Ring Ring

Flashback : OSCE station number 4

The patient had an eye patch on her right eye. One thing came to mind.

Cranial nerve exam...

As she lifted off the patch, it was a spot diagnosis of lateral rectus palsy.

“So, what are the causes of a unilateral lateral rectus palsy?” asked Dr Marcus Butler, the respiratory consultant who had once given a lecture during which I didn’t pay attention to.

“Erm, a tumour?”

“Don’t say tumour, use the term neoplastic lesion,” he corrected. It's never a good sign when an examiner gives you lessons during exams.

“Oh sorry, a neoplastic lesion can be a cause of an isolated lateral rectus palsy,”

“Okay, could you be more specific in terms of location?”

“Errr, I’d expect that the tumour would be in...”

“NEOPLASTIC LESION!!” he raised his voice.

I looked to the heavens for guidance. This was not going well at all...

The Phone Call

“Any one of you who failed will be getting a call from me soon,” said the Bimbo.

“This is just to let you know that you need to work harder for the second part of your surgery module. It also means that I will be your personal tutor to guide you through any problems you might have,” she continued

I checked my phone for the tenth time in the space of an hour. I noticed that Adrienne did the same too. By the end of this week, those who had failed would’ve been contacted by phone.

A friend of mine had already burst into tears in the middle of a tutorial as an unknown number appeared on her mobile. It turned out to be an overseas call from her sister.

Tensions are running high as we go about our daily rotations in St Vincents. Everybody seems much more quiet than usual.

I'm also get visions of the Bimbo using the stethoscope to strangle me to death due to my incompetence.

It's gonna be a helluva week