i've just finished watching this year's BBC's Junior Doctors: Your Life In Their Hands. i've never watched the first season and was not bothered with this season at first, but since everyone was going on about how bad the junior doctors on the show are, i thought i'd give the first episode a try. besides, i will be starting my first job as a junior doctor come august, so perhaps it'd be interesting to see how i currently stand against them.
appalling cannulation technique by one of the doctors, annoying untied long hair sweeping all over the patient, and running around the hospital with the same pair of gloves post-patient contact aside - i personally don't think these doctors are bad at all. i can already imagine my first few weeks on the job at an entirely new hospital and environment, away from the comforts of being "merely a medical student", with a hundred more responsibilities on my shoulder. i know it is going to be overwhelming and there will be times when i will feel incredibly stupid. mistakes are inevitable, and one can only hope that they are not major ones where patients' lives are put at risk.
my point is, i think people have been extremely quick to judge. i'm sure it must've been very daunting for these doctors to be filmed at work, especially during their first few weeks. they would've most definitely had the added pressure of being on national tv on top of trying to get their work right on track. it's so easy for senior doctors to criticize - they are, after all, more experienced but i am very sure they have had their fair share of downs when they first started. what irks me most is when medical students comment that these junior doctors are lousy, arrogantly saying things like, "did you watch last night's Junior Doctors? omg they are so bad it's not funny", and "omg she was so bad that the patient wanted someone else to do it after two failed cannulation attempts". c'mon people, you've not even had a feel of working life yet, and while everyone will definitely get better at skills with tonnes of practice, you will have "off days" where you cannot explain why your procedures have not been successful. it doesn't automatically mean that you're incompetent (although, saying this, there are unfortunately some people who are), and it is really okay to get someone else to have a go at it.
obviously i don't know these junior doctors personally (wish i do, though, some of them are pretty cool HAHA), but from watching the show i get the feeling that they are doing alright. then again, it is also very difficult to judge simply because... it is a tv show! who would want to watch a normal doctor at work doing boring things like discharge summaries and taking blood time after time with ease? the producers had a span of 4 months to capture exciting and horrifying moments, by EIGHT different doctors, to be squeezed into 6 episodes. if you asked me, i think it may even be easier to judge an actual book by its cover.
i am coming towards the end of medical school (2 weeks more to be exact - i go back home for electives after this), and my current placement is a "student assistantship" where i shadow the junior doctor on my ward, basically doing things that i will be doing once i start work, only unable to sign forms and order investigations. and of course, i don't get paid. it's been a really good placement, though. my FY1 (first year junior doctor) is really good and i have learned a lot from him and the other doctors on the ward. i think i am somewhat prepared to step into the working world - not entirely, but i know i will never be until i actually start; but i think i can safely say that i am ready to graduate.
