Beaumont Hospital

Swap with the epilepsy intern halfway through.

I was the ward intern (one intern for 3 general neurology teams and one for the epilepsy team). Rounded at 8-8:30 most days and you round with the reg and SHO in the mornings, doing jobs as you go (lots of MRI brains and Lumbar puncture - they let me do lots of them!), theres a reg and SHO for each team so work load is very spread out. Lots of long stay and complicated patients but we only take neurology patients (no gen med) so admissions are low - none most days. Max 25 patients overall for the whole department. Finished most days at 5.

Ortho patients are often quite medically unwell, so don’t underestimate how sick they can be. Good communication between co-interns makes a huge difference and makes the days much more manageable. It can feel daunting at the start, but having a group of co-interns makes it a lot more enjoyable — it ended up being one of the most fun jobs overall. Mr Donnelly is particularly supportive and very good to interns.

Day starts with a ward round at 7 am, with one intern coming in early (around 6:45) to make the list. The round is usually quick (around 25 minutes), followed by breakfast. One intern then goes to clinic for a few hours (often booking X-rays) before rejoining later. After the morning round, you’re often the only doctor on the ward while the rest of the team are in clinic or theatre. You’re mainly looking after the inpatients medically — a lot of whom are older, frail patients with hip fractures and multiple medical issues. It can be quite intimidating early on as you’re effectively covering the ward solo, but support depends a lot on the ortho-geris setup. We had a very supportive reg who was a big help when patients became unwell, although this seems to vary between teams. Most of the day is spent working through jobs from the ward round — discussing scans with radiology, putting out consults, chasing and ordering bloods, and doing discharges. There’s usually a dry round in the afternoon/evening to tidy up outstanding jobs and add anything new. Days typically finish around 6–7 pm — often later at the start, but it becomes much more manageable once you settle into the role.

Updated list every morning/evening, 2 interns but we had a very small list for our 3 months (max 24 patients) so we did all the jobs together after rounds at 7 (6:30 if post take), lots organising scans and consults. We didnt have an office so spent lots of time in the res. We had lots of days with no or <5 patients so we would take turns not coming in (our reg was very sound). Organising ERCPs was different from what we had done on Ortho, but ANP was very sound. Not a huge amount of breast stuff (all elective) but my cointern was very interested in surgery and got to spend lots of time in theatre - they let her close and taught her loads. Generally finished at 5.

Beware the winter months. The most frustrating workload.

Round on the new patients.

Ask for help with prescribing. Go to fasts.

Round on stable patients, liaise with MDT.

This was a very enjoyable job, try to learn as much as you can about transplant specific stuff as it is the centre!

Ward rounds, booking scans, writing notes, taking bloods, ECGs, prepping transplant patients, pre op and post op management.

You will learn a lot on this job when it comes to managing critical patients so try and gain as much from it as you can, and there is always more work to do on the vascular ward so also know when to leave!

Ward rounds, discussing scans and consults, taking bloods, managing a wide variety of quite unwell patients (lots of co-morbidities), writing transfer letters and discharge summaries

Print list early. For on take days, come in early to book phlebotomy in for the patients admit overnight as some on take days can be very busy. Phlebotomy needs to be booked before 6.30am. Typically in take days starts at 6.30 / 7 from ED. Usually one one day every 2-3 weeks but can vary.

Ward rounds 10-20 mins. Bloods, referrals +++ scans to book and approve, discharges, scripts, and letters. Occasional clinic duty.

Get leave in early. Really enjoyably rotation. Can get out 5pm if smart with jobs during day.

Ward rounds, bloods (book phlebotomy), referrals, notes, cannulas etc. Good teaching every Wednesday and Thursday (1 hour). Well supported by SHOs and registrars. 3 interns total; 2 will be together and 1 rotates between being in GIM and rheumatology inpatients.

Prepare for long days and busy days. Start notes as early in the day as possible. Lots of cannulas but get IV team to help, don’t be over heroic.

Bloods, pre-op bloods, write notes and referrals, IR admissions. Review GCS drops, seizures etc. DC letters done by SHOs, not interns.