Tips For New Doctors
Tips For New Docs App
Free guides, links and reference for ward doctors
Stressed about surgery? Panicking about paediatrics? Anxious about on-calls? Medisense have an app for you!
- Guides on common junior doctor tasks
- Quick links to online guidelines from professional bodies
- Reference ranges for blood tests
- Common blood panels you might be asked to perform
All offline and in your pocket. Available now for Android and iOS.
Junior Doctor Commandments
Tips Documents
How to... avoid loneliness and burnout
If we want to look after our patients, we need to look after ourselves. Here are some tips for when things inevitably get tough.
Preparing an Emergency Health Care Plan (EHCP) or Advanced Care Planning
An Emergency Health Care plan is a document that you might spot in the patient’s notes. It allows patients’ wishes or best interests to be followed in an emergency.
How to approach verification of death
Medical school trains you on the steps to verify a death. However, it can never truly teach you how to deal with being asked to verify a death. It is a common task during on calls, but one with an emotional burden that should be approached with care and respect.
How to break Bad News
In reality, breaking bad news is nerve-wracking experience that can leave you feeling emotionally drained and even upset as you see the effects of your words on the patient sitting in front of you. This guide will be giving you some tips on when breaking bad news is appropriate.
How To...Give and Receive an Effective Handover
Most of the handovers you’ll do will be to or from the on-call team on evenings and weekends. Handing over to the Med Reg or to another speciality is a bit different, and there’s a guide for that too of course! So, we’ll focus on the handovers to the on-call team in this guide.
How to refer to different specialties
Referring patient care to other teams within the hospital, or to another hospital, can be a daunting task…Follow the hints and tips below to transform scary and irritating into simple and easy!
How to discuss with the microbiologist
Antibiotics – much loved, but little understood. Much like calling something ‘ironic’, used perhaps too much and by people who may not be clear exactly when its best used. This is where the microbiologist comes in, font of knowledge and guardian of those rare and weird antibiotics you can barely pronounce, let alone prescribe appropriately.
How to handle a complaint
One of the unfortunate realities of life as a doctor of any kind is that we can’t always get it right. Sometimes this leads to patients being dissatisfied, sometimes it may even lead to harm. Whilst we can always do our best to improve our practice, sometimes complaints are unavoidable.
How to…discuss with the Med Reg
The Med Reg is often an extremely busy animal, so you need to make sure you use their time carefully! The trick to getting the most out of a call to the Med Reg is solid preparation.
How To… Tackle an On-Call
Like nights, on-call shifts can vary massively one day to the next. You’ll go from being swamped with jobs and clerkings, to being so un-busy you’ll be constantly checking your bleep to make sure it’s actually working. Here’s a few tips to help you get through them.
How to request radiological investigations.
You will be doing this literally hundreds of times starting from the first day you start as an FY1. There's a knack to requesting scans: our guide should be of some help!
Discussing scans with a radiologist
It’s the task every new FY1 dreads. Your consultant or registrar wants a scan and you’re instructed to “have a word with radiology to see if we can get it done today.” But how do you talk through the need for your scan? Our guide suggests a stepwise approach...
Managing Foundation Doctor night shifts
It’s the shift you’ve been dreading. The one you look out for when your rota gets sent out (likely days before you start your job, rather than the contract-mandated 6 weeks…). The shift you’ll send endless ‘sad-face’ snapchats about. That’s right: welcome to #TeamNightShift. Our handy guide will give you plenty of hints and tips on preparing and taking on the shift!
Hints and tips for daily ward jobs
Struggling for efficiency on the ward? Our handy guide to approaching your job list and mastering venesection could be a lifesaver in getting you started!
Mastering The E-Portfolio - A Foundation Doctor's Guide
Getting started with the E-Portfolio is sometimes like swimming through treacle. Thankfully we've already done it and put together a guide with some great tips on how to avoid "sticky" (yes we went there) situations!
The Ultimate Discharge Letter Checklist
Writing a discharge letter can be tough in a time-pressured situation. However, it's important that you get it right, so that patient has the follow-up they need. Every letter-writing system is different, so check out this universal guide to ensure that your discharge is safe and communicated well!
How To Be On-Call
New F1? Dreading that first on-call? We've pulled together some of our biggest tips for getting through! Most learned by not doing things right the first time around. Stay sane, stay safe, learn how to boss your on-call!