the tabletthe clinical school magazine

May 2011

For your Ideas, Concerns and Expectations

Issue 2

More on Page 7...

“The Tablet” is used with the express permission of the trademark owner The Tablet Publishing Company. Please see website: http://www.thetablet.co.uk

EditorsMrinal SinghFern Adams

rEportErOllie D’Arcy

FashionEmily Brown

WElFarELucy Loong

sportCillian Forde

photographyNaomi Sakai

spEcial thanks to:Cambridge University Press, The Clinical School, Ed Monk, Grace Brown

contact dEtailsGeneral enquiries/submissions: cambridgetablet@gmail.comAgony Aunt:courtney.tendineae@gmail.com

the tabletthe clinical school magazine

CCSFAIL

“Do you wash your anus in the shower?”

“I’ve been meaning to call you actually - I’m a bit worried about your liver function tests...only kidding, everything’s fine!”

Initiating the Session

Gathering Information

Physical Examination

Closing the Session

OD: What’s your favourite flavour of ice-cream?JS: Well I don’t really eat ice-cream actually. I find it hard retain my wonderful body shape if

OD: Tell me the story, from the beginning: where did you go to medical school, and what have you done since?Family History: I come from a totally non-medical family. My dad was a pharmacist and he was the only person in my family to go to university. My whole family two generations ago lived in Russia; they were Russian Jewish immigrants. From that background it was assumed that I should do a profession. My father wanted me to be an accountant which I saw as being like a death penalty!History of presenting complaint: I did the normal sort of A-levels and then I went to Oxford, which was an interesting experience. Very different from your experience today - all single sex colleges. The ratio of men to women was about 7:1 (mental note not to mention this to one particular member of the tablet editorial team otherwise she’ll be forever cursing that she wasn’t born half a century earlier!). I stayed in

Patient appears comfortable at rest. Male pattern baldness noted. Apyrexial, obs stable. CNS: grossly intact. GCS 14.OD: What’s your top tip for surviving Clinical School?JS: Oh dear... I think it’s stay sceptical. I think you shouldn’t receive any of this as received

OD: Thank you for your time, Dr Silverman, thank you so much, it’s been so helpful.JS: Not at all, I always like to help out a medical student.

Oxford for the next three years. Of course there weren’t any communication skills back then! We arrived at the same time as David Wetherall - the new professor of medicine, who was wonderful. We were the first medical students on his firm and he took an interest in us, so my first medical firm was brilliant - the staff were very caring and, of course, it went downhill after that! All that time I knew I wanted to be a GP; I didn’t really like hospital medicine at all.Social: I was married as a medical student. My wife is a consultant Rheumatologist here. We escaped Oxford after house jobs which was great actually. My wife and I got on a GP training scheme in Newcastle when they were voluntary. It was one of the pioneering vocational training schemes. We stayed there for three years during which time my wife decided that it wasn’t for her and decided to return to hospital medicine. That was all during a time when GP training was very popular. There were 165 applicants for my

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ContentsInterview

Lonely Placement

Fashion

Agony Aunt

Sport

Issue 2 May 2011

Providing Structure

Ollie makes organisation overt and attends to flow

Find us on Facebook:facebook.com/CambridgeTablet

pConsultant colorectal surgeon queries medic hygiene habits.

q This SHO is clearly a bit of a joker.

Hello Dr Jonathan Silverman, my name’s Ollie D’Arcy and I’m a medical student…

Interview

This month’s app is Lieberman’s iRadiology. Designed by Dr Gillian Lieberman, Director of Radiologic Education at Harvard Medical School, this app contains over 500 cases designed to help medical students and doctors improve their radiology skills. Arranged into different topics, including one helpfully called ‘Medical Students’, iRadiology uses plain film x-rays, CT scans and MRIs to aid learning. Each case is accompanied by labelled scans and an explanation and discussion of the findings on the individual images. This app combines an exceptional wealth of knowledge along with well-presented and well-explained radiology pathology. Oh, and the best part is, it’s free! Cillian Forde

Website:http://eradiology.bidmc.harvard.edu

App of the Month

“A world without ultrasound is a world of sorrow”p The lamentation of a certain radiologist with more than a passing interest in ultrasonography.

iRadiology Price: Free

Save Life.

q How to fill out a consent form for an emergency AAA repair.

UK life expectancy ‘on the up’By analysing trends over the last 40 years Professor David Leon of the London School of Tropical Medicine has predicted that life expectancy in the UK will continue to rise despite the fear of an ‘obesity epidemic.’ He cites decreasing deaths from heart disease as a key driving factor. Figures from 2009 show that life expectancy in the UK is 82.6 years for women and 78.4 years for men. (Source: BBC News)Brain cell protein may hold key to autismA study in Nature has demonstrated that a protein found in synapses, Shank3, may be key to allowing brain cells to communicate with each other. Researchers were able to create mice displaying key characteristics of autism by inserting a mutated form of Shank3, raising hopes for an effective drug therapy in the future. (Source: BBC News)Worries over orthorexia eating disorderThere are growing concerns over an obsessive ‘healthy eating’ disorder recently described as orthorexia. The disorder is characterised by an unhealthy obsession with eating only ‘healthy’ foods to the extent of eliminating entire food groups from the diet as well as excessive indulgence in physical exercise. It is believed that the disorder may lead to more serious conditions including anorexia and bulimia. (Source: ABC News)Judgment test in pilot schemeA judgement test being considered as part of the foundation programme application process is being piloted at nine medical schools across the country. Volunteers will have to answer 65 situational judgement test questions. It is hoped that the test will provide a fairer, more discriminative way of selecting students. (www.isfp.org.uk)

wisdom. Actually it’s very hard as a medical student not to think it’s all very definite and black and white when actually it’s not. What’s good practice today will be poor practice tomorrow. I think it’s important to look around you and think, if I were designing this how would I do it differently? Don’t take everything on trust.

practice what I’d learnt whilst also not working too hard - I actually failed at this considerably! The interesting thing was that nobody noticed in my practice except the cleaner. The challenge was actually the stigma surrounding depression, not wanting to talk about it or tell anyone about it which I found quite hard.OD: What was your most Embarrassing moment as a medical student?JS: Ah...there were lots of those! One was on the first surgical ward round I ever went on when a friend and myself leant back against the radiator and we actually managed to pull the radiator pipe off from the radiator so it then sprayed hot water all over the ward and a particular horrible consultant! Not exactly what you want to do on your first ward round!OD: Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.JS: I spend all my spare time going off on rather exotic holidays taking photographs. In fact I’ve just returned from the Arctic Circle.

News in Brief

I eat too many sweet things, they’re all nasty and horrible! (Perhaps last year’s pantomime character wasn’t as much of an act as we had all assumed!)

OD: Well thank you, it really has been so useful; are you comfortable there? Can I get you anything? Glass of water? Thank you, thank you, all the best, thank you, bye...

job here in General Practice. It was incredibly oversubscribed.ICE: Who is your Idol/Inspiration? JS: Medically it was David Wetherall who was a professor of haemotology and did a lot of the original work on the molecular biology of thalassemais. He was a fantastic role model as he was unbelievably clever, particularly good with his patients and very good with his staff. He did something quite unusual which is to combine extreme cutting edge science with a very able approach to people which was very unusual and I think still is very unusual.OD: What’s been the biggest Challenge of your career? JS: I haven’t actually had a lot of challenges in my life. My biggest challenge if I’m honest was actually depression. It was during the period after I’d been on sabbatical in Canada when I’d enjoyed not working very hard. It was a challenge coming back and trying to put into

Building the Relationship

OD right hand to JS left knee;Furrowed brow;Concerned expression;Encouraging interjections;

pDr. Silverman as a boy

Explanation and Planning

Another hospital, another ward, another admin team, another set of faces and another awful set of accommodation. In our quick guide to your DGH, Fern Adams gives you the essentials on how to survive your exile from Addenbrooke’s.

Lonely placement

FeatureIP

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After a productive morning of bleeping '5318008' far too many times for it to remain remotely funny, it's time to

attach your new acquisition to the ever ex-panding utility belt of ID badges, watches and tourniquets and start your Ipswich placement.

Despite being so far East of Addenbrooke's the sun rises 4 minutes earlier, The Ipswich Hospital offers an ideal blend of ward time, teaching and social events. The doctors' mess is second to none with a large TV, Nintendo Wii, full size snooker table, table tennis table, dart board, bar and fully equipped kitchen with free toast and toppings (including cheese and beans). Populated by lots of friendly staff, most of which very eager to teach students, Ipswich Hospital is a place where you can re-ally feel like part of the team.

The majority of teaching takes place in the centrally located PGME Centre, which is on the main corridor heading 'South' from the doctors' mess and also the venue for the weekly Grand Round, although some teach-ing does occur in the illusive Diabetes and Endocrinology Centre.

The hospital

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Dr Gerry Rayman – Medical Undergraduate Tutor and your Clinical Sub Dean. You're likely to see him only at the

very beginning and end of your placement, unless you agree to take part in his Registrar's

The People

The Area

With a Co-op, Boots and a number of takeaways just down the road, Ipswich Hospital isn't too badly placed for the basics

but it is quite far from the city centre for eve-rything else so if you consider yourself quite the cook and want to rustle up something fancier than “pasta alle sauce” then bring your own supplies or a car. There is an ATM in the hospital although it's cash dispensing qualities are sporadic to say the least.

Pubs and Clubs – Isaac's bar is the normal port of call on a Thursday and is situated by the Quay; one of the nicer parts

of Ipswich town. For the more adventurous,

Food & Drink

Accommodation

If you're lucky you might be able to wangle a room in the doctors' mess (or secretly live in the on call room as one stu-

dent achieved) but it's much more likely that you'll be living on Pearson Road which is just behind the hospital. There's basic cooking fa-cilities and utensils, clean showers, internet (of slowly improving reliability), irons and iron-ing boards, individual sinks and a thermostat which we recommend you find before the last week of your placement. Sheets and towels are provided but bring a duvet if you fancy a comfortable night. There's also parking facili-ties just outside although avoid parking under the trees; it turns out MANY birds occupy the trees and their rate of waste production is really quite impressive.

Trains: The train from Cam-bridge to Ipswich is pretty slow, taking 1 hour and 23 minutes, and costs £11.60

for an off-peak return with a Young Person's railcard. They leave once an hour (43 minutes past from Cambridge and 19 minutes past from Ipswich) so you need to plan ahead if you don't want to wait around at the station. The station is a short bus journey away from the hospital and the 66 stops just outside the hospital entrance on Woodbridge Road (leav-ing every 15-20 minutes).

Car: Driving to Ipswich is also pretty slow, and also takes 1 hour and 23 minutes (seri-ously – google it from Addy's). Get onto the Eastbound A14 forever and at junction 50 start paying attention again. Leave the A14 at junction 57 and join the A1189 and head North until you reach the hospital on your left.

Travel

research project involving a 47°C probe and liver function test. Not to be attempted after Thursday socials.Kay Wilson – Clinical Skills Facilitator and Queen of the Catheters. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the clinical skills room and it's contents then Kay's the lady to get in touch with.Sue Holroyd – Your Undergraduate Adminis-trator. Very approachable and understanding of timetable/rest-of-life commitment clashes. Dr Ross Thompson – The Gentle Giant and currently in charge of the bar. Approach him nicely to get the bar stocked with his power-fully potent punch.

PALS is 'Ipswich's premier Nightclub' and really can't be described by words alone...Places to Eat - to be honest, nothing beats a pizza or curry takeout in the mess. Domino's Pizza and the local curry house are used to delivering and can normally get orders to you in 20 minutes. The Fat Cat is also a popular venue, though merely involves taking your takeaway to a pub and eating it there.

tMap of Ipswich Hospital

Ipswich hospital

Words: Ed Monk

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Rather like trailer park with Portakabins and carpark stab-bings. The main hospital buildings are randomly dotted

around and joined by ridiculously long cor-ridors decorated with surprisingly graphic photos of venepuncture and nasogastric tubes. Rather off-putting one would have thought for a hospital.

The Doctors’ mess is comfortingly Ox-bridgesque being situated at the top of a rather grand staircase, having a massive wooden fire place, panelled windows and huge comfy leather sofas (and did I mention Sky TV?)Out the back of the hospital opposite A&E is the medical institute and the Bevan library which is not bad and has a fair number of computers (which is just as well considering it is the only place you’ll be able to get internet – you can get keys from switch board out of hours). Open until 8pm Tuesday and Thurs-day.

There is also a staff gym for those who like to reflect on their day whilst pumping some iron (£30 for 2x5 week placements).

Verdict

p Map of Bedford Hospital

Bedford hospital

• The Hospital: IpswichIpswich hands down owns this section. There’s a BAR in the mess.

• The People: BedfordPosters, masochistic clinical skills teachers and mad heads of depart-ments? Sounds like a ball.

• The Area: IpswichAh the infamous Thursday social. Fingers crossed for an Ipswich placement.

• Food and Drink: BedfordTakeaway in Ipswich hospital? Anyone fancy C Diff?

• Accommodation: IpswichThere may be an overabundance of birds at each but at least in Ipswich they don’t enter your room.

The hospital

H

Tina Palombo – Medical Education Officer. Against all odds, half terms and emergency theatres, somehow

she makes sure we get taught something.Jackie Ford – Accommodation Manager. Willing to help, lives in the tower of death, loves amusing notices about how to use the toilet and how not to let pigeons into your room.Paul ‘the veins’ Nicholls – friendly clinical skills trainer. If you can’t get blood from him you’ve got problems.Dr Bokhari – Cardiologist. Pocket handker-chief. Hummer. Legend. (Runs MRCP – PACES. Takes student volunteers.)Dr Small – Cigarette smoking, long hair wearing, motorbike riding, head of A&E!?Mr Tisi – Between theatre and clinic, has a budding comedy career. Oh wait, that’s Alan Carr.

Bus: X5 has wireless – that’s already one up on the accommodation, why not live there instead. We’re not sure

whether it’s the vehicle itself or the idea of where it’s going which makes this much a nauseating ride - just sit over the front axle.

Car: Your lovely Bedford South Wing is less than an hour’s drive away from Cambridge, assuming you don’t get stuck behind a lorry on the A428. Park on Ombersley Road out of hospital hours (otherwise there is no space), or else Tina will issue you with a pass for Britannia Road Car Park for £10 refundable deposit. Score!(Trains – Frequent and fast rail links to London.)

Endsleigh house - Live life on the breadline, in the tower block of despair (Pigeons. Yes they will enter your rooms.)

Joking aside, it’s clean and tidy and there is a common room on the 6th floor.Ombersley road - Little terrace houses that you share between 4. Bit pot luck but generally quite nice with sitting room (how novel). Heavy police presence – just keep your curtains closed.Mythical horseshoe – apparently it has something called Internet…but we’ve never seen inside it.

Travel

The Swannery – hospital cafeteria. Really quite reasonably priced lunch stuffs and hot meals from ~£4.

Sizzling Wok – Med student must. £7.50 all you can eat. You pick the raw ingredients, they fry it for you! Go on Monday then you won’t have to eat for the rest of the week!Ali’s Indian Cuisine – Amazing 5 course deal £8.95. Much better curry than you could get in Cambridge.Embankment – Swanky gastropub.Pilgrim’s Progress – Greyfriars Road. Your closest spoon. Big place. Passive clientele.

The city centre is a short (15 minutes) walk across and along the river. There you can find

The People

The Area

pretty much everything you’d expect in a city centre, with the bus station (where the X5 pulls in) just behind the main pedestrianised shopping area.

The area immediately surrounding the hospital takes a little more to be desired though the nisa local and mini mart on Ampthill road have an interesting array of Polish and Asian produce respectively for those of you who want to try something exotic or would just rather imagine they were somewhere else.Unfortunately the large supermarkets are a car journey away, but if you have access to a car Cineworld has £5 student tickets and does ‘Orange Wednesdays’… bargain.

Food & Drink

Accommodation

• Travel: IpswichThe difficulty of Bedford’s rail access means Ipswich (barely) pips it to the post on this one. Yes, the X5 really is that bad.

• Overall: IPSWICh is the almighty winner. In our most nightmarish place-ments we've all dreamt of somewhere with internet in the accommodation and a bar in the mess haven’t we?

Words: Lucy Loong

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Fashion

Let Emily Brown be to your wardrobe what your Oxford Handbook is to your future as a doctor

Gold turquoise dainty charm pendant

£10 Talullah Tu(talullahtu.co.uk)

Ship To Shore vintage earrings£12 Storm In A Teacup(stormteacup.co.uk)

Mini cluster earrings

£4 Oasis(oasis-stores.com; 8120081481)

Vintage floral cameo stud earrings£10 Accessorize(accessorize.com; 88169930)

Brown’s Beauties

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So, it’s the early morning, you should have left for the hospital five minutes ago, and you’re stood in front of the

mirror. With the help of the last article, you’ve selected appropriate vestments from your Tablet-approved wardrobe, but, on general observation, there’s still something missing: accessories.

As always in Medicine, we start with the hands. At this point I could recommend all manner of adornments – rings, bracelets, wristwatches – but Infection Control would be on to me like a ferret up a trouser leg, thus I am contractually obliged to endorse the wearing of only one plain band ring. [Incidentally, though, if you’re after gorgeous bracelets, bangles and cocktail rings, Tallulah Tu (tallulahtu.co.uk) has some extravagant but reasonably-priced pieces, or try old favourites Topshop and Accessorize.] Check the nails as well – no, not for clubbing this time, but for nail varnish, which is again frowned upon by the powers that be (and also interferes with pulse oximetry, fact fans).

Moving upwards, we come to the head, and for the ladies (and the ladies only), earrings. Studs are the conservative choice here, although that doesn’t mean they have to be plain: pretty, vintage-inspired designs (think birds, bows, flowers and so on) are everywhere on the high street, and add a feminine touch to any

outfit. In my opinion, dangly earrings are also acceptable, as long as they’re not so dangly that they will drag through patients’ necrotic foot wounds; elegant and acceptable examples can be found at Accessorize and its ilk, and also online at Storm in a Teacup (stormteacup.co.uk). Do remember to remove earrings before going to surgery, though, to avoid incurring the wrath of the theatre staff.

On to the neck, and the main accessories here for both genders will probably be your stethoscope (see Figures 1-6) and/or lanyard, the latter in classic NHS blue or, for the mavericks amongst you, pertaining to a rival organisation. Added to this may be an assortment of random tat – name badges, pens, tourniquets, torches, watches – but do try to keep it simple to avoid clanking around the ward like Marley’s ghost. In terms of jewellery, ladies can add a small, unobtrusive necklace (though with the same caveat on length as for earrings); Urban Outfitters is my favourite place to find quirky but charming necklaces, and Storm in a Teacup’s designs are along the same lines.

And with that, we conclude our examination of the well-accessorised medical student and summarise our findings thus: with accessories, as with laparoscopic surgery and presenting to a consultant, “a little bit of quality is worth a lot of rubbish”.

Illus

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How To Wear Your Stethoscope

Fig. 1The autour de cou

Fig. 2The modified autour de cou

Fig. 3The loop-through

Fig. 4The tangle

Fig. 5The pincer

Fig. 6NO

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Agony Aunt 7

Guys, we’ve all been there. You arrive at your ward for your placement, brimming with enthusiasm,

practically overflowing with excitement. Stethoscope donned and shirt cuffs rolled, it’s time for some medicine. Then…bam! You’re hit with a bombshell. 5Ft 7inches of smoking, hot bombshell in fact. Yeah sure, there’s some unshaven moustache hair smiling back at you and the perfume barely covers her B.O. from last night’s on call, but dammit, you’re a medic in Cambridge – she is your Angelina Jolie. But what to do now? Unrequited love sure is a pain but never fear, help is at hand. Here are some top tips to fancying your F1.names

So first things first, names. And no I don’t mean exchange names with her. The name of this game is association. Who calls her by her real name? Consultants, nurses, patients…do you really want to be lumped into the same category as the person that covered your love interest with projectile vomit? Hell no! Pet names, that’s what you want. Just think, I’m sure you’ve got nicknames for the people close to you. The Dentist, Urinal and Meat lady are all personal favourites of mine. So take that same attitude and apply it to your F1 to really create a deep interpersonal bond. And if

you’re particularly lacking in imagination (it’s okay medicine makes my brain tired too) just give her some random celebrity’s name. Julia Stiles will do for 90% of F1s.demonstrate high Value

Okay, so now we’ve gotten the basics out of the way. It’s time to really separate yourself from the lesser males in the ward. How? Demonstrate high value! Ever wondered how Tiger Woods managed to get all those chicks? Fellas, it’s all about the rod. What woman could resist a man that swings his rod with such skill and so vigorously time and time again? But fear not... we've got your back. What did you think that floppy thing around your neck was for? Next time you need to listen to some chests give that bad, boy stethoscope a whirl first. Twirling that thing round your patient’s head is sure to get your F1’s lub-dub going at twice the pace. Plus the nurses will love you. Stethoscope dodging is great exercise for patients too... (N.B. NICE guidelines pending)Use your Brain

So, you’re a Cambridge medic. No less, you’re a Cambridge medic picking up seduction tips from another Cambridge medic...something is wrong with you. But don’t worry, you don’t need to spend hours in a gym getting that sexy body ladies love. You can leverage your mental muscle to

get any babe of your choice! Impress your beloved with your knowledge of all 31 causes of clubbing and you’ll have her weak at the knees.give her time

Okay, so you’re doing everything right so far. But medics are busy people. How will your fit F1, the flaming hot fox of your fervent desires, ever have time to notice your magnificent self if she’s too busy coaxing blood from some senile senior, or massaging yet another penis before catheterisation (yes ladies, that anaesthetic you injected needs some help to get to action)? The solution? Do the work for her! Like the lovable nerd in innumerable romcoms, doing her work is guaranteed to get you the girl! Don’t worry that she’s spending her free time with that chunky F2, she’ll appreciate your diligent efforts and the rewards will be yours. Plus if that fails, at least you’ll have swotted up so much you’ll breeze your way through exams and into consultant status. Then you’ll have the pick of gold-digging nurses. Oh yeah! Who loves win-win? I do!

Heck and if all else fails, I am ready to offer personal advice to any medic in need. Just send me your F1’s name, telephone number and picture and I’ll be sure to take advantage of your incompetence help out a friend in need!

EXAMS…argh where did they come from! Panic not! And congratulations for realising the importance of taking a break and reading ‘The Tablet’. I don’t want to rehash what you’ve been told since GCSEs, after all you are all old hands at exams right? Having said this though when the holidays have vanished, your Easter chocolate has run out and you actually can’t tell your arse from your elbow, some of the more obvious things may get forgotten. So just in case you forgot, some pointers:

Time ManagementHave a plan. No-one likes finding a lecture series that’s fallen down the back of their desk. Make REALISTIC targets (now I mean realistic, biochem is not going to revise itself in that 30 minutes before TOWIE).

RoutineHave one. That page that took 45 minutes to read at 3.15am would have taken 10 minutes at 10am.

SleepVery important. Un-recommendable though interesting, the scientifically documented re-cord for the longest period of time a human being has intentionally gone without sleep is 264 hours held by Randy Gardner. Wow…what a silly name!

Take breaksMost people have a concentration span of between 30-45 minutes. (Now I know you’ve heard that one before but the next time you find yourself browsing through the profile pictures of Ali’s friend’s second cousin’s mum, perhaps its time you took a real break and had a cup of tea.)

SeparateSeparate your working areas from relaxing areas (even if that just means working at your desk, and sleeping in your bed). Separate your expectations from everyone else’s expectations – as long as you have done the best that you can do, that is all that matters.

Health: SLEEP, EAT, EXERCISE!Look after yourself. A warrior doesn’t go into battle with atrophic thighs and smelling like microwave pizzas…why should you?

PerspectiveAlthough at times they may feel it, these exams are not the end of the world…but if they are feeling that way there are lots of people here to help.

Clinical School: A friend, Michelle or I (welfare@clinsoc.co.uk), Clinical Supervisor, Pastoral Advisor, DoS

College: Tutor, College welfare officer

University: CUSU/GU Welfare Officer (studentsupport@cusu.cam.ac.uk),Counselling Service (www.counselling.cam.ac.uk),

Linkline (01223 367575 - 7pm to 7am)

Your GP

Lucy Loong

Dear Stage 2s and 3s,

Words: Anonymous

On 29th January, sports grounds across the city were filled with Cambridge Medics and Vets competing in this

year’s MedVet Sports weekend. The medics were confident on the back of their strong showing in Oxford last October, while the Vets were an unknown quantity.

The day began early with rugby at the icy Fitzwilliam College sports grounds. Owing to the small number of rugby-playing male Vets, the match was due to be a game of sevens, however, when the Vets turned up a man short, this was reduced to sixes. With a half in sevens lasting seven minutes, the Medics’ 45 minute warm-up meant that they were ominously ready by kick-off and, when Andrew Badcock ran in the first try after 21 seconds, the signs were not good for the Vets. Halftime quickly rolled around and, with the score 38-0 to the Medics,

the Vets decided to call it a day to avoid further embarrassment. So, a great start to the day by the Medics who took an early 1-0 lead.

Mixed hockey soon followed at the Perse School. The Vets, aided by a large hockey-playing player base, were quietly confident going into the game and this confidence was rewarded with a comprehensive victory. The Vets won 6-1, with the Medics’ solitary goal coming from the stick of Ed Monk.

Next up was football, again at the Fitz grounds. Temperatures hadn’t risen much since the rugby match earlier that morning, but an entertaining match was played nonetheless. The Medics dominated the first half, going in 5-1 up at halftime, however the second half was a much tighter affair. The Vets began to retain possession and create a lot of chances and, while the final score was 7-2 to the Medics, in truth, it could have been a lot closer. Ben Miller scored the pick of the Medics’ goals with a strike from long range following a number of sighters, while the Vets first-half strike was also a screamer.

Netball at the Jesus College courts began the afternoon’s sports. With the Medic girls playing regularly, expectation was high that they could take this match from the Vets. Unfortunately, this was dampened for two reasons: fatigue from their match against ARU played earlier the same day, and the loss of Roberta Jordan, their

talismanic captain, through injury early in the match. This hard-fought game finished 19-12 to the Vets to take the overall score to 2-2.

A strong Medics cricket team lined up at the Perse against a considerably weaker opposition, and the gulf in ability was noticeable from the start. The Medics, without Sid Lawrence following a freak accident in the nets, batted first and cantered to a strong 116 from 13.4 overs, limited only by some erratic running and some catastrophic run outs. Hammad Parwaiz and Mrinal Singh both chipped in with 30 runs apiece. The required run rate of 8.3 was clearly too much as the Vets capitulated for a paltry 38, with wickets all round (V Sankaran 2-4, N Lawrence 2-6, S Singh 2-14). Special mention goes to Rob Harper for a stunningly nonchalant one-handed catch off the wall. (Credit: Dhan Senaratne)

With the score 3-2 to the Medics, everything rested on lacrosse. Scheduling conflicts meant that the match had to be postponed until the following day when, unfortunately, the Medics couldn’t field a full team. The match was duly forfeited.

So for the second time this year the Medics have disappointingly relinquished a lead going into the final sport of weekend-long competition. They’ll be hoping to avoid a repeat when the next one rolls along.

Sport

Med lead squandered again

Rugby: 38-0 MedFootball: 7-2 Medhockey: 1-6 VetNetball: 12-19 Vet

Cricket: Med won by 68 runsLacrosse: Vet (by forfeit)

3 3Med Vet

For all our Essential titles, visit www.cambridge.org/essentialmedical

The essenTial series from Cambridge Medicine

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cillian Forde reports

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