Do

• Smile and show enthusiasm on a ward round
• Dress well, showing a respect for your patients. However, that does not mean wearing your most expensive woollen suit
• Help junior doctors to do their daily tasks, taking blood and inserting urinary catheters--practice makes perfect
• Get a junior surgeon to explain a surgical procedure as the consultant is doing it. Otherwise you will feel like a fly on the wall staring at some odd piece of anatomy
• Do several "on-calls" or "on-takes." They give invaluable, firsthand experience on tackling any situation
• Practice presenting cases to your superiors--you will increase your confidence and learn the important art of eloquent public speaking
• Balance academic work with recreation. The body needs to rejuvenate
• Enjoy your time in medical school

Don't

• Wait until a week before the exams to practise your clinical skills
• Practise "virtual medicine"--solely relying on textbook and manikins
• Be confined to your ward and team. Mingle with the radiologists, nurses, and other medical personnel
• Miss ward rounds or walk in 10 minutes late, claiming that your dog had hidden the car keys
• Get frustrated when you discover that there is a lot to learn. Strike a balance between interacting with patients and reading up on diseases




Useful resources

UK Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education (CAIPE) www.caipe.org.uk.
Journal of Interprofessional Care www.staff.city.ac.uk/s.reeves-1 www.staff.city.ac.uk/s.reeves-1.
Combined Universities Interprofessional Learning Unit in Sheffield (CUILU) www.sheffield.ac.uk/cuilu.
Common Learning Programme at Southampton and Portsmouth Universities www.commonlearning.net World Health Organisation. Learning together to work together for health. WHO: 1998.
Tunstall-Pedoe S, Rink E, Hilton S. Student attitudes to undergraduate interprofessional education. Journal of Interprofessional Care. 2003; 17 (2): 161-172

Sukhmeet S Panesarfourth year medical student, Imperial College, London
Email: sukhmeet.panesar@imperial.ac.uk

Saqueb Mirza senior house officer, Department of General Surgery, Prince Charles Hospital, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
Email: saqeb_mirza@yahoo.com

studentBMJ 2004;12:309-348 September ISSN 0966-6494

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