
roster freshly in hand, and with plans for the future,
it appears 2019 may inadvertently turn out to have
been my last experience, ever, of the environment
of adult specialty medicine. I am glad that, on that
rotation, I did pay attention and learn what I ought
to – it would be a shame, and a detriment to the care
of my future patients, had I let that final opportunity
lapse. It is a reminder, though, that my next
experience of any rotation could be the last, and I'll
not know except in hindsight. What this suggests, I
think, is the value of savouring each experience, and
making the most of everything in each environment
we find ourselves in. It is an attitude I'll be sure to
take with me as I continue in my medical career.
—
The environments that energised me were
ones where I was surrounded by people
who were passionate about their work,
were invested in learning, growth and
excellence, and had compassion for
each other as well as their patients.
—
VI CD O C SU M M ER 2022
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