MedSoc Trip to King’s College Hospital

On 27th January, 39 Form 5 and 6.1 students travelled to London for a one-day Medicine work experience trip at King’s College Hospital.

We were led into a realistic demonstration of the hospital ward, learning systematically through the basis of conducting a ward round. Acronyms were used to help us quickly absorb the information. Utilizing our adaptability and versatility, we were immediately put in realistic scenarios acted by Medicine students at KCL. It was unsurprising that everyone was shocked the first time talking to a patient in a role of doctor, even forgetting to introduce ourselves to the patient! We were encouraged to use what we had learned, step by step, to eliminate uncertainties to get a diagnosis as best as we could.

In one of the scenarios, we faced a 75-year-old patient suffering from internal bleeding. He required immediate endoscopy to identify the cause, but surprisingly, refused the procedure. In this scenario we had to apply what we had learned about the four pillars of medical ethics: Beneficence, Non-Maleficence, Autonomy and Justice.

-Reported by Dallon, 6.1.

Learning how to read chest x-rays was also a new skill I’ve acquired, and it has definitely opened up my interests in radiology.

We also had a wonderful time at Pizza Express and in Chinatown although we only had a short free time, but getting bubble tea before heading back to school was worth it!

It surprised me how fast the day went, and it was definitely an unforgettable experience! I hope that future aspiring medical students in Lower School would be able to experience this too in the future!

-Reported by Eunis, 6.1.

In each component, we had hands-on experience, for example: look, listen and feel involving putting hands on their chest to check for breathing, using stethoscopes and measuring capillary refill time.

One of my most memorable experiences was informing family members about the patient’s deteriorating health condition in an unconscious state and agreeing for palliative care. Initially, I found phrasing the news difficult, but our team managed to show our empathy and gave our best advice without influencing their final decision.

On the whole, this was truly an insightful experience that enriched my medical knowledge beyond lessons and showed me the daily challenges doctors face, which revealed the qualities we should strive for, such as: resilience and compassion. Most importantly, this solidified my desire to pursue a medical career and contribute towards the field of healthcare.

-Reported by Vanessa, 6.1.

After lunch, we had our radiology session. A doctor introduced us to the basic concepts of radiology and taught us how to systematically interpret chest X-rays using a 3-step approach. To be honest, I was a little nervous when the doctor told us we would have to analyse different cases without looking at our notes, as I didn’t quite have sufficient time to process and digest everything we’d learned. However, I was pretty satisfied with how I analysed the X-ray and surprised myself with how much information I’d retained (I now understand why med students love acronyms so much…). The doctor also shared some exciting stories from his days as a med student, which I found really amusing.

After an eventful day, we took a trip to Leicester Square, where we enjoyed a lovely dinner over conversations with friends about how our day went. Mr Brown recommended a boba tea shop to us, which was so good that my friends and I each ordered one and finished it all within minutes.

-Reported by Dawn, 6.1.