Art Project...in progress

If you are interested in how the art assignment is working out at the moment, I have so far finished making the centre piece which is the anatomical representation of the abdomen. Being clay, it needs to dry out before it is fired and can be painted.

I'm thinking at the moment of painting the whole abdomen in its true colours (ie. slightly pinkish stomach, purple-like spleen, dark red liver etc) or painting them in paler pastel colours and the three kidneys in darker colours to bring attention onto them.

I plan to make small pills and capsules out of clay to represent the medication, and to stick this in some areas of the abdomen to show the reliance and dependence to keep the system working.

The holes in the hilum of the kidney and the major vessels in the centre (inferior vena cava and the abdominal aorta) will have coloured piping stuck into it which will connect them up. The clay was too fragile to roll thinly and connect as blood vessels (and the ureters), therefore I will do this after it has been fired.

The two kidneys have polycystic kidney disease, which meant I could use smaller pieces of clay rolled into balls to produce these cysts that are growing all over the kidney. I even scooped some clay out to represent burst cysts. The transplanted kidney is located at the bottom left.

As mentioned, the main purpose of my piece is to represent the dependence on medication (I was overwhelmed by the number of drugs transplant patients are administered after their operation!). So as the background of the board which my clay will be mounted to, I have designed these drugs based on the actual medication.

Example, I have found the name of certain immunosuppressants which are prescribed to renal transplant patients and have designed these on my computer (some based on their actual packets I could find online) and then printed these out and stuck them as a montage on the wooden board. I have also measured up and printed some of my own medication packets to stick to the boxes of over-the-counter medicines I had bought for this project. By doing so, I also have spare medicine packets that I can stick to my work too.

The montage of different medications that a renal transplant patient may be taking. I designed the packets online and stuck them to the board as a montage background for my clay piece.

Exam Results

When I left you before Christmas, I described about my stresses of exam revision over the holidays but also the structure of the exams I took part in.

I can happily say I have passed both exams! Thankfully, I have clearly revised what I had needed to for my advantage and have managed to somehow score greater than that pass percentage so that my grade sits in "green".

We were sent a generic email prior to our exam release time (which is set at a certain time and date, so we had to wait until 1:00pm for our results to be released). In the email, it was detailed what the pass mark was for both exams, and a general average. As it appears in the email, on average everyone has passed which is great for the year group!

But now that these exams are over, we get to move on and knuckle down more into the case-based learning aspect of our course.

A small side note though, I did take part in a fairly difficult consultation while completing my GP placement. While sat in the GP surgery, the GP I was shadowing met a patient who was battling with depression. He had progressed to a serious stage, where he contemplated ending his life and his value in this world. I found it very interesting to observe how the GP approached the patient's feelings to help break down the presented complaint in a comfortable matter.

To be honest, the appointment really hit me as I sat there. Hearing how the patient was describing his own worth, I realised how important mental health and wellbeing really is. Its significance is often suppressed. I, myself, have battled with mental health issues in the past with low mood (but I am grateful for the prescription medication which helped me get back on track). But today I witnessed when medication isn't the answer as the complaint is far more serious.

My partner and I from the placement then went home to discuss how we felt. Sometimes it is very important to speak openly but privately (respecting confidentiality) if you are struggling to cope. Many universities, including mine, have specialised student support which is readily available for you to approach and seek help if you do need it.

I feel for the situation you are going through right now, as I have experienced it myself. Whether it be application stress or exam stress, you can pull through this! Don't let it affect your mood, and if it does, monitor it closely. If you notice your mood deteriorating fast, whether it be a personality change (for the worse) or your attention/concentration being very weak, seek help and support and you'll be back to normal. Remember though, talk and use these support networks.

It was nice to sit down and enjoy a bottle of wine with a friend in the bar conservatory, talking about our results.