Procrasinating from procrastination.

So part of medicine is completing a list of tasks for every weekly case called 'Learning Objectives', which we have shortened to yet another acronym - LO's. A friend of mine was commenting that she's beginning to hate those two letters, which I immediately agreed with before realising that my surname starts with both. *Face-palm*

This past weekend I have been doing the list of LO's for a case about a woman with a heart attack. One of the LO's reads like this:
8. Experience in a simulated form how to answer a request by a critically ill patient for their prognosis.
My thought process went a little like the following:
- I think I need to watch a film on this.
- How does one put video on paper?
- What does simulate mean? And why would I want to experience it?
- And why would I want to experience telling a critically ill person they're going to die?
- Would the correct answer be: Yell and point at something behind them and then make a quick getaway while they're looking away?

The next LO was almost as bad:
9. Experience in a simulated form how to ethically and legally request post mortem permission from next-of-kin, after a patient’s sudden death.
- Ask and then duck as the family member takes an almighty swing at your head.
- Deligate, deligate, deligate. If you're a consultant, shaft the responsibility to the registrar, if you're a registrar give it to the intern, if you're the intern give it to a medical student. If you're a medical student... well, remember that everythings for the sake of learning and unless you actually kill or maim someone, you're probably good to go. Or just run and hide.

A third year medical student (3YS) who I work with was telling me a story about her day in the surgical ward of our local hospital.
She had recently run into a registrar earlier that day and was committed to not getting noticed for the rest of the day. So picture this:
*3YS stands flat against the wall, believing that in no way possible can she draw attention to herself*
Other student: Hey can you lend me a pen? (or some other meaningless question)
3YS: Sure
She lifts her elbow slightly away from where she had them stuck to her sides, just in time to have a Consultant race around the corner, run into her still form and spill coffee all over his expensive clothes.
Consultant: WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!
*3YS flinches*
Consultant: WHAT THE HELL AM I MEANT TO DO NOW?!!
*Storms away*
Intern: If it was going to happen to anyone today, it was going to happen to you.

Things to do this week:
- LOs
- Practical revision
- DHC report
- Hospital report
- Go to the beach
- Go to an engagement party on Saturday
- Pay bills.
- Don't get distracted by reading, writing, new episodes of Gossip Girl, House and Grey's Anatomy

... Easier said than done.