Wards101: Welcome to the wards

Dear sophomores, rejoice. You are out of the terrain and terror of the pre clinical years. Welcome to the world of real doctors. Third year brings with it the joys of clinical rotations or Wards as they are commonly known. By now you must know which batch you are in. If you don’t have any friends over there, don’t hesitate for a minute and get it changed. Find someone who’ll go for a mutual migration with you and get it done as soon as possible. All you have to do is write an application, attach your CNIC and submit it to the students section in the Admin block. Then get your migration certificate (it usually takes a few days before you can get it) and submit it to your new ward so that your attendance may be marked over here. Also get your Ward card from the Records’ room in Patiala. You will need this at the end of each ward for your ward test and also for getting a transcript if you plan to go for electives.

In third year there are two major wards, Medicine and Surgery, each eight weeks long .It’s a blessing if you are done with them before the Summer break , if not, well your hard luck . Both Medicine and Surgery are divided into four units .They go by the names of North, South, East and West. Some of these are very well organized and keen on teaching, others not so much. But irrespective of what they do, you are expected to know everything at the end. So if you happen to fall in one of those not so wonderful batches, worry not. Here is what you do. Get hold of your House officer and pressurize him/her into arranging proper classes for you. If you search hard enough you’ll always find someone in the department who is willing to teach. Request him/her to take your class.

You are expected to be able to take a decent history and perform clinical exam on the patient at the end of the eight weeks period. Some Wards also require you to submit histories at the end. If so, record them daily so that you don’t have to copy from others at the end. Never hesitate to approach a patient. The more you communicate, the more you will learn. Be sensitive and polite. You’ll learn more from a patient than from any book.

Speaking of books, here are the ones I would recommend:

*Medicine

Macleod’s Examination

Bedside Clinical Examination

Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine

*Surgery

Norman and Browse

Bailey and Love

*Also get these supplies:

Hand sanitizer

Disposible gloves

The Stethoscope

Pen Torch

Measuring tape

Tendon hammer

Minor wards include

*Pediatrics

*Medicine Outdoor

*Surgical Outdoor (This one is a must. Whatever you do, don’t miss it. Dr. Waqar or Wikipedia as we like to call him is the most awesome teacher in KEMU. He’ll show you the most gruesome pathologies, like I said, DON’T MISS IT )

*Cardiology

*ENT

*EYE

*Chest Medicine (Go only when you have the proper protection masks)

*Ortho

All in all the clinics are a great experience. Some units have installed ACs in the wards so the summers are less of a nightmare now. Do get your glucose levels up before going to the wards because you’ll be standing there for at least a couple of hours .You may also want to check out the Doctors’ Café. Make new friends, keep old ones close. Learn and Enjoy!