#“welcome to the NHS” 💀

[bacon-sandwich-of-dionysus]

So, I had my first proper day of placement yesterday...

And it went just about as well as you thought. Our consultant who was supposed to be with us first-years, unfortunately didn't show up.

Luckily, a registrar who had never had a med student, let alone a first-year, was kind enough to just adopt me for the hours I was supposed to be at the hospital. He was so lovely, so can we all big up Dr. Anonymous Registrar!

However, what I couldn't unsee was how my registrar did look a lot like Dr. Adam from the TV adaptation of 'This Is Going To Hurt', which did very little to make me feel at ease because, well, if you've watched the show, you'd know.

During placement, I didn't manage to go onto ward because my reg wasn't bleeped (it was an early quiet morning luckily), but he did find us something to do which was examine x rays.

So, we're looking at x rays and there's already this underlying sense of repressed disappointment from my end because I feel like I've just been dumped on this guy's doorstep and he's obviously noticing it because he's doing his best to be as encouraging as possible... and, well, the computers start acting up.

My registrar chuckles wryly and says, "Welcome to the NHS."

I laugh a little nervously as I watch him get logged out by the faulty machine and log back on to get the x ray up. The poor thing is clearly on its last legs, fans going crazy as it fights to run Windows 7.

We manage to truck on, with him occasionally having to leave to take calls or fetch folders.

Some other staff come into the room, one being another reg who stands behind us, watching in anticipation as they both watch a long-awaited email load with an x ray they've been anticipating for quite some time. Apparently, from what I overhear as I peer at the screen, they had a patient who already was not doing too great and had recently fractured their ankle. They wanted to see where the break was and how bad it looked.

Except there clearly had been a mixup.

Because when my reg finally opens the document to have a look, it's not an ankle that's been taken. It was a perfectly healthy humerus from the patient.

And thus, I watched my reg absolutely lose it.

Oh, and the nearest changing room for scrubs was at the other side of the bloody unit and locked, so at the end of the shift, I ended up getting out of my scrubs in the public toilets because no one had given me the code for the staff loo.