Sharp Scratch – Details, episodes & analysis

Who’s off limits when it comes to dating, how renal physiology can ruin your chance of romance, and whether you should put that you’re a doctor on your tindr profile.

Dating as a newly qualified doctor brings some challenges that we don’t face as med students: unpredictable hours, exhaustion from night shifts, and professional boundaries with colleagues. Are some lines we should not cross? How hard is it to find romance while adjusting to life as a doctor?

Join medical students Laura and Declan and new doctor Divolka as we discuss how new doctors can join in the fun part of life that is dating. Featuring three doctors - Alyssa, Dipesh, and Amy - who share their awkward moments from their dating lives. Plus, Rob from Medical Protection gives advice on who’s off limits, and our Sharp Scratch regular Ryhan calls in to tell us how his medical elective is going.

Tell us what you think about the episode and your ideas for topics to cover later in the series by leaving a review or by using #SharpScratch on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

For more on the podcast, including how to follow Laura, Declan, Ryhan, Alyssa, Dipesh, and Rob on social media, visit www.bmj.com/sharpscratch.

Have you ever had a really bad day at placement? Perhaps something really awful has happened, or something has upset you, or another member of the team, or maybe you’ve made a mistake. This year, many episodes of sharp scratch have touched on the idea of debriefing after events like these, but in this episode, we talk a little more about debriefing. What is it? When is it useful? And who can we debrief with? 

 

This week, Éabha is joined by Nikki and Inez, and expert guest Jo Flowers, a senior resuscitation officer in the north of England. 

 

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Parenthood and medical school are two very different, each noble, roles. This week, we shed some light on the experiences of those medical students who are parenting at medical school. What is parenthood at medical school like? What challenges do parents encounter at medical school? What can friends and colleagues do to support parents at medical school?

Éabha and Judy are joined by Maz, a medical student and mum, and Luke, an FY2 doctor who became a dad while at medical school. 

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**This podcast was recorded before the extraordinary circumstances due to the covid-19 outbreak.** Following on from our episode on what to wear on the wards, this week the Sharp Scratch team and expert guest take a closer look at the stereotypes around what doctors look like. This week's expert guest Dr Devina Maru is a GP specialty registrar in London, who has loved fashion from a young age, having grown up with a grandfather who is a tailor and a cousin who is an international fashion designer. You can follow her on Twitter: @Devina_Maru

To read the BMA's dress code click here. https://archive.bma.org.uk/advice/employment/contracts/consultant-contracts/dress-codes

We're joined by Professor Colin Melville from the General Medical Council (GMC) on this slightly unusual episode of Sharp Scratch. We talk about the role of the GMC in regulating new doctors and plans for interim FY1 posts and beyond. Our expert guest: Professor Colin Melville is the Medical Director and Director of Education and Standards at the GMC. Colin leads the GMC's regulation of all stages of medical education, having previously worked in senior roles at a number of medical schools. Colin trained as a doctor and worked as a consultant in intensive care medicine before moving into medical education.

The GMC have a new online hub for newly qualified doctors moving into interim FY1 posts https://www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/provisional-registration

This week on Sharp Scratch, we interrupt our scheduled podcasts to bring you a special bumper episode where we discuss the topic on everyone's minds: covid-19. We hear from medical students and junior doctors who have been disrupted by the pandemic. Our guests Chris Smith is a medical student in Southampton and Co-Chair of the BMA's Medical Student's Committee Stephen Naulls is a brand new doctor and Deputy Chair for Welfare on the BMA Medical Student's Committee Tanya Ta is another early-graduated new doctor from Norwich Medical School, who has been working on the wards as senior medical student assistant.

Cassandra Baiano is a second year medical student on the ScotGEM graduate entry to medicine programme. Cassandra and her colleague Ronald Macdonald, a first year student on the same programme, have built an app called 'HealthSHIP' that connects up medical students who want to help out with healthcare professionals who need an extra pair of hands.

**This podcast was recorded before the extraordinary circumstances due to the covid-19 outbreak.** Picking out clothes to wear on the wards is less straightforward than you might think. This week, we talk balancing fashion and function, the perils of noisy shoes, and the best colour shirts to wear if you're a nervous sweater... This week's expert guest Dr Devina Maru is a GP specialty registrar in London, who has loved fashion from a young age, having grown up with a grandfather who is a tailor and a cousin who is an international fashion designer. You can follow her on Twitter: @Devina_Maru

To read the BMA's dress code click here. (https://www.bma.org.uk/advice/employment/contracts/consultant-contracts/dress-codes)

Anxiety's a natural part of life - under certain circumstances. And we know that med students and junior docs are more likely than other groups to suffer from anxiety disorders and depression. This week, the Sharp Scratch team talk about their anxieties, and hear from some expert guests on how we can manage anxiety day to day, and how to recognise when we might need a little extra help. This week's expert guests and contributors: Dr Stania Kamara is an ST6 Specialist Registrar in Forensic Psychiatry, and current Medical Director's Clinical Fellow at the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges with NHS England and NHS Improvement. She is passionate about trying to improve access to good quality mental health care across the globe and has worked to develop services and build the capacity of the mental health workforce in a number in number of low and middle income countries. In 2015 she was shortlisted for the Royal College of Psychiatrists Core Trainee of the Year award and awarded the Queen's medal for service during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Stephen Buckley is Head of Information at Mind, the mental health charity. For the resources Stephen mentions, check out the Mind website. https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/anxiety-and-panic-attacks/about-anxiety/ If you are struggling with anxiety, you can get help by contacting your GP, university services or local services. If you need someone to talk to, one to one and confidentially, you can call the Samaritans for free at 116 123. Find more information on their website.

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/

In this week's special episode of Sharp Scratch, we've got something a little different for you! Last week the panel talked microaggressions, so this week we're hearing from an expert guest who is leading the work the NHS is doing to combat inequality in healthcare. If you like this special edition, let us know on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter using #SharpScratch This week's special guest: Yvonne Coghill, CBE is the director of Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) at NHS England and NHS Improvement. Yvonne has over 20 years’ experience in nursing, before taking up operational and strategic leadership posts. During her 40 plus years career, she has held a wide variety of clinical and managerial roles at the Department for Health and NHS Leadership Academy. In 2013 she was voted by colleagues in the NHS as one of the top 50 most inspirational women, one of the top 50 most inspirational nurse leaders and one of the top 50 black and minority ethnic (BME) pioneers, two years in a row. In July 2015 Yvonne joined NHS England as director for WRES Implementation. She was awarded an Order of the British Empire for services to healthcare in 2010 and Commander of the British Empire in 2018. Yvonne was elected deputy president of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in November 2018. Some of the resources Yvonne mentions during the interview: https://www.england.nhs.uk/2020/02/nhs-publishes-new-workforce-race-equality-data-ahead-of-nhs-and-race-summit/ https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/equality/equality-hub/equality-standard/resources/

https://www.england.nhs.uk/2019/01/race-equality/

In an episode to coincide with The BMJ's themes issue on racism in medicine, this week we talk people getting your name wrong, other microaggressions, and how racism can literally break your heart. We also hear from Professor David Williams on the physiological impact of discrimination and being a person with prejudices. You can hear David's full interview in The BMJ podcast. This week's expert contributor: David Williams is a Professor of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, as well as a Professor of African and African American Studies and of Sociology at Harvard University.

His research has focussed on the health effects of racial discrimination, as well as the public health implications of marginalisation.