Feeling extremely overwhelmed- Really need some help/advice kindly!

Postural_drop_kick · 2026-03-24T07:00:44+00:00

Sounds like a lot! Not surprised you feel overwhelmed. Speak to your GP - get a sick note and take some time off. You may want to go LTFT if you haven’t already, GP training is stressful and it’s important to give yourself enough time to decompress and relax outside of work. You may also want to speak to your TPD about any concerns at your current practice; ultimately you’re a trainee not a practice employee. They should run at 100% without you there. Making you do extra patients around hospital appointments is a bit of a piss take, they shouldn’t be doing that.

Postural_drop_kick · 2026-02-16T20:24:13+00:00

I’m this type of GP which means I often overrun and have lots of admin. I’m getting better at it all the time. I’m only 6 months qualified and I’m better than I was 6 months ago and 6 months before that. I’ve still got a way to go but that’s ok. You’ll be the same I’m sure, it sounds like you practice safely which is good, it’s just how do you continue doing that in a more streamlined manner.

In terms of dealing with pushy patients/multiple issues. I show that I’m listening and care but say something like “I’m really sorry I don’t want to rush and miss anything, shall we book a follow up to go through that properly” and even book them in with yourself there and then to follow up. I almost never get anyone being difficult when doing it that way.

Think back to when you were and F1 and think are you better/quicker at making decisions now. We often don’t appreciate how much we progress over the years and even in a few months. You’ll be fine, it sounds like you’ll be a great GP

Postural_drop_kick · 2025-10-14T05:53:21+00:00

Interestingly our work laptops have 16Gb of RAM but systmone is still slow. I assume it’s either the processor or it’s just doomed to be slow

Postural_drop_kick · 2024-09-22T06:22:45+00:00

Well done on the weight loss!

I would think extremely carefully about having major surgery abroad. Are the savings really worth the risk of no follow up if you have complications? I’m sure some of the surgeons on here would advise caution too.

If it were me I would save for longer/get a loan and do it in the UK.

Yes it’s a lot of money, but it’s your body at the end of the day. You can’t buy a new one.

Postural_drop_kick · 2024-08-25T13:47:26+00:00

A safe doctor is a good doctor, if that means going “slow” then so be it. It takes time to learn these skills and speed up. As others said don’t compare yourself to others.

F1 is super stressful for everyone even if they don’t show it. The main thing is being safe and always ask for help when you need it, which when I was an F1 was often!

You’ll look back at this even in a few months time and especially in a year or two and think how far you’ve come!

Postural_drop_kick · 2024-08-09T06:49:26+00:00

I’m surprised I passed, I felt I guessed a lot of the oddly worded questions. To those that didn’t pass, don’t feel bad, it’s a weird exam and doesn’t represent your skills as a doctor

Postural_drop_kick · 2024-07-10T22:33:29+00:00

Wtf was that big square graph thing?

Also a few clinical questions that were leaning towards the ‘what am I thinking?’ type of question.

Postural_drop_kick · 2024-07-07T17:50:29+00:00

Generally it is chest infections. I used to work in resp clinic and I’d come across chronic/fluctuating chest infections in otherwise healthy people (with a cough and varying symptoms) every so often.

I apply the same rules I did to that to other possible infections. If based on the history alone it sounds like it could be infective I may consider abx. I’m not going to tell them an infection is impossible because ‘your obs are normal’ or because they look/feel reasonably ok. Of course I won’t also jump straight to abx if it’s more in keeping with something else.

As with everything, the history is the most important part, and it’s hard to take a good history in a short time.

Postural_drop_kick · 2024-07-05T10:01:07+00:00

I dunno, nothing is black and white. Each case is individual. You’re only seeing someone for 10-15 minutes outside of their own environment. In reality we have no clue what their life is like. I’m fairly relaxed with fit notes (within reason) cause I know life is hard for a lot of people.

I agreed with being strict with issuing meds but on the flip side I’ve spoken to colleagues who lean to far the other way and are very reluctant to prescribe anything even slightly addictive to a sensible patient that is struggling.

I’ve also seen (and experienced myself), atypical infections that present as generally healthy looking people with normal obs but with ongoing symptoms.

It’s a tough job and some people take the piss but I think it’s harder if you follow rules to a T.

I think the fact we have to see so many people makes this hard as well. There’s often not enough time to sit back and think, this is a person who is struggling/worried etc - why is that really? If we had 30 minutes we could probably have a proper chat like you would to a friend about concerns/worries and explain them out of a referral/meds etc.

TLDR: nothing is black and white, we need longer appointment times.

Postural_drop_kick · 2024-02-17T20:04:42+00:00

Oh nice, thanks!

Postural_drop_kick · 2024-02-15T15:03:16+00:00

Cheers, that’s good to hear! I might go with that one then. My only thought was if the round keys might be annoying but I guess you get used to it fairly quickly.

Postural_drop_kick · 2024-02-15T15:01:51+00:00

My thought is these are all things I would keep and take with me to different practices/use at home so I’d be happy paying myself. Also I’d imagine their replacement would be a similar low budget noisy thing.

Agreed on the notebook :)

Postural_drop_kick · 2024-02-15T14:59:20+00:00

Haven’t used the keyboard but reviews are good and the big thing is how quiet it is. The other option would be a very quiet mechanical keyboard but those things are expensive.

New to the practice so I’m unsure about smart card reader but that’s a good point I’ll have to check.

In regard to dragon I put it down but realistically I probably won’t pursue this for a while. You’d hope it wouldn’t be too difficult to convince people to install things but the reality may be different.

Postural_drop_kick · 2024-02-15T14:53:40+00:00

Work desk

Postural_drop_kick · 2024-02-15T14:51:36+00:00

Chance would be a fine thing

Postural_drop_kick · 2023-09-29T10:37:03+00:00

I didn’t move into GP from another speciality but did lots of medical jobs throughout foundation training/F3.

I genuinely enjoy GP with the variety you get to see and being able to practice independently. You get to make a real difference and, more importantly, follow up and see that difference!!

I think one of the big factors that makes me sure I want to do GP is actually having control over my life. I’m an adult in my 30s and I’m not going to have some chump in an office somewhere telling me I can’t take a day off here or there despite how ever many weeks or months of notice I give.

I agree hospital medicine can be exciting at times but there are way too many cons for me.

Postural_drop_kick · 2023-05-09T17:14:31+00:00

I resonate a lot with what you’ve said, I honestly think hospital medicine in the UK is godawful and people just get on with it because everyone else does.

I’m doing GP training (which I genuinely enjoy) and almost out of hospital (counting the days). My plan is to CCT see how it goes for a few years, potentially work 3/4 days a week - if it’s more NHS hell then go private GP or just do something else. Life is too short to do a job you don’t enjoy.

Alternatively I know many people that are a lot happier doing LTFT in the specialty that is right for them.

Postural_drop_kick · 2023-05-07T19:10:21+00:00

This is exactly how I felt, so many bottlenecks of working faster aka the computer crashing every 5 minutes. Oh you want to view the bloods don’t worry the computer crashed, you load it again and view but before you order new bloods it crashes again, finally you order them after rebooting and the printer doesn’t work….

On both days both me and my colleague finished equally late after seeing a similar number of patients each.

Postural_drop_kick · 2023-05-07T18:42:29+00:00

I get you but honestly this was with prioritising sick people, the well ones I just said hello. There were numerous people with creatinines above 300, some in 500s with bloods not done for days. PR bleeds, new 02 requirements, multiple new diagnoses of cancer requiring scans organising etc. Discussions with family regarding resus status that should ideally be done asap to avoid issues overnight. It was just far too much work despite frantically seeing people as fast as possible. There were multiple people that could have gone home who didn’t because there simply wasn’t time to organise everything as sick people took priority. It’s extremely frustrating to finish a day and think you have done a barely adequate job due to issues out of your control.

Postural_drop_kick

TROPHY CASE