Stress Outlets - how to cope with being a doctor

Stress Outlets - how to cope with being a doctor

Young Leader at Brownies

I have been a Young Leader at my local Brownie unit for three years. I have enjoyed interacting with the children and leaders to build up lasting relationships and building my team work skills. Watching the children progress was rewarding especially since I helped to organise many of the activities that revealed the excitement and development of the children. The planning of these activities will aid with the administrative side of my medicinal role and understanding how you have to follow safety rules and the companies conduct rules.

The interaction with these young children and leaders helps my already well-developed social interaction skills. I gained my first aid qualification whilst in this role and have since dealt with minor medical incidents, honing my patient nature and how I deal with dilemmas. These incidents range from a cut foot to a broken arm whilst playing a game. These have helped me to stay calm when a child is crying and to assess the situation fully as opposed to acting irrationally or with panic. My self-control helps to calm down the child and ensure them that everything is going to be ok. This skill is essential for being a doctor as you don't want to panic the patient more than necessary when it is not a life threatening accident or symptom.

I have also enhanced my leadership role by gaining my Young Leadership Award which involved planning activities that promote health and wellbeing. I have also run activities on health and exercise where we have done a games evening and alongside this we have cooked healthy foods to substitute for unhealthy foods which should be avoided. For example, we made pizzas from bread which are much better as part of a balanced diet than shop bought pizzas. This will be required as a doctor when patients are overweight and causing their bodies damage as a result; this preventative care is essential to have as it could help to stop heart attacks and strokes.

Ocean Sailing

I went sailing with my school off the coast of Scotland for a week. I actually managed to gain my RYA Start Yachting award which I was very proud of. This was a particularly fun activity for me that helped me build my leadership and teamwork skills. I had a fun experience throughout the whole activity and challenged myself to do new and exciting things such as steering the ship, altering sails and producing difficult knots. 

Safety, of myself and my fellow crew, was of paramount importance during the sailing that I did and we put in special measures such as being tied to the boat during storms and wearing buoyancy jackets. This concern for myself and my team will stand me in good stead for my medical career as it allowed me to consider the many outcomes of scenarios and plan for everyone's safety, no matter what the outcome is.

The sailing experience was fun whilst also aiding communication, teamwork, planning, safety and leadership skills; all of which are highly important to have as a doctor. These skills were developed during an activity that I found highly adventurous and which broke up my busy work schedules.

Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Scheme

As many of you will know, this scheme is made up of four separate sections; volunteering, skill, sports and the expedition. A section that I found particularly useful was the expedition section where I had to learn basic first aid and assess risks that the team took whilst walking on particular routes. As a doctor it is important to be able to take risks but also to be able to calculate possible outcomes and ensure you take the action that is most favourable for the patient in the long term.

I went regularly to a fitness class with my family to complete the sports section of the award. This was a stress relieving activity that also helped me to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Furthermore, I gained knowledge of how my body worked and moved as I pushed it to its limits through stretches and cardiovascular training. My knowledge of muscle names and functions increased alongside pursuing a highly pleasurable activity.

Piano

I previously attained my Grade 3 piano and I find that occasionally playing for fun now allows me to take my mind off of any worries that I have. Studying to be a medic means working hard and I am perfectly capable of doing so and achieving the grades I need to apply to medicine, yet it does always help to pursue activities such as playing piano as this shows how well-rounded I am whilst benefiting me by giving me a stress outlet.

Sports

I regularly go swimming and running in order to continue living healthily but also to detract from the high work load that I have, especially during exam times. I find this helps to take my mind off of work worries whilst also improving fitness and ensuring I get a fully rejuvenating night of sleep. These activities help me gain a basic knowledge of healthy living that I can build on whilst training to be a doctor. It also gives me a firsthand experience of the benefits of exercise and why I should advise patients to pursue this as a hobby and lifestyle choice.

A sports related award that I achieved was my Level 2 Sports Leadership Award which involved leading small and large groups of primary school children in sporting activities and highlighting the importance of exercise to them. Working with such a young age group was not an issue for me since I had much experience with these ages, yet, it helped me to hone communication especially since I could be giving instructions across a busy sports field.

School hobbies

I carry out many activities at school which help me to deal with stressful situations. The first of these activities is Buddy Reading with a year seven, aiding his literacy skills, improving my personal communication skills and encouraging the twelve year old to boost his self-esteem. The second activity is Lower Link where I work closely with a year eight form tutor group, providing quizzes and fun activities to allow them to have some relaxation and enjoyable time in their week, but also to educate them of matters in the news and improve their general knowledge. The third activity that I carry out is being a School Ambassador, working closely with a group of twenty eight external year twelve students who are joining the school from other establishments in September. I have to ensure that they feel included and are familiar with the school system. This particularly helps me to release stress as we carry out activities such as treasure hunts and team building exercises. My leadership skills are developed as I take a group of eight young adults in each session. The last activity I carried out at school is Young Enterprise in which I was the Human Resource manager, my role was vital in making sure the attendance of students was high so that the company could make decisions without delay. I also took a Level 2 exam in the topic area. This process improved my knowledge of company management and financial issues which will help me in the future as a doctor to have an awareness of the cost of particular drugs and procedures. These activities were done as an active member who is part of a school community and all show my determination and eagerness to succeed outside the expected curriculum. Whilst pursuing fun activities, I had the opportunity to enhance communication, teamwork, patience and leadership skills; all of which will be of paramount importance as a doctor.