“Frank, the brother of Peggy, the cleaner at Nonnatus House, is diagnosed with cancer. Jenny and the nuns are called upon to provide him with care, and in doing so Jenny comes to know the siblings better, learning of their upbringing in a workhouse and the profound effect it has had on their relationship. As Jenny tends to Frank, the other residents of Nonnatus House find themselves involved in helping Fred with his latest money-making venture – a pig called Evie. Fred’s plan had been to make his fortune from bacon, but this is scuppered when they realise the pig is pregnant. The nuns and nurses help out Fred and Evie in the manner they know best”

An incestuous relationship with a brother and sister, and one of the nuns accepts it? ….

Pigs are cuter than they are given credit for, even if they do look amusing, they do seem rather clever.

6 -

“Sister Monica Joan is found wandering near the docks, and returned to Nonnatus House by the police. Her adventure takes its toll on her health and she succumbs to pneumonia. When she eventually recovers, she sails forth back into the community, only to find herself in trouble with the law when she is accused of theft. As Sister Monica Joan’s case progresses to trial, the Nonnatus House community fear that the old nun could find herself going to jail.

Already concerned about Sister Monica Joan, Chummy has further worries when her mother decides to make a trip to inspect her new ‘beau’. The visit is not a success, and Chummy suffers a crisis of confidence and breaks off her relationship with PC Noakes. Jenny and the other midwives pull together to convince her she is making a mistake.”

Referring to your mother by her first name, odd. Her mother was so uptight. Feel sorry for the policeman, somewhat abrupt a dismissal. Birth, scary, three!!

Milla’s new department – Dermatology. I could pretend to be surprised its Milla’s desired specialty. But I’m not. The Pscleriosis treatment with cold tar was impressive, guy seemed genuinely nice as well, sad. My mum wakes up and asks why marmite is being rubbed on his back. Oh dear.

Princess Priya. 12 hour shift, two hours in she states shes tired. Not a good sign. She then walks up to the wrong house when she goes home….. Worrying. She doesnt seem to be integrating into the household. Best way for her to relax is to go home and get spoiled. Food looked nice though. Brother had good ideas, another doctor. Think she was expecting sympathy not a pep talk. Tough love.

Emergency patient, Ameith is very calm and collective. I worry he’s too slow, but he is competent, just talks too slowly for my liking. Although, I’ve been told I talk too fast, so perhaps that’s just me.

Aki. Letter from the charity. His face was hilarious.

Andy’s surgery experience, ‘full marks from the registrar’ has come a long way since his six attempt canula.

Priya, taking blood, seems to be in a better attitude now. Success on a difficult patient. Gained some respect for her.

Oh god, they are arguing over uniform…

Let’s make this clear now; surely the most important concern is your care, what your doctor wears being right at the bottom of the list? I mean that’s just me, but I would hope that the collection of people asked on the show are not representative of the population. As my stats teacher would say, the sample should reflect the total population.

It’s hard not to feel sorry for Ameith when the voice over is saying he should be able to make his own diagnosis’ then showing footage of him asking for help and making mistakes with nurses correcting him. Probably helps to make friends with the guy.

More respect for Aki, dealing with someone that’s drunk, playing guess who with his ethnicity. Advised not to go home, but the patient does so anyway, believing his wife will look after him, when she can barely stand still, worrying.

Lucy, a ‘touch’ of OCD? Really? 92 lists on her phone, not counting post-it are on her desk counts as a ‘touch’? Feel bad she’s on a night shift, but she seems to be dealing with it all well, I do relate to Lucy, I don’t have that many lists, or even have a disposition to, but I can be crazily organised, especially with schoolwork and folders… Again, I don’t believe the Voice over Man has sympathy for the Doctors, mocking her lists, not cool, not cool.

I don’t believe I need to comment on Aki and Andy’s band discussion… I think they managed to provide their own laughs, ‘screw being a doctor, let’s be rockstars’. Good call guys.

Watching the programme before I’ve always been slightly cynical about mistakes made etc., Lucy’s nightshift brought the hours into reality for me, I know it will be tough, but seeing the most competent Doctor struggle, has me worried.

‘Aki has always suffered from a lack of self-confidence’, pan to Aki surrounded by a large group of friends…. Totally reiterates his point there. Aki’s knowledge gaps are worrying; he has a good attitude to study, and to patients, but doesn’t seem to be retaining information.

Music is definitely getting better, slightly ironic though; at least someone’s having a laugh, shot of Andy, then start ‘wonderman’…. really?

Swollen hand, ‘the ultrasound scan was one of the things I had considered, but I had wrongly assumed it had come back normal’, yeahhhh… of course you did, well, at least he can keep a straight face. Although he did just look at the notes and saw the tests that have been completed. The patient has to resort to profanities to be taken seriously, not good.

Lucy’s lab coat hand delivered, rather amusing. Lucy has the second night shift under control it seems.

Ameith and the woman that hurt her foot, ‘he knows exactly what to do’… really? From what it looked like he taped the dressing to her tights…which I’m pretty sure she would want to remove?

“Jenny is placed on the district nursing roster for a few weeks, to extend her experience of community practice. Her first patient is a gentle old soldier, Joe, who is suffering from appalling leg ulcers. In his eighties and almost blind, Joe is effectively confined to his one-roomed tenement flat and enjoys Jenny’s visits. Although not naturally chatty, Jenny appreciates his stories, and a tentative friendship forms.”

still providing amusement.

Feel sorry for the poor father of that child. Stating that the books know this and that, being shouted at by his wife. Trying to find a passage in the book that might explain his wife’s behaviour. Poor fool.

Its still odd seeing how different things actually were back in the 50s. The respect the young had for their elders is the most notable change. Even being a young person myself I can see that.

4 -

“The episode commences with Jenny delivering a little girl, Gillian, to Shirley Redmond. As Shirley’s previous baby was stillborn, Sister Evangelina is also in attendance. Soon after Shirley gives birth, a bombshell drops; the newborn baby has been snatched from her pram, outside the Redmond household. A full-scale search is launched, and the entire community becomes involved in the quest to reunite the desperate parents with their child.

Just as the trail appears to have gone cold with Shirley’s baby, she is found. She was taken by Mary, the Irish girl whom Jenny had befriended previously. The police want to prosecute Mary but, urged by Jenny, Sister Julienne and Sister Evangelina intervene and ask for leniency on Mary’s behalf.”

Baby snatch provides some  drama, even if it is shortlived. Childbirth is slowly starting to traumatise me….

Good fun, there’s different levels of questions, they do one a month until July when there is a 90 minute written paper.

Designed to be within the syllabus, yet still stretch people. I have managed to get the entry level question correct. And I’m trying to work out the next.

To anybody that wishes to join in. Good luck!:)

Update: now past the copper level mentioned before, currently counting carbons on the silver challenge. Oh I have a wondeful life

Further update: rocking out on gold, finally managed to work out the previous question, only one more level after this!!

Each year many young British holidaymakers descend on the village of Kavos, Corfu, seeking sun, sand, sex and oblivion.This eye-opening film follows the medical team that treats the many casualties.

Sat in the heart of the town’s main strip is Kavos Emergencies, a medical centre with a flow of patients like no other. More like a field hospital than a private surgery, the clinic is regularly held under siege by hoards of revellers over-indulging in drink, drugs and fighting.

As Corfu Carnage shows, it’s a culture shock for the bemused Greek doctors, who don’t know what to expect next – from a trainee accountant who inhales his own vomit, to the mysterious case of a patient covered in a black sticky substance, battered and bruised, with a four-inch open head, and no idea of what happened to him.

With the voice over telling us it is like a ‘field hospital’ and ‘war zone’ you can just sense the atmosphere. The guy doesn’t have much sympathy for the drunks, describing the volunteers as ‘unfortunate’

This programme does yield serious warnings though, everyone can have a good time and have a drink. But you need to know when to stop. Not only are  you harming your body but your also stopping the medical staff treating you from helping someone else.

The trainee accountant that decided to get drunk to the point he needed medical attention ended up with a hefty 500 pound bill. Its easy to forget that in some countries health care is not free.

‘They are here to get drunk and have sex’. A local opinion of the British tourists, nice to know the rest of the world holds us in such high esteem. To be fair, it probably seems that way, the footage shown whilst the accountant is getting his bill of all his mates outside the room, behind the glass, just generally being rowdy, yet one of them feels the need to get his parts out and flap them around. Can’t exactly be helping the locals form opinions of chaste and sensible.

Worth a view

Cambridge Admissions Process

Dr Sandra Fulton, Admissions Tutor (Science), Girton College

Origins of Genetics

Dr David Summers, Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Genetics, Gonville and Caius College

Biochemistry of our Mitochondria

Dr Guy Brown, Reader, Department of Biochemistry

So now you know what I’m going to be talking about I can begin. So for starters, it was in the faculty of Law which was a bit odd for a Biology/Chemistry lecture, but nevertheless, managed to find it and arrive in plenty of time to bag some decent seats.

Recommend the X5 bus, cheap, free Wi-Fi and comfy seats. Easy to get from the bus stop to the faculty. When we arrived we had registration downstairs, just had to state your name, didn’t seem brilliantly secure. They offer a lunch option, which if you selected to pay extra for you were given a ticket. I’m glad I didn’t as for £5, it included a baguette of your choosing, crisps, chocolate bar, bottle of water, and a piece of fruit not exactly value for money.

Okay, so, the actual lectures.

Admissions: fairly straight forward, didn’t learn anything new, the tutor was trying to re-establish the image of the students that are accepted at Cambridge. This would have succeeded had she not chose the students to come and answer questions that were obviously the stereotype. I asked the Medic in her second year about her results: 12 A*’s and 3 A*’s at A-Level. I was hoping it would be a success story and she had 3 GCSE’s and 1 A-level or something ridiculous, not that. The questions that were asked were cringe worthy. Asking an admissions tutor questions that are clearly answered in prospectus’, on the website. Or even better, something she covered, clearly highlighting you weren’t listening to her talk at all!!

Origins of Genetics: Interesting, bit more on History than actual science. Emphasis on how all these famous scientists that have produced these theories of mark studied at Cambridge. Real Subtle too. I had the feeling he has been told what he was talking about and would rather have been talking about something else. He tells us at the end his speciality is Bacteria. The most interesting part of the lecture was when he discussed Bacteria…I know what you’re thinking…I was just as dubious. He explained how they communicate, I’ll use the original metaphor; if one person in the lecture theatre was wearing cheap aftershave that person would not be able to smell it. If everyone in the theatre was, the smell would be overpowering. It is a similar mechanism the bacteria use to work out their numbers to strategically plan invasion. Interesting person, saved by that nugget.

Mitochondria: I couldn’t believe anyone could talk about a single organelle for over an hour…I was wrong. Lecturer was a bit of a star wars geek, so, he played a video clip where the boy, Anakin I believe is told about the force and how he has lots of midi-chlorians, therefore has lots of force. Well, the idea of the force is based on mitochondrion. He said if we remembered nothing else, we needed to remember this: mitochondrion is like star wars, it has a dark side.”May the force be with you”. Nice guy, needed to get out more though. I knew the structures of Mitochondrion and its purpose, but I didn’t know its role in Necrosis and Apoptosis, perhaps it really does have a dark side.  Mice testing with various levels of mitochondria. Clearly showed variation. I looked to find the image or something similar but couldn’t, apologies.

So, in conclusion, interesting and informative. Highly recommended.

Highs and Lows, Lucy is seemingly turning out to be an amazing Doctor. On the other hand, Andy is showing himself to be incompetent, as is ‘Princess Priya’.

First off, how can you not know how to cook rice?! Surely at the age of 25…!!! I hope I’m not the only one that finds it astounding, also a little incredulous at her coaching the medical student on how to take blood when she can’t manage it either. Must have been embarrassing for her though when he succeeds, gets it in first time and she then advises him to ‘pull it out a little’ and manages to lose it.

Lucy is growing on me, her empathy for patients makes her not only the most competent doctor but also the most real as a person. Priya’s bedside manner is appalling, if you are causing someone pain or know that your actions are directly hurting someone you watch their face to see how they are handling it. You don’t just go for it. For people that watched the episode, I’m talking about Priya bursting the abscess.

Amieth and the barmaid that has the receipt spike in her hand, surely it didn’t require pliers to remove?

Andy struggles to convince a patient not to eat before their operation. Surely its not that hard, I don’t think he should have been so nice about it, at the end of the day, you are there to serve their best interests, right that second it may not be what they want, even will listen to, but your the one with the medical degree! So use it!!

Another entertaining episode, still seems pretty short though

This weeks has focussed on different doctors. Gives me a chance to actually formulate opinions on the others.

Ben seems pretty competent. Shame he didnt manage to get the kid to stay still to be able to do the canula. Speaks appropriately to his patients. Probably my favorite so far.

Sameer seems reaaally odd. I mean who wants to be batman? Or an alien doctor?^^ thats just odd:/

Princess Priya. Upset that the woman thought she was crap. Welll, let’s be honest…she kind of was. She listened to the patient about where to take blood instead of going wherevit would be easiest for her and therefore better for the patient. Not as bad as Andy with his 6 attempts. But even so. Far too concerned about dping what the patient wants rather than whats in their best interests.

Aaaand a cardiac arrest. Fewer than 10% of victims survive. Shocking, especially in this day and age.

Ameet. Calm and collective. I still haven’t decided if he’s too calm.

Meanwhile, Jenny has a chance late-night encounter with Mary, a young Irish girl aged 15. She is heavily pregnant and reveals that she ran away from an abusive home life in rural Ireland and made her way to London. She is unwilling to give away many details of her current situation. Mary is desperate and terrified, and eventually Jenny discovers the full, horrific details of the young girl’s plight.

Destitute upon arrival in London, Mary was “taken in” by Zakir, the owner of an all-night cafe in the notorious Cable Street area. It transpired that the cafe was in fact a brothel, and Mary was forced into prostitution almost immediately. Her suffering has been extreme, but in the tough world of the criminal East End, this is far from unusual.

Sister Julienne arranges for Mary to be helped by a religious charity, but sadly it is not to be the end of her tragic story.

Chummy makes great efforts to settle in, but nerves and a keenness to please almost overwhelm her, and she makes slow progress. A particular obstacle is her inability to ride a bike, and although Jenny, Trixie and Cynthia struggle to teach her, their efforts are hampered by catcalling and jeering from local children. Her initial attempts to learn end in a spectacular collision between the three midwives and a policeman, PC Noakes.

Chummy’s future at Nonnatus House hangs in the balance, and she soon finds herself out of her depth. “

Thanks again to iplayer!

Sad story in this one; a 15 year old girl forced into prostitution becomes pregnant. Baby is taken away from the mother due to her age.
New character introduced…I’m not so good with actor names but I made a special effort to look up her name – Miranda Hart. Nicknamed ‘chummy’, I can sense the comedy encroaching.

Development of the national health service so that a woman with previous stillborns due to rickets as a child could deliver by cesarean section. Its hard to imagine the time era portrayed by this programme. Even harder to imagine such conditions existed just 60 years ago.

Highlights not only the importance in medical advancements but also the speed at which they occurred.

I believe there is another episode to catch up before I’m on track. Expect a Junior Doctors Episode Two blog shortly!!