Name: Nicola Gaffney
Job: First year House Surgeon. (Junior Doctor)

Why did you choose to work in health?

I wanted a career where I could play a valuable role in helping people. I know it sounds cliché, but it is true. I loved the idea of a job which combined talking to people, problem solving, being able to help people through vulnerable situations, constant learning and challenges… and one that is fun at the same time. I also valued knowing that I could travel anywhere in the world and be able to work—  and that I would have job security straight out of university and forever onwards. Plus it’s a great job to earn brownie points with parents (and grandparents, banks, insurance companies, etc etc)!

What advice would you give someone interested in becoming a doctor?

So many people are put off by the myths about med school and being a doctor Myth 1: “six years? That’s forever!” Six years at medical school flies by so fast that at the end of it you wonder where it went. Its six years of building amazing friendships, learning both practically and theoretically, challenging yourself to limits you never knew you had… and in your final year, not only do you get paid but you spend three months overseas on what is essentially a holiday! Myth 2: “but I am not smart enough to go to medical school”. You don’t have to be top of the class, Dux and winning all the maths competitions at school to be a doctor. You DO need to care about people, be willing to work hard when you need to, and know how to play hard when you aren’t working (or you just won’t fit in with the other social butterflies that you are working with!). You need to be able to accept challenges, to push yourself out of your comfort zone, and know that you won’t ever know it all. First year health sciences at Otago gets a rep as being a year of stress and constant work, always in the library and never in the pub. Out of all my classmates, I only know a couple that that holds true for. Med students (and doctors) are notoriously social friendly people who know how to hold an awesome party but can balance it with working hard when it matters. Myth 3: “Wow, I’ll be super rich!” Bad reason to go to med school. Yes, you do earn a relatively high income and you’ll never be short of a job- but you also have to work hard for it. For a cruisy hospital, the salary is based on a week of 50 hours, minimum. If you don’t love your job, you won’t last long enough as a doctor to make money! It can be tough work, but it will be fun and rewarding if you went into it for the right reasons. If you want to make money, study dentistry or business. Myth 4: “I’ll get heaps of kudos for being called Dr!”. Not all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes very handy (banks, insurance, police…)  Don’t go to med school for the title. If you want to be Dr., do a PhD (or get an internet degree).

What's been  your most memorable experience on the job?

I was the surgical house surgeon on call one evening when I was called to a post-op patient on the ward who had rapidly gone downhill. Luckily, she was one of the patients normally under my care during the day so I knew what had gone on without having to waste time with the notes. I went through all the appropriate resuscitation, called the backup I needed, and transferred her to the high dependency unit. In the morning, I walked into the cubicle on the ward round and she said ‘I’m so glad it was you on call last night. Thank you for helping me’. I hadn’t thought much of it at the time— to me it was just a standard night on a surgical ward, just doing my job! Her comment really brought home to me that although a lot of the time I feel lost and like I’ll never know anything, six years at medical school really did teach me a lot. It was comforting to know that I really could do my job, and well enough that my patient was happy it was me, above all the other doctors she’d met, that was on the shift that evening.

What are some of the challenges of working in your role?

Being a doctor is a challenging job, full stop. You will have bad days, like any job. You miss every IV line, your patient keeps getting sicker and you can't figure out what’s wrong, you’re working from 8am until 11pm while the sun is shining and your mates are out surfing the best waves this year.   Telling patients they have a terminal illness is tough. You constantly push yourself to physical, emotional and intellectual limits. Its not easy, it can (and will) push you to breaking point over and over again, but when you are able to make the last few moments of someone’s life peaceful instead of painful; when you can alleviate fear and pain in the middle of the night with a simple diagnosis and treatment; and when you leave work at the end of the shift knowing that you made someone’s day just a little bit easier— you know exactly why you became a doctor. The challenges are what make it the most rewarding job I can imagine, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything.

What subjects do you recommend taking at high school?

I took biology, chemistry, physics, calculus and English in year 13. The health sciences first year course at university incorporates a lot of basic biology, chemistry, physics and statistics so it's easier if you take those subjects at school. It’s definitely possible to get an excellent mark in the first year even if you have never studied science or maths at school but it would just require more intensive studying when you should be out living up your first year at uni!