FRESH START:SO I AM one month closer to being a doctor. Medicine, I have discovered, is not without its challenges. Every lecture so far has been packed with information that we're expected to assimilate instantly.
It's only life and death, after all. We are being continuously assessed and monitored, and we've already been set a project on how to modify behaviours. My case study subject is a middle-aged Ukrainian truck-driver who needs to stop smoking. With limited experience of nicotine-addicted Eastern Europeans, I have a considerable amount of work to do.
The most interesting feature of my studies so far has been dissection. We had an anatomy dissection in our first week, and after a month, I have almost eight hours of cadaver company under my belt. I have to admit that I approached my first session
with a mixture of nerves, apprehension and pure terror. A touching "White Coat Ceremony" the night before sought to put us in the right frame of mind, but I still walked into the anatomy room the next day stiff as a board and praying that I remained vertical for the duration. Having never so much as seen one dead body before in my life, it was very daunting to suddenly walk into a room in which 20 cadavers patiently awaited our scalpels. However, four weeks on, I've adjusted to the colourful scents and sights of the anatomy room and I'm learning so much from the silent teachers on the table.
The lectures themselves feature their ups and downs. I love the Health, Behaviour and Society module, and any of the lectures that communicate their information through English, but I find some of the biochemistry classes quite tedious, though I appreciate their value. We also have some awful 8am lectures - not that they are bad in their own right, but their scheduling makes them seem more heinous than they are. I suppose they are training us to concentrate with little sleep and energy, a skill we'll need to have in abundance during our intern years.
One of the more novel experiences of college so far was the visit of Robert Maschio, aka "The Todd" from the TV show Scrubs. He came to the College of Surgeons recently to give a talk on "the humour of saving lives". His stand-up was mediocre at best, but it was still a fun night of stress relief.
We had an interesting night of "Society Sign-up", in which I joined almost every society and club that my college had to offer. I was attracted to the Ski and Surf clubs, which seem to organise fun trips away. I don't know where I'll find the time or the money for sporting trips, but a girl can dream! I also joined the Dance Society, which hosts weekly classes, the Surgical Society, which taught me how to suture in my first week of medicine, and the Caribbean and African Society, because they know how to throw a party.
Socially speaking, things are definitely a lot busier than last year. Despite the juggling of college and work, I'm enjoying a hectic social life. I have a lovely group of college friends, from all corners of the globe, and we happily frequent the establishments around Temple Bar on an almost daily basis, which, I must admit, is rather strenuous on a student budget.
In fact, fiscally speaking, I find I'm getting rather used to my new budgetary constraints, and earning the title of recessionista. Ever on trend!
• Laura Brady is a first-year medicine student at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin
