Hey guys, I'm Siobhan, a second-year medical resident.
Today is all about your questions here on YouTube and on Instagram.
There's gonna be a special guest and then, at the end, I'm gonna be giving my number one piece of advice for aspiring doctors.
But first I want to thank everybody who's been contributing subtitles and translations from around the world
because it makes the videos more accessible.
So if you want to be a part of this take a look at this link above
** violin music playing **
So the first question is:
what kind of basic medical knowledge do you think an everyday person should have?
So that is an awesome question.
I would say definitely know what you've been diagnosed with and what medications you are on.
Also know what kind of screening you're supposed to be getting at your age.
So, pap smears, mammography, the fecal occult blood test.
Things that help us detect cancers early.
Very, very important to make sure you're up on that.
And it would be amazing if people had some basic life supports.
So what do you do if someone's choking in front of you or when do you start CPR? How do you do CPR?
Those are little things that are actually life-saving in the community. That's how you could save a life.
Hi from New Zealand, Siobhan.
I was just wanting to know is it possible throughout med school and as a doctor to still maintain a normal life...
... with relationships and travel? Things like that?
Umm... or not? *nervous giggle*
So big news guys, I'm actually engaged. So yes, it's possible to have a wonderful life in medicine!
But I will tell you I was recording this video a couple of days ago
But I didn't realize that the room I was in was getting dark early. Daylight savings, you know?
And so it became unusable by the end.
But I want to show you a clip because it'll answer this question a bit more. so big life development. I'm actually engaged
So, big life development! I'm actually engaged!
And maybe you guys can meet him. He's just heading out to the hospital. He's on call right now.
Mark? Are you still here?
Mark: Yup.
Do you wanna come here for a second?
Mark: Ok.
Okay, I'm just filming do you wanna say hi to everyone?
Mark: Am I going to be on camera?
Siobhan: Yeah, yeah. Come here, come here. *laughs*
M: Oh my gosh... Okay.
M: Let's see if I can do a good "Violin MD" impression. Hey guys, I'm Mark, first year medical resident.
S: That was pretty good. That's pretty good. I like that. *laughs*
You're gonna do the comments below thing.
M: Let us know what you think about that in the comments below.
S: Yeah, yeah. That's good, that's good.
M: I'm learning.
S: We'll train him up. M: I'm learning from the best.
M: Okay, I gotta go. Nice to meet you guys.
S: Ok. Bye!
So Eddie's wondering if you're seeing a patient and you hear a code blue
Do you finish up with the patient or you come back for the code?
So you can just picture it I'm sitting there
I'm chatting with the patient, all of a sudden you hear code blue, my pager starts going off...
...at that moment the patient knows what's going on. I usually just say to them. "I'm sorry. It's an emergency..."
"I'll be right back". And I literally just run out of the room and people are so lovely and understanding.
The one exception is: say you're gowned up and you're sterile. What if I was doing a procedure?
In that situation it's sort of a judgment call and how urgent that procedure is.
The good thing is you're never the only doctor showing up.
There's always at least three or four doctors that show up to these codes.
So someone else can run it even if you're technically supposed to be the one who's in charge.
Okay, next one
I had a patient today in the emergency room who jumped off the roof.
He unfortunately passed away in my hands despite all efforts. It's been haunting me all day.
How do you deal with these situations? By the way, it's my first unnatural death experience.
Oh. That's so tough. First of all, I'm so sorry that you had to experience that.
It's sometimes... we see some of the most horrible things.
That actually reminds me of a time:
I was in the emergency department and a young guy in his twenties came in with an opioid overdose.
And... I remember his face just like... When we're just now... like I remember it so well.
And he looked like he could have been anyone in my class.
And we did CPR on him for so long and we just couldn't bring him back.
So I know that feeling.
I think you're doing the right thing. I think reaching out, talking to people,
... recognizing that you're feeling off is so important, but also realizing that that's normal.
That seeing something tragic like that. It will shake you and that's okay. I think what I usually do is I go...
... take a breath take a moment for myself and then I sort of put those emotions away while I'm in the hospital.
Because you've got to take care of other people and other patients.
But later when I go home...
... you kind of take those emotions out and, for me, I deal with them by talking about them.
Talking with friends, debriefing.
Some people I know journal...
... go for a run or think about it. People have different ways of dealing with it.
But just know that those emotions can come up a day later, a month later...
... and that's normal. That's okay. Just deal with them when they're there.
And then if you're having trouble dealing with them, you know,
... if it's really haunting you. You can't get these thoughts or images out of your mind,
... make sure you go out and actually seek help because this happens to a lot of health care workers.
And sometimes we just need a little extra support and those supports exist out there, so don't be alone,
... don't feel hopeless, and don't just try to deal it with it by yourself.
I know as a doctor...
... you're probably faced with really sad and hard situations sometimes so what do you do to keep positive?
So this is sort of the next step.
So you deal with your emotions and then it's sort of like, how do you bounce back?
And sometimes you want to just say like: "Bam! Okay now I'm back. I talked about my emotions. I should be good, right?"
But it's not always that easy.
So I would say be kind to yourself that night...
... give yourself a day and a permission to just do what feels right.
So snuggle up and watch some Netflix.
Sometimes I like to go to like a really energetic exercise class to feel the energy from the instructor,
... or do a yoga class where, you know, you just feel more grounded.
For me, playing the violin... playing a piece that's grounding for me...
... all those things are important.
Then, the next day, I wake up in the morning, and I remind myself I chose this path.
I actually love medicine.
And I remember that there are all these patients that I get to go and help, or medical students I get to teach that day.
So that's my way of sort of pumping myself up and giving myself a pep talk as I'm walking to work.
Hi Siobhan, Ally here. I have a question for you.
You've been doing your vlog a little over a year now...
... and I was wondering how you continue to stay motivated to keep putting videos out each and every week. Thank you!
So this might sound cheesy, but it's you guys! It's this community, that's so incredibly motivating to me.
I never expected to get so much back from YouTube...
and I'm blown away by the personal stories that you share. You motivate me each and every day. So thank you very, very much.
Hey Siobhan, its Julian from South Africa.
I was just wondering: how has studying medicine and becoming a doctor actually changed your view of the world and the way you see people?
That's a really interesting question.
So it's quite something that in your 20s, you are experiencing birth to death...
... you are witnessing suffering, you're seeing things that seem so unjust. Why did this person get sick?
Why are they so unlucky? So I think it makes you value your health, the time that you have,
... and even though I am the biggest planner, I like to think in the future...
... I like to think of my 10 year plan, my 15-year plan, picture it all...
I have to fight against that and I've learned that I need to value...
... the moments. Like right now, today. Let's make today a good day.
And that's what I've learned. That's what I've learned from patients and from their positivity and the things they tell me.
Hi Siobhan, my name is Juliana and I also live in Canada and I was just wondering:
when you were in medical school, what was the hardest thing you had to learn? Bye!
What was the hardest thing I had to learn in med school? Um...
Maybe all the different channels in the kidney. I remember when I first started that like blew my mind, but then I drew up this...
... enormous diagram and in the end I actually loved the kidneys sort of the most because I'd put so much time into it.
I think, in medicine, it's not so much the...
... difficult concept so much as a mountain of information.
So someone once told me: it's like trying to drink from a fire hose.
And that's exactly what it feels like. It's not that drinking is difficult, it's that it's like... so much!
What's my favorite procedure? Oh, I don't know if I've thought about that. I
Think when I was in ICU
I would have said central lines because I
Got a lot of practice and I felt like I kind of would get into my own zone
And just sort of be able to get it done and I enjoyed that process
But right now I think I would say some of the joint injections that I've been doing recently
because you work you're putting steroid into someone's joint and
They have probably been in pain for months and they've been waiting for this and then after a couple of days
They're moving around. They have their quality of life back and that's just so satisfying
Okay, so Ceri wants to know when you get sick. Do you diagnose yourself? Or do you go to the doctor?
Um, have you ever heard the saying doctors are the worst patients?
I think this may be true because it's impossible to turn off the doctor side of your brain
So, yes, definitely you try to diagnose yourself
But I think it's super important to go to the doctor and certainly not be treating yourself because that's that's pretty unethical
The reason it's important is because you are in no way
Objective and you want to see someone who's looking at the whole situation objectively
Not with emotions and fear, so you don't like if you were in charge of your own care
Maybe you would order a bunch of tests and be exposed to radiation that was unnecessary
It just it's not the best practice. So got to avoid that
Okay. So the last question is one that I get often and that's what is my advice for someone who's aspiring to be a doctor
So the road to medical school is competitive it can be stressful
So my number one piece of advice is to focus on you
Don't be comparing yourself to other people and let yourself get psyched out, you know
If you start talking to people it sounds like this person is doing research that's gonna cure cancer
This person over here is volunteering and has raised money to save a village and you think oh my gosh, what have I done?
so
Really I want you to focus on what you're passionate about in medicine. So say you love physiology
Well, then go into that dive into it study it maybe from there. You start teaching
Physiology and you become a TA and then you love it so much that you partner with someone and build your own app
Well already you're an outstanding candidate then
or see you're going into medicine because you just really want to help people and
You want to connect with people so you don't have to be a doctor to do that?
I would say get out there into your community find a niche find a group of people and advocate for them
Volunteer, start up a program. There's so much that you can do and you're gonna want to do it and feel passionate about it
If it's something that you already love, so don't fake it be yourself
That's what we actually want to see in medicine
So thank you so much for watching if you really want to help me out
Be sure to click that subscribe button and the notification bell right beside it because that way you'll know when all the videos come out
Next week. It's gonna be vlogging in the hospital again. So you don't want to miss that
Anyway, I'll be chatting with you guys next week. So bye for now