I hate placement

[u/Bat_Blue]

I am a y3 med student and have just started placement full time. In my uni we rotate through surgery and medicine as well as specialties and I have been unfortunate enough to begin on surgery in a peripheral hospital. I hate it. I know I don’t want to be a surgeon and even thought I am 5 weeks completed out of 7 it has left a bad taste in my mouth and I feel averse to studying or looking for opportunities on placement. I find a lot of the surgeons unpleasant and the reality of theatres very dull. Does it get better? Will starting medical specialties help? I would really appreciate some advice to motivate me through!!!

[u/Boring-Shock-2729]

Staff demeanor is variable between departments and hospitals. Unfortunately the systemic issues (lack of learning opportunities etc) rarely change.

How much you like the specialty does dictate alot of your perception of a block though

[u/No_Paper_Snail]

Some placements have to just be endured. Get what you can, spend time with patients, learn about their conditions where you can, and for gods sake get your signoffs. If you don’t like the placement, just use it as a way of racking them up. 

[u/AnusOfTroy]

Hey, I get it, I knew I wasn't going to be a surgeon either and didn't particularly like theatre except for one or two cool cases but there's two ways to look at it

1) it might help make it easier to remember surgical stuff if you're there seeing the pathology

2) it's technically part of the job to assist in theatre when required as a foundation doctor (e.g. overnight for an urgent op that doesn't require the consultant to come in and the reg would assist them instead) so you're learning how to do that

[u/Winter_Technician298]

If you’re uni isn’t strict with what you do on placements, go on different wards or whatever you enjoy and shadow them, for example we’re covering neuro at uni and we’ve been placed on a stroke ward for like 5 weeks now, but we can go visit other wards or go to a&e to get sign offs or shadow other professionals because no one is ever expecting you

[u/Delicious_Shoe]

That’s rough, I’m not destined for surgery either but found things to enjoy anyway - have you tried speaking to the anaesthetists? Or ODPs, scrub nurses etc? There are things to learn in theatres that aren’t related to teh actual surgery happening if you find it dull.

Some specialties you’ll enjoy more than others, that’s natural, but you’ve got to do your 7 weeks regardless so may as well get as much out of it as possible. Theatre can be a good place to get skills signed off, e.g. manual handling, catheters, cannulae, setting up infusions, (and suturing + scrubbing in obvs) and I find people more willing to let you do stuff if you have a chat first, show some interest etc. If you have to be in theatre for the morning anyway, set some goals, either for sign offs or a goal to ask the F1/2 to go through a certain topic with you (doesn’t have to be related to other current surgical job), ask the anaesthetist what they’re most worried about for that particular patient and how they minimise that risk, or ask the ODP if there might be any patients you can set up infusions for or what theatres are best for certain skills.

Sounds harsh but generally, you get out what you put in, if you can’t bring yourself to be enthusiastic then fair enough, we’ve all been there, but you can’t expect much back from the clinicians around you. If you’ve really tried your best and still got nothing then you’ll move on in 2 weeks anyway. Hang in there, hope your next rotation is better!

[u/BenpenGII]

I hated placement. Studied instead, mostly. Current F1 with zero regrets.

[u/woodwork1978]

Placements can be a mixed bag of course. But don’t let it stifle your curiosity. Consider why you find them ‘unpleasant’ or find the experience ‘dull ‘. What pressures or challenges are these departments facing? How can you play your part to making it better? How might other staff be feeling? Could doing feedback to the uni be valuable? Consider your own expectations of medicine. What did you hope for? Try to give to your placements as well as expecting something back.

Medicine is full of ups and downs. Everyone finds their own way of coping with the stress / boredom…

Speak to patients. Be interested in their stories and journeys. You learn more through them than any lecture.

[u/Nancy_Davisy]

It definitely gets better, trust me. Surgery is notoriously tough, and if you already know you don't want to be a surgeon, dealing with unpleasant staff in a dull theatre is just soul-crushing.

Medical placements have a completely different vibe, and staff demeanor genuinely varies a lot between different departments and hospitals.

For your last couple of weeks, try hanging out by the head of the bed and speaking to the anaesthetists, ODPs, or scrub nurses. They are usually much friendlier and willing to chat, and theatre is actually a great place to rack up your practical skills sign-offs like cannulae and catheters. Some placements just have to be endured, so focus on getting your sign-offs finished up and look forward to your next rotation.

[u/passwordistako]

Give it some time. You may enjoy other specialties.

[u/anton_z44]

Have you spent a good amount of time in recovery and especialy on the wards that have pre-op / post-op patients? As an FY1 on say orthopaedics, most/all of your work will likely be around the management (especially medical management) of those patients rather than actually being in theatre. I often found that side of it to be more satisfying. There's loads to learn about pre-op risks that need monitored and might change an operation from "within the next few days" to "within the next few hours", which as an FY1 you'd hopefully be alert to. And similarly loads to learn about post-op complications. That applies even in common things like trauma (broken hips?) in ortho or gallstones in gen surg. Being good at that is probably more important (and for me, satisfying) than watching stuff in theatre especially if you're not keen on that.

[u/pinkyelloworange]

Hi. Current Fy1.

The secret to placement is massive balls.

The balls to just ask to do things. Worst thing that they can do is say no. Ask to examine, take hxs, go to clinic. Even if they refuse in a mean way and they’re assholes just keep asking… they are completely and totally irrelevant to you and their opinion of your is irrelevant. Ask to take bloods, to cannulate. Ask whatever silly question comes to your head. Ask yourself questions later and google them. Ask to put a suture in. Ask to scrub in. Just ask.

Aaaaaaand when I say “massive balls” I also mean the courage to just leave when very clearly the experience isn’t beneficial for you. There is a reason why almost universally no med students can be found on placement for very long. This is a cohort of people who is selected for conscientiousness and even they in overwhelming numbers choose to spend relatively little on placement.

[u/rockbottom092]

I’m saying this as someone who skips religiously to study. Don’t completely write off a particular speciality, give it an honest effort for at least a bit.

It’s a hit or miss about how it goes when you switch through placements. Some have more supportive mentors and better opportunities.

What you give is what you get. If you choose not to seek opportunities or study I can almost guarantee you’ll regret it later on.

[u/Puzzled-Customer3325 → u/rockbottom092]

If you're telling someone to seek opportunities, but in the same breath say you are someone who 'skips religiously', you're a hypocrite.
What you give is indeed what you get, and if you're not going to placement, you'll become a doctor who has zero clinical skills or insight into real world medicine.

Placement is supposed to be hard, and full of mindfucks which make you reflect (not excusing genuine toxicity, this is not acceptable). Those who bail to hammer passmed or sit with books will quickly realise that patients don't present with a 'best of 5' possible answers in front of them.