Sharp Scratch

This week the team talk about all the tech you might face working in the NHS - from bleeps and fax machines to slow computers. Find out if you’re allowed to use WhatsApp, what the alternatives are, and why the IT can be so frustrating in the first place... Interviews: Stephen Armstrong, freelance journalist Sarah El-Sheikha and Sarah Blackstock are Clinical Fellows at FMLM. Opinions mentioned in the episode are their own and not that of their employing organisation(s). There are other apps available (for free). You can contact them via twitter: @sarah_sheikha and @sarahblackst0ck

This week the team are joined by Mike Farquhar, Consultant in sleep medicine at Evelina London Children’s Hospital, to talk about sleep and fatigue in medical school and beyond. Morning lark, or night owl, you'll probably need more sleep, or at least a coffee nap. Find out about the science of staying awake. Paper mentioned by Mike in the ep: https://ep.bmj.com/content/102/3/127

This week the team are joined by Lucy Chappell, Professor in Obstetrics at King’s College London and Honorary Consultant Obstetrician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. The panel reflected on their experiences seeing someone give birth, and how to process the emotions that come with experiencing new life.

The team gathered to respond to our listeners' medical school dilemmas. Some of the med students wanted to be anonymous so some of the dilemmas are voiced by actors and friends! On this episode, Nikki, Kayode, Lily, and Andrew talk about dating at medical school, how to handle a medical emergency if you’ve had a few drinks, and discuss Med Twitter’s stethoscope-gate. For advice on dealing with an emergency as a Good Samaritan, visit https://www.medicalprotection.org/uk/articles/dealing-with-a-public-emergency-as-a-good-samaritan

The team gathered to respond to our listeners' medical school dilemmas. Some of the med students wanted to be anonymous so some of the dilemmas are voiced by actors and friends! On this episode, Nikki, Anna, Laura and Ryhan talk about swearing, clinical partners who are always running late, and competition with your peers.

This week the team explore ideas of professionalism, and whether our concept of this as a society is more ‘masculine’. With our guest Dr Kate Lovett, the panel discussed their own experiences and reflected on the language used when giving feedback. If you want to contact the Sharp Scratch team with your dilemma, please email Nikki at nnabavi@bmj.com

Vasovagal syncope might be a diagnosis on your list of differentials that seems relatively benign, as there are many more sinister causes for a sudden loss of consciousness. But no one wants a sudden loss of consciousness to happen in front of the whole staff of an operating theatre, or in front of all your peers in the dissection lab. In this episode of Sharp Scratch, we broke down some of the reasons why we might feel faint, strategies we can use to prevent faints, and why there’s no shame in being a frequent fainter - all with the help of expert guest Boon Lim, award winning consultant cardiologist based at Hammersmith Hospital, where he runs one of the busiest syncope service in London.

You may be familiar with some common medical speciality stereotypes – the ‘tall, strong orthopaedic surgeon from the medics rugby team’, the psychiatrist who is ‘as mad as their patients’ or the ‘bike-obsessed-coffee-drinking’ anaesthetist, but why and how do these stereotypes exist? The Sharp Scratch team debunk some of the myths and ask some interesting questions about their own character traits. Are these stereotypes just good fun or are they preventing us from creating diversity within our specialities by labouring under these historic, often inaccurate, pretences? Link to article Nikki mentioned in the pod: https://blogs.bmj.com/pmj/2016/02/24/did-you-choose-them-or-did-they-choose-you/

Have you ever noticed a difference in the way you're treated as a patient? Whether you were quizzed by your consultant or given 'special treatment', you're not alone - but how important is this, and does it affect care? This week the panel are joined by Anne Stephenson as they discuss their experiences of being patients, and how this changes when your doctor knows you are a medical student.

As you sit in a lecture, listening to the symptoms of a rare medical condition - have you convinced yourself that you have it? You might have medical student syndrome. This week the panel are joined by Simon Wessely as they discuss health anxieties at medical school, and why so many medical students convince themselves they have the disease they are studying. Article mentioned by Anna during the episode : https://pmj.bmj.com/content/96/1139/575.full