‘Oh the modern student life’
As the time drew closer to my first university induction day, I was feeling excitement, anticipation and – when looking forward to the work ahead – nerves! From interview to start date, there had been expeditious efforts to secure my dietetic replacement, and put in place the necessary arrangements to transition to a different role (e.g. recruitment checks, new uniform, contract start date in line with my university training, completing my university registration and setting myself up on the university IT systems).
As I prepared for university, I found myself frequently thinking back to my first university days when I started my dietetic degree. That was 14 years ago. So it was amusing to compare how different my life is now. I’m a Band 7 Dietitian, working as part of an incredible team and I get to train to take on an entirely different role within that team. I am also not sharing a student flat and have as much space in the fridge as I would like! Yes, life is different and I am incredibly fortunate.
I am training to perform a role that before now was only undertaken by our expert ACPs hailing from the nursing profession. Consequently, there is a big difference in the skill-set that I start with compared to theirs. This new path has required some new changes to how my team have previously trained and supported our ACPs. My manager will be from my baseline profession (dietetics), my clinical supervisor is a medical consultant and I will be supported and mentored by an experienced ACP. We have drawn up a list of additional skills that I will need to train in through internal Trust courses and on-the-ward competency training. This includes venepuncture, cannula insertion, taking blood cultures, manual blood pressure monitoring, NGT insertion, ordering and interpreting clinical imaging and more.
I remember that one of my first ever patient-contact experiences was early into my B placement where I was tasked with taking tricep skinfold (TSF) measurements from as many patients as possible who were attending for their chemotherapy treatments. That was terrifying! I had little to no experience in speaking to a patient, let alone pinching the subcutaneous fat at the back of their arms with a callipers… And since then, taking TSF measurements is about as invasive as my clinical input has ever been. So the idea of getting this hands-on with a patient seems a very foreign concept.
None the less, I was ready to give it my all on my first day of learning clinical examination skills. We started with upper and lower limb neurological examination. My awkwardness and inexperience seemed to radiate across the room. Thankfully, my “bubble” of fellow students on whom I practice the assessments with consists of a lovely physio and CCU nurse. They both seemed to retain the instruction and exhibit the skills with ease, and so were very supportive when I needed either prompting or direction. As I have gone on to learn other face-to-face skills like manual clinical obs or cranial nerve examination, my inexperience continues to remain apparent. But I am telling myself that I am one month in and practice and experience will get me there in time. (I have also purchased a stethoscope, tendon hammer and pen light, so credit to my husband for being a model patient on whom I have been practising my assessment skills!)
Online lectures has been an entirely different experience in that I feel very much in my element! Granted, learning the nervous system was a challenge, but the vast majority of the lectures are fascinating and relevant. I continuously find myself wondering how I have managed to do my job this long without this additional knowledge and understanding! The anatomy and physiology lectures are a great refresher from what was taught at BSc level with a whole new layer of detail that just seem to make it click more. For the pathophysiology lectures I am able to recall clinical scenarios for each clinical condition discussed, which again is very different from my BSc days and makes it a lot easier to understand. Plus lectures delivered virtually means that, come the afternoon time, I can screen-mirror my laptop to my television and cozy up on my couch. Or for the days I am feeling more active, I can pace the room (maybe with a dumbbell or two) while attempting to imprint the information onto my memory. Oh the modern student life!
There is a fair bit of paperwork and pre- and post lecture work so 2-3 hours each evening is given over to this. The pace seems to be non-stop but remaining organised makes it manageable. Juggling when I have my ‘dietetic hat’ on or my ‘Trainee ACP hat’ has been both confusing and entertaining for my patients, colleagues and I but we are starting to find our feet and everyone has been really understanding.
In summary, this is a challenge, university life is very different from how I remember it and... I am loving it.