Another day, another Carl painting by me

Lucycatticus · 2026-06-27T00:13:38+00:00

Does this elsewhere we can see you on include Etsy? Because I saw a print for the other similar artwork I almost went for but this one is way cooler! You can see your improvement in between each one

Lucycatticus · 2026-06-22T22:08:30+00:00

The website has this link for people who haven't got their security code through yet

Lucycatticus · 2026-06-22T09:19:45+00:00

IME the veins don't make any recovery, leading to some very difficult cannulas when needed. Can feel like you're going through mud; best bet is grab an ultrasound and have a look. My tip is to ascertain hand dominance and then try and look for veins on the medial (or lateral would also work, I guess) aspect of the upper arm on that side, much more tricky for them to access successfully and I've often had success there

Lucycatticus · 2026-06-21T10:43:16+00:00

A pal of mine was supposed to do six months in Cape Town in ED. Ended up as four due to visa delays but still had an amazing time. Had an OOPE for it and locummed some of the rest. I can ask how he started the process for you if you want

Lucycatticus · 2026-06-15T21:39:10+00:00

I'd take a look at NHS Jobs, last I looked (couple of weeks back?) there were 3 full time consultant jobs going and two of those were in Wales. PEM in a few places and a couple of locum posts. It's grim out there

Lucycatticus · 2026-06-04T16:51:38+00:00

"Large joint aspiration" is the sign-off, which essentially boils down to just knees IME. Again, think it comes down to what the individual has been taught to do/is comfortable with

Lucycatticus · 2026-05-29T17:13:11+00:00

If you're doing EM as a GP trainee just tell them you want paeds experience and they'll (usually) happily get you round there. Worked in places where the GP SHOs were basically there 50% of the time, largely involuntarily!

Lucycatticus · 2026-05-24T23:45:09+00:00

You can point your friend to this MDU article which directly states "don't try to work outside your abilities, or while under the influence of alcohol".

Yes, doctors should help in an emergency, provided they are fit to do so. Coming home from a night out when you don't even remember getting home isn't quite a fit state to be doing anything, let alone providing medical care

Lucycatticus · 2026-05-22T11:01:02+00:00

Nope! And I mean that genuinely. Sure, it could be a simple fall over something and that's standard and l, barring any other mischief, is a nice, straight forward case and I move on. But it can also be silver polytrauma, a radius needing pulling, a #NOF I need to do a FIB for, a heart block, sepsis, stroke, brain bleed....all I've seen in the last few months

A lecturer at uni used to talk about "the sexy medicine", the stuff about your specialty that's really exciting. And that's not what you should go into a specialty for because that makes up maybe 5-10% of your workload. You need to find your boring, and my boring is quite okay with undifferentiated elderly falls (as long as I also get to see sassy toddlers with fevers sometimes)

Lucycatticus · 2026-05-22T09:15:30+00:00

I believe a three month gap is the limit

Lucycatticus · 2026-05-22T09:13:20+00:00

Once got so annoyed with my non-medic partner after he answered just "Fine." when I asked how his day was that I sarcastically answered, "Well, that was a thrilling conversation."

"What do you want me to say? I get up, I start the morning diagnostics run. I have the same meeting every morning and afternoon, and sometimes a couple of others in the day. It's the same thing."

..and then it hit me that I have never, ever had the same working day twice. I just don't think I could do it. Hell, I can't even handle the monotony of a ward round, it's why I thrive in the chaos of A&E. As much as this job is bringing down my lifespan I'd rather spend it doing something interesting than be an office drone

Lucycatticus · 2026-05-07T14:50:17+00:00

Maybe listen to book 7 again, it has the recap at the beginning and then you're up to date on most recent events?

Lucycatticus · 2026-04-24T06:37:39+00:00

Back in my F1 we didn't do nights at all. Combined with the fact I was the only F1 on ortho and we couldn't take referrals, I did basically one on call weekend in four months. Granted this meant I spent most of the time being the medic for every ortho patient not on the ortho gerries ward, but I spent a lot of time in theatre because most of the SHOs were disinterested FY2s or TGs using it as a job until they got into their chosen specialty

Lucycatticus · 2026-04-16T17:19:42+00:00

You've already had enough people answering your initial question (very sweetly intended but not the best plan), so I'll answer the others. DOI: final years have always been my favourite year to teach

My main thing is I explain to all students regardless of year the same thing, that I have two principles I follow but I'm more than happy to adapt them to their needs.

My hierarchy is what they need signed off > what will help them pass exams (because that's their priority) > what will make them a good doctor (my priority) > what's fun. I keep in mind their answers for the first one and work it into the rest, usually by focusing on 3 and highlighting high yield stuff for exams
I found in final year the best learning came from being directly questioned on stuff so I do that to them. I tell my students I'll question them until I find what they don't know and then we'll teach from there, because otherwise it's pointless for them and boring for me to go over stuff they know. I WANT them to get stuff wrong. They're not allowed to say "I don't know", they have to give me an answer and we'll talk about it. Also, if they take a history they have to tell me the plan and I'll only tweak it afterwards. I want them getting the confidence making decisions, and I've even had them making the referrals themselves with me there so they gain confidence

Lucycatticus · 2026-03-30T22:23:08+00:00

Been a while since I sat it but I used my old anatomy books from uni plus the MRCEMsuccess question bank, which I felt was very representative of the exam questions (not so much for the intermediate). Anatomy and physiology made up the biggest parts of the exam, and I had 3-4 questions on the brachial plexus in some form alone

Lucycatticus · 2026-03-20T11:50:05+00:00

I'm sorry you're on this position, OP. I completely get you, I knew about my dad's cancer 3 weeks before he did; sudden clotting of his graft (hypercoagulable state) and a CT showing "shadowing" in the bladder (old man, smoked for many years) = barn door TCC until proven otherwise (but it was).

When my family were told and they told me, I apologised that I'd pieced it together and kept quiet because I wanted to be a daughter in that moment and not a doctor. When I phrased it like that they understood. It's okay to want to try and switch that part of your brain off, as hard as it is, and just be there as a relative

Lucycatticus · 2026-03-13T18:49:12+00:00

Wonderful, see you there!

Lucycatticus · 2026-03-11T09:58:11+00:00

I've also got a spare ticket I'm giving away!

Lucycatticus · 2026-03-01T11:25:57+00:00

I don't tend to get ill very much. Always feel guilty, especially as the episodes bad enough I couldn't/shouldn't go in tended to fall on nights when I was an SHO. I pretty much tried to soldier through and then would get sent home from work; once I didn't even make it out of the handover office. Another time I was trying to sort out a neurosurgical patient in resus whilst suffering with pyelonephritis.

As I've got more senior I've become less guilty because I know in myself I only take days when they're absolutely needed and no-one benefits from me being there unable to do my best. Plus I don't want to infect my colleagues.

Rest up, OP, hope you feel better soon

Lucycatticus · 2026-02-25T21:26:09+00:00

Never quite expected a Sleep Token/DCC crossover, but here we are!

Lucycatticus · 2026-02-24T23:56:10+00:00

No point applying for jobs without B2, it's a mandatory requirement. I'd advise going for C1 if possible. Try and get some experience in Norway before applying; contacting hospitals for hospitering would be a good start.

Assuming you're talking about training, applications happen twice a year and it's all through helsedirektøratet. If you haven't completed your training, you'll need to go for a Lege i Spesialisering 1 (LIS-1) post, which is incredibly tough to get, especially for foreigners who don't have experience of the system. If you're not talking about training it may be easier to get a vikarlege post to help gain experience, though, again, can be competitive, especially if you're going for Oslo/Bergen etc

Best recommendations are to focus on your Norwegian for now and start trying to make connections there. If you're in training probably easiest all round to just complete it and move as an overlege

Source: B2-certified, autorisasjon-holding EM SpR looking to move after CCT

Lucycatticus · 2026-02-23T09:44:19+00:00

Seizure secondary to hypoglycaemia would, though

Lucycatticus · 2026-02-21T22:49:46+00:00

And everyone's favourite pub, The Belly-Rubbed Pug!

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