We’re now just over half way through the SSC block, and it’s difficult to remember a time when I wasn’t commuting weekly to the Medical School. The journey is judged nicely – no need to get up too early; feed chickens, feed cats, water tomatoes, check email & set off with an hour to spare (time allotted for lunch). Arrive at 1.31 and pay for parking permit – this is valid for 4 hours and as parking is free after 5.30 and the penalty for not paying up to that time is horrendous, I don’t fancy running the risk of a large fine for the sake of a a couple of minutes…..it has been known to happen, and stories circulate of the death and destruction visited upon transgressors.
Then into the Medical School for a cup of tea at the refreshment bar and thence to the tutorials. Half an hour or so spare for reading, or another cup of tea, and then into the Life Class.
This week, the School has been setting up for something variously referred to as OSSIs or OSCIs. My reading of John le Carré novels suggested that Ossis were East Germans, before the fall of the Berlin Wall, but somehow this didn’t seem to be the right interpretation of the acronyms. Turns out that it’s what used to be known as “Clinicals”, that is, examinations of students’ clinical acumen using real patients. Most of these “patients” are old hands, almost professionals, with a vast understanding of their medical conditions and a long experience of Clinicals. They are often happy to drop broad hints about their diagnosis & treatment, although I did hear of one who replied persistently along the lines of “that’s for you to find out”. The student endured this for an hour, and failed the exam.
Anyway, as a result of the OSSIs, all the examination couches had been removed from the room we use for life classes. So: nowhere for the poor model to lie down. But they had left us the chairs, so that was all right.
