The Coloured Prescription

24 min episode 

Is there anything scarier than optional reflection!

In a surprisingly uplifting Halloween episode Lara reflects on nine things she learnt, wished someone had clued her in on before, during and after medical school. 

Some are obvious, some are counterintuitive and others are personal.

Enjoy!

A meandering ramble with your fave perennial student around representation in medicine from a working and patient perspective.  

Achieving equality, diversity and inclusion is something that many organisations claim to be working towards but the grim truth is in almost 30 years almost nothing has changed. 

Why? The answers aren't obvious but what is are the many efforts of people who are fighting the good fight. EDI is a dirty word in some circles but not in this episode, which does contain one naughty word. 

Check out Medium for a modified transcript along with further references. 




 

rEPreSENtaTIOn

Nothing everything is for you, or your opinion. 

A short and sweary one 

 Medicine is expensive. 

Student loans are not free money and the cost of being a medic is not cheap. 
Why?

I'm BACKKKK

In this episode; drugs, accents, gratitude journals and criminal singing.

 

This episode has some adult themes, but also a game to play along with. 

Welcome to Nazi or Nah where we list a bunch of eponymous disease, scores, books and surgeries and ask if the names behind the disease were Nazis or Nah. 

It is a simple game but the answers are not always obvious. 

What is good character?

Character, Identity and personality are similar but not the same. 

Medics, seemingly ahead and more than all the other professions revel in public self-abasement when we  make mistakes. 
Does anyone else read the MPTS reports for fun or is Lara just weird?

Reflections have become weaponised and an exercise in tick boxing, is there a better way to show growth?

All these questions and more are left half answered in this stellar pod episode. 

In this  questionable return to the medium the pod talks about middle classness and medicine. Together we've dallied with lower class issues and highlighted the upper class influence this episode is all about the middle. If we can figure out what middle class even means  

Is Medicine still a middle class profession?
Will it stay that way with the persistent increase in women and other Allied Health Professionals increasing their scope?
Is the overwhelming middle class nature of medicine bad? 
How long does it take to adjust to the doctor identity?


Bonus points to those who hear Potato the cat

In the second instalment of this class two part we take a look at the Big Boy reports of health inequalities: The Black report, the Marmot report and the Kings Fund Health Inequities.

There is a big ol’ side note on social group and how this can influence, negatively and positively health outcomes. We look at how targeting specific groups can lead to better outcomes.