My Insight and Capabilities Relevant to the Specialty - Personal Statement Example

11111111111111 Why are you motivated to pursue further training in this specialty In what way are you able to demonstrate that your own skills and attributes are suitable for a higher career in this specialty After completing MBBS in India and coming to United Kingdom, I have worked first in Hertfordshire NHS trust and then in Bolton, Salford and Trafford NHS trusts as Senior House Officer Psychiatry. I felt attracted towards Psychiatry because it is multidisciplinary, research oriented, a dynamic mixture of independent and team work, holistic, poses communication challenge, and forces professionals to face exhilarating impossibilities while dealing with difficult patients and sensitive situations. I receive positive reactions from patients of Psychiatry. I have recognised a distinct ability in myself to build an instantaneous rapport with difficult patients along with a genuine speciality in core skills. I have good relationship with my colleagues and patients alike. Dealing with disturbed patients does not annoy me and I willingly talk to understand them even when it is not my duty to do so. 2.A2 Provide evidence of your recent efforts to increase your insight and capabilities relevant to the specialty. What has been the outcome and how has this further developed your suitability for this specialty I have cleared part -1 of MRC Psychiatry examination and had been attending psycho-therapy training classes. I read all connected papers in internet and journals to keep abreast with new findings. I am trying to remain familiar with the recent research region in psychiatry. I am also trying to read most of the important books on the subject. I have done three jobs of six months each in Old Age Psychiatry and another three jobs in General Adult Psychiatry. After coming to United Kingdom, I have been never away from the Psychiatry area of knowledge and clinical practice. After attending MRC Psychiatry course, doing short term work and examination I have gained vast knowledge in the subject and also feel that training classes in psycho-therapy are helping me in further enhancing my knowledge and insight about the subject. 3.A3 Provide evidence of activities/achievements over and above your regular scheduled daily activities that demonstrate your continuing personal commitment to the specialty (or further development of relevant skills). Indicate date and place relating to the evidence. I work with psychiatric patients not only when it is part of my job, but also willingly take up more responsibility in the clinic. I volunteer for interviewing patients, and taking down case history in both inpatient and outpatient clinics, even though it is not always part of my duties. I participate in electroconvulsive therapy under supervision. Even in my daily commitments, I have shown preference for mental health work. I have done extra work spending more time with patients; especially with severely ill patients with poor insight. I take active interest in preparing tribunal reports for Mental Health Act Tribunal and attend Mental Health Act Tribunal meetings. 4.Describe an example from your experience in this specialty when applying your clinical judgement had a defining impact on patient management. What did you do and how do you think the outcome was affected by your judgement I am already working in this speciality area and face diverse experiences every day. Patient management comes easily to me, because of my work in Old Psychiatry homes and present work experience. I have noticed that after three years' of working with them, I have started understanding them better, their facial expressions, their body language and sometimes, I could predict their next movement by looking at them. I remember a particular patient whom I assessed in Accident and Emergency department for Mild to Moderate depression. During assessment I felt that patient had pain in his neck. He said he was unconcerned about it and it was mere muscle spasms on right side of neck. I did a physical examination and found a small swelling on the spot, with enlarged lymph Nodes. I persuaded patient for further investigations which he agreed and it led to immediate chemotherapy and radiotherapy for Osteogenic Sarcoma. It was a defining moment in my career when I learned the importance of holistic approach while seeing a patient. 5. Please summarise evidence of your clinical skills and expertise in relation to this speciality. What have you found most challenging and why What areas do you need to improve I have been working for the last three years in this speciality field and have developed expertise in note taking, interviewing patients and dealing with difficult cases. I have found interaction with highly disturbed patients very challenging, as usually they are beyond understanding a logical conversation. I have improved my knowledge by understanding more theories in the field by keeping myself informed of further research and interpreting it in my daily skills. In Psychiatry, there always exists a danger of patients concealing some of the vital information by either feeling intimidated or threatened at that moment and it is a matter of significance that they should be given enough time with homely atmosphere so that they could relax and part with the information that could be very important in their treatment. 6.Describe your understanding of the importance of medical research to a trainee doctor. You may use examples to illustrate your answer, either from your own experience or from publications if you have not had the opportunity to be involved in research. As today's medical practice is based on the ongoing medical research, I understand that for a trainee doctor, it is imperative to have research background and more academic knowledge. I had no opportunity of research until now and hope to remedy this shortcoming by involving in this body of knowledge. I feel that doctors understand the available evidence better and it should help them in their decision making. As psycho-analysis and psycho-therapy are depending on various branches of research, more and more research should help in bringing relief to patients I am sure that continuing research would enrich every medical field, not just Psychiatry. Stagnant knowledge could be dangerous in any field, and more so, in medicine. I am absolutely certain that research keeps adding important and vital information to all branches of medicine and trainee doctors will be highly equipped by keeping themselves in touch with the research field. 7.Describe a time when your communications skills helped a patient or carer to make a difficult decision about treatment. What approach did you take and what was the outcome How has this experience helped you to handle similar situations I helped with my communication skills a patient who was scared to undergo electroconvulsive therapy, which was definitely needed, and proved beneficial in the long run. Patient refused to give his consent and was depressed about the turn his treatment was taking. Simultaneously, he was suicidal with definite self harming tendencies. He was aggressive to staff and his family members and was showing no signs of responding to other treatments. I calmed him down and enquired about his concerns and was told that he was worried about side effects. I detailed all possible side effect and chances of him getting them and I gave him literature related with ECT mention data about percentage of patients getting side effects. Next day he consented for ECT leaving me with enhanced knowledge of handling similar situations, remaining calm and in charge, while being confronted by aggression stemming out of fear and indecision and how the unchanging assurance of therapist would eventually help the patient in understanding the situation. 8.Describe an example from your experience in psychiatry of a time when you had difficulty in understanding the perspective of a patient, family member or carer, or where these were in conflict. Why do you think this was and what did you do How has this experience informed your subsequent practice As a fresh trainee doctor, when I started working in psychiatry section, I was hesitant in making any independent contribution to direct dialogues with difficult patients. I was sensitive about their feelings, and was unsure how they would react. I always thought that I might say wrong things which might make matters worse. I slowly gained more confidence and started with keeping in touch with carers and family members and tried understanding the difficulties of patient through them, and usually their testimonies are very sympathetic and this approach helped me to understand the patient from patients' point of view and this approach, I found very useful. Now I directly interact with the patient; but still use the method through which I learnt a lot. I remember a challenging patient with whom I had good rapport. He was detained under MHA and he appealed against his section. I asked my consultant that whether I could attend the MHA tribunal and he readily agreed. I presented reasons for patient's detention before tribunal resulting in patient's being highly unpleasant. It was sad to lose his confidence in me; but I realised the difficulties faced by my consultant to retain patient against his will. When patient improved after two months, he was apologetic about his rudeness and it was all worth the trouble. 9.Mistakes can and do happen in medical practice. Describe a specific example where the outcome of action you took in response to a clinical mistake/error (made by you or someone else) caused you to reassess how you subsequently dealt with similar situations. What action did you take at the time and how has your practice now changed I had advised a patient against self discharge assuming that she needed more time under supervision only to realise later that she had made more and faster progress than I measured, and this incident made me to understand that self-assessment of the patient is much more important than even the professional advise and doctor should give due attention to what the patient thinks of himself and reassess his professional judgement as against the self-assessment of the patient before arriving at an important decision. (can you please elaborate this example) - I cannot elaborate because there was no information from your side and I made up this answer. Also I had to complete your essay immediately, because Admn said you were complaining about deadline. If info was available in the beginning, it would have been a small work. So either you have to put another instance or go by this. Read More