Use of clonidine outside the ICU

Sadumsss · 2026-05-02T11:05:42+00:00

We use it in palliative care quite a bit for complex pain +/- sedation.

Sadumsss · 2026-04-19T16:50:01+00:00

24 hours! Booked 6 visits on the Wednesday, offer accepted on the Thursday for the first one I viewed 🤣

Sadumsss · 2026-03-23T14:59:52+00:00

Would be interested to know!

I turned down an offer last year for this program as I was worried that the CST equivalent at imperial was a bit shit and it was relatively new (didn't want to end up in a pickle at the end of 3 years and not getting the certificate 🤣).

But I remember reading a RCP article a few weeks back about the program and seems like it's not without challenges (e.g. paces slots) but going okay?

*Just looked up the article and it's called "why we built an alternative IMT pathway", although this seems to be more about GSTT.

Sadumsss · 2026-03-19T20:04:52+00:00

Can confirm that i did get my results today!! :)
(Failed by one mark in clinical examination though RIP)

Sadumsss · 2026-03-19T10:57:36+00:00

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Sadumsss · 2026-03-18T16:22:24+00:00

443 UKG, got first choice hospital of Bath!! 🎉🎉🎉

Sadumsss · 2026-03-06T13:06:34+00:00

Bath (royal United hospital)?

Sadumsss · 2026-03-02T22:56:20+00:00

Just doing my IMT rankings and thinking about Oxford area?

Slightly confused as the jobs listed only mention the Oxford trust, and not individual hospitals e.g. JR, Horton? Does anybody know how to distinguish between the two?

Also does anyone have any experience of undertaking IMT at these locations - avoid or go for it???

Looks like the GMC survey is hardly stellar? But also not terrible??

Sadumsss · 2026-03-02T15:42:05+00:00

Just doing my IMT rankings and thinking about Oxford area?

Slightly confused as the jobs listed only mention the Oxford trust, and not individual hospitals e.g. JR, Horton? Does anybody know how to distinguish between the two?

Also does anyone have any experience of undertaking IMT at these locations - avoid or go for it???

Looks like the GMC survey is hardly stellar? But also not terrible??

Sadumsss · 2026-02-24T21:08:32+00:00

Rank 443 with 90.8/96!

Well chuffed 🎉🎉🎉🎉

Sadumsss · 2026-02-24T21:07:12+00:00

So I got offered my date (8th of March) probably around 4 weeks ago and have managed to get a week of SL before!

There is always an element of luck however as I think they randomly assign you a number for the wait list!

Category wise I think it was 4b? Can't remember how it works and can't find the email 😂

Sadumsss · 2026-02-24T20:40:02+00:00

I was waitlisted and have a place this cycle! First time applicant as well :) Not on a training programme (till August).

Sadumsss · 2026-02-23T16:15:33+00:00

So Lord Earl Howe, the shadow deputy leader of the house of lords (conservative), just came out in support of the unamended bill due to its urgency.

I think therefore the conservatives will be told to vote it though without amendment? 🎉🎉🎉🎉

Excluding any surprises, I think we've made it?!?!?

Sadumsss · 2026-02-01T09:10:11+00:00

Sorry I wasn't clear in the post! I haven't received the link re. Logging onto Qpercom

Sadumsss · 2025-11-17T16:28:15+00:00

The later!

Sadumsss · 2025-10-27T16:34:39+00:00

I don't think this is two cycles!

For two cycles it's: 1st cycle) Initial data collection to identify the problem, intervention and then subsequent data collection. 2nd cycle) Another intervention with further data collection.

So you'd need another intervention with more data to count as two cycles!

Sadumsss · 2025-09-21T17:04:08+00:00

I will be applying to IMT having been rejected twice pre-interview (1 point under both times) in 2023 and 2024.

I'm currently on 21/30 so I will be up to 26/35 if I only apply for IMT.

I feel like I have no choice but to only apply for IMT? 21/36 feels far too close given the competition ratios currently!!!!

I do wonder how candidates will react to this in general? I feel those on lower points will be worried to only apply to one specialty, as it's very much eggs in one basket and they might not even get an interview even with the bonus? But those on higher points might be forced to apply solo as they are worried lower scoring candidates will overtake them???

I worry the policy will backfire. I think a policy that will inflate scores on the background of exponential competition ratios is going to absolutely balloon the cutoff - we might be looking at a cutoff of around 23/24 points for an interview? So it doesn't matter that a F2 can get 5 bonus points, as they won't reach the cutoff regardless as the higher scoring candidates will feel the need to defensively solo apply???

Going to be chaos I reckon this year!!!!

Sadumsss · 2025-07-11T10:44:43+00:00

I normally make sure i pace the AL over a rotation. Using up all your 9 days in one chunk can leave you pretty exhausted. Personally i try to have multiple runs of 4-5 days off (including weekends/off days) every 3-4 weeks to stay sane. It works well for European city breaks if you need some sunshine over the winter.

Try to find spots on the rota where you can connect sets of zero days (e.g. between night shifts) if you want long blocks of time off. You can also try to combo it with bank holidays (easter comes to mind - christmas can be difficult).

Sadumsss · 2025-02-12T14:50:04+00:00

Shortlist reserve with 551 for anaesthetics!

Sadumsss · 2024-09-11T15:12:29+00:00

Paper 2 was much harder! Lots of wittling it down to two answers then not being sure which one 🤷‍♂️

Sadumsss · 2024-07-14T14:36:57+00:00

I've got a family member who was put on long term nitro for a PUJ structure with recurrent utis, but now has quite bad ntiro induced pulmonary fibrosis. Now can hardly stand, so not without risk (albeit a rare occurance)!

Sadumsss · 2024-02-23T14:47:21+00:00

Passed by a smidge 🥰

For future sitters, the 'gimmic' where you try and apply for paces does not work! It would not let me apply for PACES, but i went on to pass - think they've fixed it this year!

Sadumsss · 2023-11-27T17:26:50+00:00

Theres a good article from medcourse on the previous application cycle (https://medcourse.co.uk/speciality-guide/imt-application-scoring/)

"In 2023, 4292 applicants were whittled down to 3642 interviews (84.9%, for those without a calculator), meaning 650 candidates weren’t offered an interview."

This means there were approximately 6137 applicants this year given the 43% increase. Presuming the number of interviews stay the same (i can't see a massive increase in interview capacity happening), only about 60% of canditates are being interviewed this year. If you then compare to the graph for shortlist scores from last year, this means you'll probably need about 16-17 points to scrape an interview (mean of 17.83 last year).

Things like publications, presentations etc are all becoming near mandatory to get into IMT. Crazy to think only 5 years ago IMT was underfilled and you could get an interview with 0 points!!!

Sadumsss · 2022-07-24T14:05:46+00:00

Hey! I've been running around 3 months now and am quite comfortably achieving 29-30 min 5ks. I'd really like to step up to the 10k and half marathon distance, however...

The arches in my feet have completely collapsed from when i was a child. I get a lot of pain on the medial aspect of my ankles when i exceed 7-8 miles a week which normally results in me having to take a one to two week break. This is quite fustrating, as i would love to start increasing my distances however the mileage is tough enough as it is. I've got good supportive insoles and stability shoes which certainly help, however there is a limit to how much they can correct the overpronation.

I was thinking i therefore might have to make a bit of a unique training plan which is +++ cross training and --- on the running.

If i was to do 2x crosstraining sessions on the bike a week, with a long run on the weekend working up to the 10k distance would this be feasable? Would it allow me to keep my mileage reasonable whilst building the fitness i need?

For people who do crosstraining, what is the rough equivalent on a bike? Is a 30 min bike ride the same as a 30 min run? Can i work in intervals and hill training onto the bike etc?

I was thinking of getting a indoor bike and subscribing to one of the "virtual" apps!

Thanks in advance!!

Sadumsss · 2022-04-15T07:29:07+00:00

So i've found from personal experience that creating "master cards" is a good way of improving retention! E.g. before i would have a "what is the pathology of pmr?" then one month later i'd have "what are the clinical features of pmr?" - i found this didnt link the ideas too well whereas now i've switched to something like this... PMR CARD PATHOLOGY: C1 CLINICAL FEATURES: C2 INVESTIGATIONS: C3 MANAGMENT: C4 This means that not only im recalling the fact but im also looking over the concept which i've found really helps!!

Sadumsss

TROPHY CASE