surgo fresher's edition 2013

7/22/2019 Surgo Fresher's Edition 2013

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/surgo-freshers-edition-2013 1/24SURGO Issue 83.18/09/2013

September 18th

2013; 86; 1

SURGOThe Fresher’s Editon 2013


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/surgo-freshers-edition-2013 2/24SURGO

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The Surgo Team(during their own fresher’s weeks)

Surgo Freshers’ edion 2013

2 Editor’s note

3 Presidential addresses

4 Medical news

6 Talking the talk: deciphering med school jargon

7 Meet the Wolfsons: who’s who of the med school

8 The long road to doctor -hood

10 A Tale of Two cities: a fresher’s guide to Glasgow

12 Clubs and societies

14 Pre-hospital care on the battlefield: the changing face of military

medicine

16 Cornwall to Cape town

18 Book reviews

20 Med-Chir sports

22 Crossword Competition

Contents

Ella Bennett

Editor James Tadjkarimi

Assistant Editor

Josh Nielson

Production Editor

Tom Baddeley

Finance Editor

David Boyle

Arts Editor Lucy Waite

Expert advisor



Welcome to your first week at med school and Glasgow University’s

best(and only) med school magazine!

Surgo, the highly esteemed but as yet unrecognised journal of Glasgow’s

Medicochirulogical society, has been running for nearly 80 years. Run

by students and funded mainly by the medical unions, Surgo is com-

pletely independent from the faculty itself with total journalistic free-

dom; this generally results in an array of mildly offensive, occasionally

funny articles with varying relevance to daily life.

This edition however, is unusually useful; it is intended to soften the

blow of independence (postgrads notwithstanding) and minimise the

damage, as you dip your distal phalanx into the icy waters of med school

life.

We start by handing you over to Kieran McGivern and Dr Russell

Drummond, our new med-chir presidents, for a welcome address intend-

ed to leave you brimming with hope, enthusiasm and pride(things us

miserable third, fourth and fifth years are not so good at). Tom Baddeley

continues the hopeful theme by bringing you a selection of this sum-

mer’s medical news featuring highlights such as the infamous Liverpud-

lian Lisa, who dislocated her jaw eating a burger.

Assistant editor James Tadjkarimi, kicks off all things first year by deci-

phering the med school’s penchant for unfathomable acronyms while

production editor Josh Nielson introduces you to the med school’s most

important individuals. Hoping you’re suitably primed, Josh braves a rundown the long road to doctor -hood to give you an idea of what each year

entails (in the hope that you don’t stumble as blindly into it as your poor

heroic forefathers.) Once you’re feeling a bit more at home in the med

school, Arts editor David Boyle ventures outside to give you a tour of

Glasgow’s best places to eat, drink and cure a hangover.

Lucy Waite and this year’s med-chir sports reps, Josh Barnett and Re-

becca Orr, move on to arguably the best aspects of med school life, in-

troducing you to a small sample of the societies and sports teams on of-

fer. Katie Lunn rounds off the practical stuff with a somewhat condensed

version of the med school’s infamous reading list with reviews of many

a useful book. Make sure you enter our crossword competition on the

back cover to win your very own copy of the best book you’ll come

across at med school.

Once you’re done with all that, we’ve got a gentle reminder of life be-

yond Glasgow with James exploring recent developments in military

medicine before two intrepid doctors tell us all about their journey from

Cornwall to Cape Town.

So that’s it for now; join us again at Halloween for another fun filled

issue but until then, enjoy this edition and have a fantastic Fresher’s

week.

Ella Bennett

Editor in chief

Editor’s note

2

Editorial



Hello! I am this year’s President of the Glasgow’s Medico-

Chirurgical Society. To those of you returning after a Summer of

developing your CV, electives in far off lands and brushing up oneverything learned so far i.e. watching Jeremy Kyle while

wrapped in a slanket trying to remember your arse from your

elbow - welcome back.

To those of you just joining us after successfully navigating your

way through months of exams, interviews and keeping up to date

with recent studies in the Lancet and BMJ (yeah right…) –

congratulations and welcome to Glasgow School of Medicine.

MedChir is Glasgow’s oldest and largest medical student society

and as one of the founders of GUU, has been making your Thurs-

day nights fun and your Friday mornings fuzzy since 1802. Our

committee are dedicated to ensuring that students are well catered

for be that academically, with revision nights and mock OSCEs,

or socially with legendary nights as Beer Olympics, the Scrubby

and the Revue. We also have our fantastic in house magazine

Surgo, our Schools Outreach Programme, Medic Families and so

much more.

We can’t wait to make this another exciting year for you all somake sure you join up and join us at our freshers’ event on the

16th of September! So all that’s left to say is enjoy your year and

we look forward to seeing to you around the Medical School (or more likely The Beer Bar.)

Congratulations upon embarking upon your medical career,

beginning with your undergraduate studies at Glasgow UniversityMedical School. Having overcome school exams, buffing your

personal statement and passing through admissions you can now

look forward to medical school. This is a period of time in your lifewhich, while at times challenging, offers multiple opportunities

which to be honest I am jealous of. Settling into your class, routineand for some of you a new city is coupled with a huge array of

social, athletic, intellectual and even romantic possibilities!

Your colleagues at medical school become life long associates and

many close friends – perhaps even more!

The Glasgow University MedChir Society has existed since 1802

and is one of Glasgow’s, and indeed Medicines longest standing

establishment. The secret of its success lies in its drive tocontinually provide a relevant and vibrant platform for a wide

array of activities. These include not only formal balls and infor-mal nights in Viper, but also academic evenings, sporting events

and the infamous annual revue.

Furthermore the society is held in high regards by your postgradu-

ate colleagues who are delighted to be asked to be involved. It's a

massive honour for me to have been invited to be the 2013Honorary President and not only do I plan on pulling pints behind

the bar, hopefully entertaining at the ball and the revue but am

available via email to help where I can!

Presidents’ Address

Honorary Med-chir president

Dr Russell Drummond

Med-chir president

Kieran McGivern

3



Medical NewsA collection of the summer’s finest and funniest

medical headlines from finance editor Tom

Baddeley

News

Malaria vaccine success

A vaccine made from live-attenuated malaria parasites has

worked well in phase 1 clinical trials. The parasites are ex-

tracted from the salivary glands of mosquitos and when in-

jected at high doses, prevented 12 out of 15 people contract-

ing the disease.

There are currently over 20 malaria vaccine candidates in

clinical trails with the most advanced being used in a phase -3

trial on over 15,000 children in Africa as we speak.

Immune system reset for Multiple

Sclerosis sufferers

A joint operation between US and German researchers has

completed a phase 1 trial to reset the immune systems of nine MS patients with great success! The result of more than

30 years of preclinical research, their therapy proved safe

and reduced patients’ immune system reactivity to myelin by

50 to 75%.

In MS the immune system attacks the insulating myelin

sheath that covers nerve cells, resulting in a loss of conduc-

tion. In this trial, patients were given a single infusion of

their own T-cells coupled with billions of myelin antigens.

These T-cells were processed in the spleen and forced the

immune system to tolerate the myelin antigens. The treat-ment stopped autoimmune responses whilst leaving the im-

mune system intact.

12 babies a day born with heart

defects

Statistics from the BHF has found that 12 babies every day

are born with a heart defect, making it more common than

any other birth defect. On the up side death rates for con-

genital heart defects, like Patent Ductus Arteriosus or Atrial

Septal Defect have fallen by 83% in the last three decades

due to earlier diagnosis and better surgical techniques. De-

spite the chilling title, there is still good news for the 70,000

children living with heart defects because the BHF have

launched a new campaign “Fight For Every Heartbeat” to

raise awareness of this little-known issue.

Copper linked to Alzheimer's

US scientists say that a lifetime of too much copper in our

diets could trigger Alzheimer’s disease. High levels of copper

disrupts the protein LRP1, which removes beta-amyloid pro-

tein from the brain, before it forms the plaques that are the

hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.Copper was also found to encourage the clumping of beta -

amyloid inside the neural tissue.

New app to audit your own sex life

US developers have

created a new app,

Spreadsheets which

records data on its own-

er’s sex life. It measures

everything from

duration and frequency

to thrusts per minute,

even providing users

with a decibel count for

each encounter.

It’s designers encourage

users to ‘share data with

your friends to let the

facts speak for them-

selves..’

So on that note, here’s

mine…*

Woman dislocates jaw eating

burger

Ms Peate, 25, had to have her jaw reset after eating a triple

decker burger at a restaurant in Liverpool. She says she will

be more conscious of food size in the future.

4



Events



PBL - Problem Based Learning

For the next two years of your medical career you’ll be

building on your knowledge with Problem Based Learning,

aka PBL. As a group of eight or nine with the addition of a

staff facilitator, you’ll spend four hours each week talking and

drawing about different body systems and various pathologies.

Hopefully you’ll have known a bit about PBL before you got

here as it’s a subject that tends to divide many – some of youwill dig it, others… not so much. To the system’s credit, it’s

great way of getting to know your fellow students by

frantically churning out everything you learnt the night before;

but like most things in life, you get out what you put in.

VS - Vocational Studies

Vocational studies is Glasgow’s way of teaching you all the

bits and bobs needed to be a doctor that don’t fall under the

Science umbrella. That includes bedside manner, communica-

tion skills, and examinations. VS also includes visits to

hospitals and GP practices so you can adequately talk to

patients without sounding like a socially awkward robot.

Your tutor will guide you through the ups and downs of

difficult patients, moral and ethical dilemmas as well as teach-

ing you how to take a decent history.

Thankfully you start honing your skills by talking to

‘simulated patients’ a fancy way of saying actors employed by

the medical school to fake a gammy knee, which takes some of

the pressure off.

The MILE

The MILE is the medical school’s way of adding a tortuous

edge to problem based learning. It is a 24 hour exam that tests

your ability to do PBL scenarios. It may be seem like a hellish,

unnecessary task but it does have it’s highlights; nothing

brings people together like a bitch of an exam. Eat together,

sleep together and write your objectives together and you’ll be

fine. Don’t write it up together though because not only will

you be in the SL ‘til 4am, but you’ll also get done for plagiarism..

Coursework (Ok, pretty self -explanatory, but you’ll still

be talking about it)

No getting away from this one I’m afraid. There’s a pretty

ample amount of coursework in your first two years. All of it

quite varied and arse-numbingly dull. But it does all count

towards your end of year grade so unfortunately holds some

importance.

You do tend to get quite long deadlines to complete most pieces, but that won’t stop many of you from starting the day

before; just get used to pulling all-nighters with a truckload of

pro plus for company.

FRS - Fixed Resource Session

Many an hour of first year was squandered on these little

gems. FRS’ can unfortunately be quite variable and how inter-

esting they are is heavily dependent on subject matter. Some

will involve simply reading from posters and jotting down

answers, whereas others will be a bit more eccentric – like

dunking your arms in iced buckets of water to check pain-

threshold (definitely one of the more fun ones).

Despite their inconsistence in interest, a high proportion of

exam questions are based on their content, so you would be

foolish to miss ‘em.

SSC - Student Selected Component

This is basically your chance to pick an area of medicine that

you’re really interested in to find out more about. The med

school gives you a pretty varied list of things to choose from

like paediatric anaesthetics or global health. Choose wisely

padawans, some of these SSCs will result in a bit of a holiday

for a five week period with only a 4 hour week. Others may

total 40, on top of massive essays.

Bare in mind that there are some things that you might not get

to focus on in future clinical years so your SSC could very

well influence your career path. Another bonus is that you can

propose your own SSCs, so if there’s something you’re really

interested in and you can find someone to supervise you, ask.

The med school may just let you do it.

Freshers’ Guide

Assistant editor James Tadjkarimi translates all the med school jargon and

acronyms that’ll you’ll need to survive first year

6



Professor Alan “Don’t Call Me Alan” Jardine – Head of the Undergraduate MedicalSchool

The highest of the high, Alan

Jardine rules Glasgow Medical

School with an iron fist. In first

year you’ll rarely see him apart

from a couple of introductory lec-

tures (which I think I missed in

first year, so until clinicals in third

year I had no idea who this Jardine

fellow was), unless you get called

in for a little chat about your pro-

gress or lack thereof (in which

case, really, don’t call him Alan,

he hates that).

Mr. Iain “Black” Swan – Deputy Head of theUndergraduate Medical School

This erudite ENT surgeon earned his

nickname from his hauntingly beautiful

pirouettes, frequently performed as he

lays the smack -down on a lazy student.

Dr. Swan is another of those people

you’ll probably only encounter in a

progress meeting, which is something

you’ll want to avoid – after experiencing

such a session, you’ll be amazed there

hasn’t been a hurricane named after him

yet.

The Year Secretaries

Tireless administrative machines, without the year secretariesthe medical school would shudder to a halt. They ensure the

massive amounts of organisation involved in getting you good

and doctor’ed up get…organized. You’ll come to know them

primarily as the number one source of new mail in your inbox.

Your Adviser of Studies

This lucky man or woman will be your constant companion

through the next few years, a close confidante and wise mentor

to guide and nurture till you master the art of medicine. That’s

the theory anyway. In practice, you will meet this person once,

have an awkward discussion about how you’re “settling in”,and never see them again, unless you fail an exam, in which

case you get to have another awkward meet-up.

VS Tutors

These are usually GPs taking time out of their busy schedule

to teach you why you shouldn’t kill patients and how to avoid

a GMC tribunal. Your VS tutor will give you both a thorough

grounding in ethics and communication skills and a few of

your sessions will be spent visiting them in their practices.

This will also afford you some of your first encounters with

patients, and while these can be cringingly embarrassing as

your struggle to remember all those things you’re meant to

ask, everyone has to go through it.

PBL Facilitators

An amazing assortment of people responsible for ensuring

your smooth sailing through the stormy educational seas of

each PBL session. Facilitators will keep each session on track

so you cover all your learning objectives with as little interfer-

ence as possible. They vary in their style, some being more

laissez faire and others taking a more active role, but you’ll

mostly experience this as how much spine-cringing silence

they can endure before stepping in.

The FRS Leaders

These brave souls are tasked with making three hundred bored

medical students interested in hard science, and for the most

part they do a pretty great job of it (though I can’t say I ever

really took to the histology sessions – I swear they make the

stools uncomfortable on purpose to stop you falling asleep at

the microscope). There’s a different block leader for each dis-

cipline (anatomy, physiology etc.), and as leaders, you must

address them as “Course Captain” . It’s just good manners.

The Labbies

A strange race of people known to inhabit the Boyd Orr and

various other laboratory settings around the Glasgow campus.

They seem to tolerate the presence of idiotic medical students

ineptly attempting science in their labs, and are generally

friendly and helpful

when approached, but

don’t push your luck;

the Boyd Orr has many

dark hiding places, and

no one would miss

another medical student

who knocked over a

test tube rack.

Freshers’ Guide

Meet the WolfsonsJosh Nielson introduces you to your new mummies, daddies and the odd creepy uncle...

7



Year 1 – The Honeymoon

Year 2 – Oh, So You Like Science Do You?

Time to get real. You’re doing medicine dammit, it’s not

supposed to be easy, and boy will you come to know it. In

second year you can no longer cruise by on a quick flick

through Tortora and Fac Notes the morning before. Forget all

those nice friends you made in first year – in-depth biochemis-

try, histology and physiology will be your new and unceasing-

ly dull companions. On top of that, as well as written exams,

2nd year will also be your first encounter with a real OSCE.

Just make sure you turn up to the right hospital for it, people

have been known to make mistakes with this in the past.

Years 3 and 4—Welcome to Clinicals

Freshers’ Guide

The Long RoadProduction editor Josh Nielson takes you through the 5-6 years of your medical degree

First year is a euphoric and joyous time, a time to socialize

and make as many friends as possible, even if only for the

duration of a night. Enjoy it to the full for never again, at

least in your medical career, will you be so free of real re-

sponsibility. The subjects studied in first year are designed to

give you an introduction to the fundamentals of medicine;

you’ll cover most of the topics in more depth in later years

(the infamous “Spiral of Learning”).

You will have the odd assessment, such as the MILE, which

attempts to give PBL scenarios a thrilling edge by requiring

you to complete one in 24 hours, but these are all pretty

straight forward, and as long as you remember sometime in

April that exams are on the horizon, you’ll do just fine.

3rd year is split in to two halves – initially, you’ll have 15 weeks of

teaching on a different specialty each week,. This is a grueling,

pathology ridden slog, with exams hitting in February, just close

enough to Christmas to ruin it.

The second half of the year marks the beginning of the last phase

of your medical education—placements. These are 5 week clinical

attachments in different specialties all over the West of Scotland,

intended to give you proper teaching and experience in the ways of

practical medicine. Placements are often quite far from the cosy

West End which means staying in hospital accommodation unless

you want a 2 hour commute each morning. On the bright side a lot

of the more remote hospitals give excellent teaching, which is

8



Intercal – Make Mine A Double

Freshers’ Guide

to Doctor -

hood

Year 5 – The End Is Nigh

Yep, Finals. Finally. You’ll have a couple more

attachments, then a short revision period before the

apocalyptic exams later in the year. If there’s one

reason not to burn your PBL notes on a triumphant

victory fire come results day, it’s this as you can be

examined on almost anything from the previous 5

years of study. After the main exams are over, you’ll

have a further 10-week shadowing period called prepa-

ration for practice, and then hey presto, you’re a doc-

tor. That wasn’t so bad now, was it?

something you’ll definitely be in need of with the new

fourth year exam looming. This year will be the first year

that Glasgow split finals between fourth year and fifth year

so only time will tell how good/bad/ugly this proves to be...

For most people, placements are a welcome relief from the

abstract knowledge of second year as you get the chance to

apply your knowledge and skills in a real setting. This also,

hopefully, makes the OSCE at the end of the year seem alittle more doable and a lot more relevant. Of course, with

greater power/fun comes greater responsibility, and expec-

tations will start to run higher – you’ll be quizzed on a day-

to-day basis and a thick skin is a must when your consultant

favours the “teaching by ritual humiliation” method. Place-

ments continue on into 4th year, unless you opt to take a

Between 3rd and 4th year you have the option of applying to

do an intercalated degree, thus netting yourself a handy

extra BSc for your time at medical school. Intercal is an

opportunity for you to study something that interests you,

be it a clinical field such as psychology or sports medicine,

or a more academic one such as anatomy or microbiology.

Though this may sound fun, the decision to undertake an

intercal should not be made lightly – not only is it another

year of uni to pay for, but the assessment schedule can be a

new level of academic intensity altogether.

9



So you’ve spent months, maybe years, trying to get here and

finally you’ve made it to Glasgow University and the sacred

land of Medical School. However, there are many of you who

will not have fully considered the fact that Glasgow is

going to be your home for at least the next 5 years. Moving to

Scotland’s biggest city may be a daunting prospect but fear not,

Surgo is here to smooth the process and help you settle in. Thereare boundless activities and ways to spend your invaluable time

when you aren’t up to your eyes in coursework or PBL (see Fac

Notes*).

Glasgow by day

Believe it or not it’s not always

snowing or raining in Glasgow

(we get hurricanes too, see baw-

bag 2k12)… No seriously, it’s

not. We have some fantastic areas

to lounge about in the tepid

warmth of the Glasgow sun;

Kelvingrove Park on a sunny day

is idyllic and has free tennis

courts where Andy Murray is

often spotted playing with his

balls.

If shopping is your vice then head down to Buchanan Street,

Sauchiehall Street and Argyle Street. While you’re in town be

sure to head through to George Square and grab a pint at Glas-

gow’s nicest ‘spoons, the counting house.

Can’t be bothered leaving the West End ? A trip round the cor-

ner from GUU will take you to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and

Museum which is free and a surprisingly good hangover cure.

Carry on your culture fest with A Play, a Pie and a Pint at Oran

Mor. If sport is your cup of tea then Glasgow is a haven for you.

Of course there are Rangers and Celtic but Glasgow Warriors

play at Scotstoun stadium on Fridays and offer discounted tick-

ets for students! Catching Warriors vs. Ulster is always a treat

and a chance to get one over a significant proportion of the med-

ical school.

For some organised fun head down to the Clyde. Here you’ll

find Glasgow Science centre and the new transport museum;

both are well worth a wander even if just to admire the impres-

sive architecture and the jewel-encrusted hippie van. The Sci-

ence centre is home to Scotland’s biggest Imax a well as a plan-

etarium and a really tall tower (that never seems to be open).

Finally, you’ve explored Glasgow. You’ve discovered every-

thing and more. You’ve had enough of Uni and you’re feeling

claustrophobic in your grimey Murano flat. Well luckily for you

we designed Loch Lomond just for this possibility. Created by

Surgo for your enjoyment. A truly gorgeous environment and

easily and cheaply accessible by train. A perfect escape for the

day.

Fresher’s Guide to Glasgow

*ask your medic parents

A Tale of Two Cities

Arts Editor David Boyle, takes us on a tour of his favourite parts of Scotland’s biggest and best city. The fun starts around midday and

ends long into the night….

10



Glasgow by night

By night Glasgow shakes off the charm and becomes a bustling,

vibrant and truly mind- blowing hub of activity. Whatever your

music taste, fashion sense or drink of choice, there will be some-

where to suit you.

Music

Glasgow is well-known for its ability to attract some of the best

artists and bands with a wide variety of music on show through-

out the year. The O2 Academy, O2 ABC and SECC always have

big acts. For a cheeky Glaswegian twist be sure to check some

bands out at Barrowlands or King Tuts Wah Wah Tent – both

incredible venues. The Arches is another cracking hotspot for big

DJs and another interesting setting ,a derelict railway station!

Theatre

You may briefly glance at this… Right-

ly so perhaps, but in a moment of hang-

over -induced despair you might fancy a

quieter night at the theatre. Big shows

are always coming Glasgow as well

some more local stuff at the Mitchell

theatre and Tramway. Even if you

don’t go yourself, always a handy place

to take your parents should they ever

visit you!

Food

I’m getting to clubs, don’t worry. Glasgow is a gastronomic de-

light with food to indulge the most sophisticated palettes and pub

grub to put you into a pleasant coma. TriBeCa on Dumbarton

Road provides a hearty breakfast to soak up that hangover post-

PBL. Great lunches for a fiver can be had at Hillhead Bookcluband Naked Soup. For dinner, Ketchup and the Grosvenor both do

2 for 1s but for something different head to Rumours for Malaysi-

an or Viva Brazil for a mind- blowing meat-feast.

Comedy

Glaswegian comedy is second to none. Kevin Bridges and

Frankie Boyle are two prime examples of the style of comedy

that makes this city (in)famous. The Stand Comedy Club is £2 onMonday and Tuesday nights and has up and coming local come-

dians, as well as the odd appearance from Kevin and Frankie. But

make sure you get there early to graba seat in the cramped club!

Clubs

Everywhere. Clubs everywhere.

Mondays are best spent at Viper, there’s a premium on space but

if you want to be with your pals and the rest of Glasgow Uni in

one room then it’s ideal!

Tuesday is either Kushion (think

Geordie Shore) or Buff Club - think

funky beats, funkier hairstyles and £1

drinks.

Wednesdays give you two options; indulge the hipster within

and head to SubClub for face-melting bass and neck -snapping

headroom, or head to Polo Lounge (Glasgow’s best gay club) for

free entry and super -cheap cheese.

Thursday is spent at Glasgow University Union at MedChir

events when they’re on with free pints-a- plenty! Post-medchir

head to our sponsors Viper, the messiest club the in West End.

Friday is the time to head to Cheesy Pop at QMU and let it all go

to some terribly addictive tunes – a night not to overlook (despite

what some will tell you). Friday’s

other option is Propaganda at 02

ABC, look out for free entry cards

being given out on campus

Saturday and Sunday is when the money comes out so be frugal

but time split between Corinthian Club & Casino on a Saturday

and Bamboo on a Sunday will round off a whistle -stop clubbing

tour of Glasgow.

So, by day and night you are mildly prepared to take your first

steps around Glasgow’s streets. Glasgow is a wonderful city to

study in and we hope with this mini-guide you can experience it

in all its glory! Just remember: stay safe and always say you sup- port Partick Thistle if ever asked, followed by “mon the Jags!”

Fresher’s Guide to Glasgow

11



You were all probably highly and irritat-

ingly involved with extracurricular activ-

ities at school and beyond (or at least

that’s what the med school were led to

believe by your personal statement) so

why stop now?! Below is the tip of the

iceberg when it comes to university soci-

eties, for every interest, hobby, sport or

obsession there is a table at the freshers

fair dying to include you in their annualintake.

Glasgow Medico-Chirurgical

Society

Your very own

MedChir! We are one

of Glasgow Universi-

ty’s oldest running

societies and one of the

founding members of

the Glasgow Universi-

ty Union. Since 1802 MedChir have been

providing ridiculously good value Thurs-

day nights and less than fresh Friday

mornings for all. Our nights vary greatly

from the traditional welcome ceilidh and

(comparatively) sophisticated ball

through to the renowned beer Olympics

and genuinely useful revision lectures.

MedChir also brings together the medic

sports teams for events like sports day,

and takes things to new cities, and levels

of silliness, on our field trips. All in all it

is an essential way of getting to know the

people you will be spending the next 5

years surviving with.

Specialist Interest Societies

Maybe you already know that orthopae-

dics is the career path for you, or maybeyou’re not sure what it is, either way

there are a host of medical speciality and

interest societies for you to further an

interest in or merely get an idea of. This

can take the form of anything from an

introductory lecture to getting some

hands on experience. A list of some of

the current specialist interest societies

follows but if you feel there’s something

missing, why not pioneer and set up your

own society.

Glasgow Undergraduate Neuro

Interest Group (Glasgow

Neuro)

Glasgow Oncology Society

GU Surgical Society (GUSS)

GU Psychiatry Interest Group

(GUPIG)

GU Cardiovascular Society

GU Paediatrics Society

GU GP Society (GUGPS)

Glasgow Orthopaedics and Rheu-

matology Society (GORS)

GU Renal society

GU Radiology Interest Group

(GURIG)

GU Anaesthetics Society

DermSoc Glasgow

Medical and Surgical Emergency

Society

GU Mountain Medicine Society

The Fresher’s Fair

The fresher’s fair and sports fair are easy

ways to see a whole lot of societies in

one place and take your pick. These are

found during Fresher’s week at the main

university building, the Stevenson build-

ing (sport) and the med school. There

really is something for everyone, whether

war hammer never got old or cheese tast-

ing is what you live for. Here are some

current favourite alternative societies to prove that you’re never, ever alone...

Students of a Jane Austen

Persuasion

Chivalric Dreams (?!)

Roller Derby Supporters Club of

Glasgow University

Boob-team Society

Sitting Down and Being Friendly

Want to get AND give?

If your interest in giving back extendsfurther than padding out med school

application forms (we kind of hope so),

then there are lots of fantastic medically

relevant charities to get involved in at

Glasgow. There is a lot to be gained from

becoming involved and a great variety of

issues addressed, you could end up

teaching sex ed in schools or travelling to

Africa. From teddy bears to knife crime

giving out condoms in between, there are

plenty of causes that could do with your

help.

Glasgow Marrow

Glasgow Medics Against Violence

Student Society(MAV)

Students for Kids International

Projects (SKIP)

Sexpression Glasgow

Glasgow Straight Talk

Teddy Bear Hospital Glasgow

Society

Red Cross

Medsin

Freshers’ Guide

Clubs and Societies

Lucy Waite takes you through the highs and (a few) lows of what’s on offer

12



Over the past decade the UK has sent

many thousands of troops to the Middle

East with the total number of casualties

from operations in Afghanistan and Iraq

equating to 623. On top of that, thou-

sands more have been evacuated to UK

hospitals in order to receive treatment for

a spectrum of life changing injuries.

These injuries come in many different

forms; some return with PTSD (post-

traumatic stress disorder) and other psy-

chological illnesses, others with serious

physical trauma such as burns and ampu-

tations. It seems apt to investigate the

changing face of medical services on the

battlefield to see how we’ve adapted to

dealing with a new class of injury synon-

ymous with the conflict in the Middle

East.

Compared with previous conflicts, there

has been a shift in nature and in the type

of injuries encountered. One major

change is the use of improvised Explo-

sive devices (IEDs for short) as the

preferred weapon of choice.

These devices range from rudimentary

homemade bombs to sophisticated weap-

on systems packed with high-grade ex-

plosives that even kevlar body armour

can’t really protect against. These road-

side bombs are pretty nasty: shattered

bones,

exploded muscle and missing limbs are

just some of the injuries they frequently

cause. On top of that, shrapnel caked

with all kinds of nasty bugs can lead to

secondary infections, which when com-

bined with explosives, make for life-

threatening injuries requiring immediate

pre-hospital treatment.

Pre-hospital care

Field medics in combat have coined the

term ‘the platinum ten minutes’ to re-

place ‘ the golden hour’ of trauma as in

these situations, time really makes all the

difference. One of the most crucial pieces

of kit available to soldier and medic alike

is a simple tourniquet. They’ve seen an

aggressive reintroduction since the Vi-

etnam War. At that time they were used

sporadically by troops, with no clear con-

sensus on how effective they were inreducing mortality. Evidence has now

painted a clear picture that a pre-hospital

tourniquet applied effectively and quick-

ly ensures much better survival. In truth,

it seems remarkable that stemming blood

loss immediately wasn’t always a num-

ber one priority.

On top of tourniquets, we now have

smartly engineered bandages impregnat-

ed with either Celox (a substance madeup of ground up shellfish that forms arti-

ficial plugs in wounds) or Kaolin, a coag-

ulation cascade and platelet aggregation

enhancer (some pre-PBL facts for you 1st

years.)

Pain management is also seeing a few

changes in the pre-hospital setting. The

theory being that tighter, more rapid

control of symptoms can help speed up

recovery and reduce PTSD occurrence

and phantom limb pain. Traditionally,

intramuscular morphine injections had

been used to dampen down pain. The

problem with this is that it has a delayed

onset of pain relief that’s often subopti-

mal and difficult to titrate. Intravenous

morphine can be more effective, but a far

less dangerous alternative is oral trans-

mucosal fentanyl citrate (OFTC.) OFTC

is a rapid and non-invasive synthetic -

opioid substitute, and best of all? It

comes in lollipop form.

Specially trained Anaesthetists have also

been assessing whether a nerve block (a

direct anaesthetic injection that blocks

pain signals to the brain whilst keeping

the patient awake and alert) can be at all

effective on the battlefield.

Beyond Glasgow

Assistant editor James Tadjkarimi looks at the most recent and influential developments inmedicine used by the military

‘ Anaesthetics have been devel-

oped in many forms: lollipops

included’

14



Flying fortress

With a serious enough injury, field

medics can call in the big guns with what

they’ve dubbed the MERT- a Medical

Emergency Response Team that’s basi-

cally a flying resus room bringing the ER

to the wounded.

These Chinook helicopters are staffed by

two paramedics, a senior physician and

nurse with critical care or experience and

don’t discriminate between casualties;

regularly receiving coalition forces, Af-

ghan National Security Forces, civilians

or Taliban fighters.

On board equipment is highly sophisti-

cated, and capable of managing life

threatening injuries including cata-

strophic bleeding, thoracic trauma and

airway obstruction. In many casualties

it’s near impossible to restore adequate

circulation by conventional means as

massive blood loss and missing

limbs make venous access impossible.

Instead the team often resort to using an

Intra-osseous device: a drill that injects

directly into medullary bone marrow

allowing for immediate fluid or blood

transfusion. Once access has been

achieved on board in one way or another,

the doctors can start to give blood in

preparation for the war wounded’s

arrival at the closest field hospital.

Of course we will never be able to fully prevent anyone dying on the battlefield,

but with better instantaneous care more

fully available to those injured by war,

we are seeing the number of casualties in

combat drop substantially. And that can

never be a bad thing.

Beyond Glasgow

Do you have an interest in journalism or writing in general?

Are you curious about the influence of the wider world on medicine, and vice versa?

Do you have an opinion or perspective you think should be heard?

Join the writing team at

Surgo! “Breath-taking” (- Stephen Fry), “Visionary” ( - William Shatner)

“The scalpel-sharp edge of modern medical journalism” ( - Alan Jardine)

If you’re interested or want to know more, email Ella at [email protected]

“Reading Surgo got my sexy

back.”

– Justin Timberlake

“NO. I will not answer any questions

on the rumoured relationship between

myself and the editor of Surgo. Iron

Man blah blah blah” – Robert

Downey Jr

“Carlsberg doesn’t do magazines,

’cause if we did, Surgo would put

us out of business in a week”

– Carlsberg guy

‘ Medics can call in the big guns,

a flying resus room’

15



The Cornwall to Cape Town expedition

is an ongoing project by three British

doctors and a 1992 Land Rover Defend-

er named Tess. The primaryobjective is to drive from

Cornwall, our home and place

of work, to Cape Town.

Along the way the team is

raising money for Medicins

Sans Frontiers and Gondar,

Ethiopia Eye Surgery

(GEES), a charity we will

also be visiting.

The expedition has and will

continue to visit a number of

health organizations on route,

exploring the varying health

systems, burdens and beliefs of

each country. This includes a

one-month general medical

placement in Iganga Hospital,

Uganda and participation in Ma-

lawi with the C.R.A.D.L.E. pro-

ject, an Africa-wide screening

and referral project for pre-

eclampsia (a potentially fatal,

maternal disease of uncontrolled

high blood pressure). The team

is into our 23rd country and

14,995th mile, having traversed

Europe, landed in Egypt by boat

from Turkey, tracked up the Nile

through the Sudan into

Ethiopia, then Somaliland and

Kenya. We are now near the

source of the white Nile in

Uganda.

Along the way, Sebastian Wallace,

Richard Wain-Hobson and Daniel Nuth

have developed into a tight-knit team,

bonded by a succession of mechanical

challenges, wilderness, urban

chaos, break -ins, crashes, illnesses, and

problems of our own making.

We have almost lost the car to a sinkingTurkish salt lake; found our-

selves in the thick of the politi-

cal upheaval in Greece and

Egypt; repaired 16 punctures

and a high speed blow-out on

the mountain roads of Ethiopia;

talked ourselves into (and then

out of) televised semi-captivity,

met the Somaliland Prime-

Minister, and retreated from

North-Kenyan bandits as the car in

front was strafed by machine gun

fire. In between these challenges

however, we have found sincere

hospitality, easy-going curiosity,

genuine friendships and an endless

continent of changing beauty.

What follows is an extract

from their most recent blog

entry by Dan. The following

unfolded after slipping

through a previous check-

point in Somaliland.

Beyond Glasgow

Cornwall to Cape Town My own junior elective took me as far away from Glasgow as I could physically get without actually

leaving the country/spending much money. And so three of us found ourselves in sunny Cornwall for a

month, attempting to surf, drinking too much cider and spending (some) time in A&E. Whilst there I had

the pleasure of meeting three junior doctors, Baz, Rich and Dan, who had a better than average plan

for the next year of their lives. The following is a brief insight into what they are up to but for a closer

look, and some stories you really couldn’t make up, it is well worth having a read of their blog at

www.cornwalltocapetown.com

Warning – this route may have delays

16

http://www.cornwalltocapetown.com/





“...We found ourselves at the tiny

airport west of Berbera still looking for

the coastal road. I exited the Landie to

ask directions. Despite my walking 50

yards from the car in plain sight, the air-

port security guard was a little startled by

my arrival in front of him. I had, it

seemed, interrupted his vacant gazing out

to the desert. As he pondered my ques-

tion, a soldier raised the barrier behind

him. Underneath slipped a sleek white

saloon car with dark windows and beige

furry mat visible on the dash. It stopped

and a man stepped out in uniform.

He had glinting medals on his breast,

mirrored sunglasses and a proud

paunch resting on his belt buckle. The

officer stepped towards me and waited to

be informed of what was going on. The

soldier operating the barrier

approached.

I decided against exposing our plans for

illegal camping and said we were on our

way from Hargeisa to Berbera and had

become lost. I flapped our most official

looking documents around while I spoke.

The officer barked in Somali, the soldier

translated, “where are you soldier, you

need soldier!” It was looking like we

were busted. It was time to abort this

conversation before we found ourselves

arrested. Delivering some excuses about

being late for Wheel of Fortune and hav-

ing left the iron on, I made to leave. As I

turned, a third man in desert fatigues

barred my way. His hand rested on the

stock of his AK47 with an unsettling

degree of familiarity.

He explained that

we had been found moving illegally in

Somaliland and that we were to accom-

pany them back to Berbera. I was ush-

ered into the saloon and a soldier

climbed into my seat in the Landie. Bas

and Rich who were out of earshot of my

conversation looked at me through the

windscreen for an explanation. I offered

nothing.

As we sped towards Berbera I frantically

evaluated the situation. We were in trou-

ble. It couldn’t be big trouble, surely. We

have just broken a small bureaucratic

rule. In Berbera there would be a small

bribe, more stamps and forms and we

should be on our way. Somalia is a bit of

an unknown quantity though, maybe we

were trespassing, maybe we were suspi-

cious! I didn’t want to spend even one

night in a Somali prison, thank you. All

of a sudden those words I had disregard-

ed on the FCO website came back to me

with a shiver “there is no embassy pres-

ence in Somaliland at this time”. I am

definitely over reacting, it is time to re-

main calm and make some friends. I of-

fered the man behind the mirrors a Marl-

boro Red. He took one without expres-

sion and began to smoke leaving the win-

dows firmly shut. I chanced a little pi-

geon English conversation. I am from

UK… Britain?… England? It is very hot

today, it is very cold in England. I barked

an anxious laugh, too loudly for the still

air in the car. He remained silent and

smoked. Perhaps he doesn’t speak Eng-

lish. I smoked as well.”

The detailed exploits arerecounted in writing and

photography at www.cornwalltocapetown.com.

All donations go 100% to our selected charities.

Beyond Glasgow

A Ridiculously Good Adventure

“Where you go?” said the soldier.

“It was time to abort this

conversation before we

found ourselves arrested.” Rich, Baz and Dan, with their long -suffering Land Rover

Tess

17






First Year

Principles of Anatomy and

physiology- ‘Tortora’

A fantastic book for first year

as it introduces you nicely to

the very basics of anatomy

and physiology. Organised

by system rather than region,

this allows you to relate the

anatomy to the function as

you learn.

Clinical Atlas of Human Anatomy -

McMinn's

Really useful anatomy book

for using to prepare for/

alongside your cadaver dis-

sections. It contains large

pictures of cadaver dissec-

tions in excellent detail as

well as great surface anato-

my to help you to orientate

yourself around the body.

Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiol-

ogy - Martini

A very user friendly book

providing the basics of anat-

omy and physiology, somecopies come with an interac-

tive CD and Atlas of the

Human Body as well as the

textbook. People often

switch between this and

Tortora for first year, so

check out both to find your

personal preference.

Clinical Medicine - Davidson’s

If you only want to buy one book, this is a good one to go

with! It is basically the bible of pre-clinical medicine. Eve-

ry disease imaginable is in-

cluded and laid out in a very

comprehensive

“DASPITE” (you’ll soon

know what this stands for!)

format.

Again includes an online

resource which is much easi-

er to search and includes

downloadable pictures and

diagrams.

Useful Stu

Book Reviews

TURN TO THE BACK COVER FOR A CHANCE TO

WIN YOUR VERY OWN BRAND- SPANKING NEW

AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF DAVIDSON’S

18

One of the first things on your mind when you start med school is likely to be what textbooks to buy.

Actually it’s probably the last thing on your mind but still, Katie Lunn brings you some info about

textbooks that will come in handy over the next 5-6 years...



Oxford Handbook of Medical Sciences

Concentrates on the basic medical

sciences starting with the general

principles of cells and metabolism,

followed by chapters for each of the

body systems. Each chapter is laid

out in a really comprehensive way

following anatomy then function and

finally clinical application.

Very good for revision also and it is

small enough to fit easily in your

bag!

Macleod’s Clinical Examination

Excellent book for clinical

examinations, but written

by Edinburgh University

staff so aimed at their stu-

dents. Some discrepancies

with the way we are taught

things in Glasgow so it’s

good for learning general

examination skills in the

first few years but can con-

fuse you for 3rd and final

year OSCEs which expect you to perform the “Glasgow

way”.

This excellent revision aid has doz-

ens of practice cases which follow

a patient from presentation to dis-

charge asking questions along the

way. There’s a great mix of ques-

tion types and crucially they’re

followed by well written explana-

tions, as well as answers. Here’s

the best bit! While there are hun-dreds of revision books out there,

this one was actually written by

two Glasgow lecturers who will be involved in writing your

exam!

Once you have reached clinical

years this is an amazing little book

to carry with you on placement. It

contains all the clinically relevant

information you need to know

about most common presentations.

Very useful for reference on place-

ment- also free copies are often

given to students by MPS, MDDU

etc. It is also great for diagnosing

yourself with everything from lu-

pus to lymphoma whenever you’re

slightly under the weather.

A great little embryology

book, definitely worth a

look during the dreaded

child development block

of 2nd year! Includes an

online resource with very

good illustrations to help

you understand develop-

mental stages, plus sections

on abnormalities and ge-

netics.

Useful Stu

I have to admit that if I had to

recommend the best textbook

of all, though somewhat con-

troversial, it would have to

be... Wikipedia! Whether you

agree with using good old Dr

Wikipedia or not it’s a good

starting place when research-

ing new topics.

Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine

Second Year And Beyond...

Medical Embryology - Langman’s

Good ol’ Dr Wikipedia

Core Clinical Cases: Self Assessmentfor Medical Students

19



Study medicine? Like sport? If the answer to both of these

taxing questions is yes, then Med-Chir sport is definitely for

you. Now that you have begun your journey through big bad

medical school, you may find that you have a lot less time to

yourself than what you used to. Sadly, the medical school

doesn’t always allow students the time off that other facul-

ties get for university sport. Couple this with the long hours

in class and late night PBL sessions and it becomes extra

difficult to represent the university in your desired disci-

pline. This is where Med-Chir sport steps in; our teams train

and play at times which won’t conflict with your hectic

schedule and it is never the end of the world if you miss a

training session, we’ve all been there before so we under-

stand!

We have Men’s Rugby, Mixed Hockey, Men’s & Women’s

Football, Mixed Basketball, Women’s Netball and Mixed Ulti-

mate Frisbee.

The teams compete against teams from other faculties

throughout the year -

such as the Dentists (wannabe doctors),the Lawyers (not smart enough to be doctors), the Engineers

(glorified mechanics) and the Vets (sheep lovers). But the

main event on the Med-Chir Sports calendar is undoubtedly

SNIMS, which Glasgow had the enjoyable task of hosting last

year. Almost 800 students from the finest medical schools of

Northern Ireland and Scotland (plus a mob from Dundee)

descended on Glasgow for a weekend dedicated to sport and a

few other “extracurricular” activities that probably won’t get

mentioned on the CV (see attached pictures). Most teams

arrived on the Friday night, except Edinburgh who couldn’t

make it until Saturday morning-

something to do with daddy’schauffeur having prior engagements. After some team bond-

ing, intervarsity “networking” and general “gettin’ yaldae” on

the Friday night at one of Glasgow’s cultural hubs, the sport

was of a surprisingly high quality on the Saturday. Spirits were

also high, as I’m sure were spirit levels in the majority of the

participants circulating blood. After the sport a night of fancy

dress (and cross-dressing) in the theme of “Fairytales and

nursery rhymes” ensued. Unsurprisingly, Aberdeen managed

to find an excuse to dress as sheep, and the rugby boys found

an excuse to wear obscenely tight clothing more commonly

found in the female changing rooms of primary schools across

the country. The sporting theme of the weekend continued late

into the night, with boat racing, rhythmic dance floor gymnas-

tics and even some improvised equestrianism into the early

hours for a lucky few.

Naturally Glasgow emerged as the overall victors and we now

have the task of defending our title at SNIMS 2013 in Aber-

deen. If you want to be

a part of the biggest and

best Medic’s sports

team in Scotland, keep

your eyes peeled and

your ears open for in-

formation about joining

up. Captains from each

team will be making

announcements during

some of your lectures

over the opening few

weeks, so even if you

are drying from a hang-

over make sure you get

to class so you don’t

miss out!

Fun Stu

20



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