"Dum Vivo Disco"

This quaint Latin phrase was the motto of my senior high school.

Apparently it means "Whilst I live, I learn"... lifelong learning... something every doctor is a fan of. In the ever-expanding universe of medical knowledge, we must continually strive to grow in our understanding of the latest updates in our field of expertise. From new investigations to the latest pharmacotherapy, we are all students in this life, never ceasing to gain new information till the day we quit practice.

Each week at hospital, we are subjected to 'RMO Teaching" sessions where we get refed information on the latest management of anything from actue respiratory emergencies to "Understanding diversity health using storyboards"

Part of the Hippocratic oath staets that what we have learned from our teachers as doctors we will pass on for free to the next 'generation' of medical professionals. And so with much awkwardness I have begun this cycle of perpetual learning/teaching.

That's right, I got me my very own set of 4th year med students to teach.

A small troup of fresh little 'keen beans' popped up from behind the nurses station to greet me with their "Hi-we're-your-med-students-please-spoon-feed-us" routine. They we're all looking at me like I was a doctor or something. (oh that's right... I AM a doctor now! I'm 'supposed' to know stuff?)

So I arranged to meet them in the afternoon to 'go see patients'. I scabbed some cardio patients off my fellow terns and got ready to critique the youngling's examinations. However they turned the tables on me by asking "Can you please show us how YOU do a cardio examination so we can learn properly?"

A rush of adrenaline shot over me... I was suddenyl the one being cross examined.. and by a bunch of 4th years!

I had to think quickly and remember my cardio examination which I haven't done in over 6 months. I fumbled through it and diverted their questions to "Go home and read Talley (the textbook)"

So off we went and I let them have a go and then thoroughly grilled them to remind them that I am the one with the medical degree and not them (so that they didn't realise how dumb I really am... haha!) It was so weird cos 4th years know a lot of theory and so in reality probably know more academic medicine than I do... but my virtue of having done way more clinical exams than them I can pretend like I have something to teach them.

I felt by the end of it that they might be getting bored... but then they asked for another tute next week! Yikes!

I think I'm going to have to read up beforehand! So much for not studying at all this year!

Dum Vivo Disco!