First doubts

It’s taken 5 months but today I’ve experienced my first doubts about my suitability for the role of a medical physicist in the NHS.

As medical physics experts, the team run various training courses. I’ve sat in on one for non-medical referrers of medical imaging (e.g. for podiatrists who refer patients for x-rays) and one for radiopharmaceutical transporters (i.e. van drivers who occasionally transport radioactive substances between hospitals). Today’s course was a revision session for junior doctors who are undertaking an exam in radiology related physics in order to progress their careers as budding radiologists.

They did a mock exam for an hour before then marking it and going through the answers. I did the exam upstairs in 15 minutes beforehand to see what we were dealing with and then headed downstairs for the answers and discussion. Little did I appreciate the confrontation that was about to occur.

If I had been the physicist leading the session I would have cried. At one point she had 5 junior doctors insisting they were correct and that the answer booklet and the two physicists with Masters degrees were wrong. Insisting is perhaps too weak a word to use. Shouting, gesticulating and intimidating would perhaps be more apt. Of course we could have been incorrect (spoiler alert we were not) but that shouldn’t require quite so much vitriol to demonstrate.

I didn’t realise that to be a medical physicist you needed to be able to deal with quite that much confrontation…. I understand junior doctors are under a lot of pressure and perhaps they get shouted at on a daily basis and so relish the chance to shout at other people for a change. But 2 female physicists doing their best to explain complex ideas did not deserve the treatment we received. I hasten to say “not all junior doctors” of course, a couple were lovely and seemed very grateful for our assistance, but my goodness did this group live up to the stereotypes.

This also comes after a rather forceful meeting regarding a quality assurance spreadsheet yesterday. I came here to do some physics and have a good time, not refine my skills as an argumentative orator. Also it’s a spreadsheet people, no need to shout over the chair of the meeting whilst putting your points across.

So all in all, as confident as I have become in discussing science (compared to first and second year tutorials where I would cry on a weekly basis, #throwback), it seems I have some way to go in order to be able to educate the next generation of junior doctors without wanting to storm out of the room in tears.