THE EAGLE Articles
student recently who presented with the usual student complaint of ‘I feel crap’ and when I asked him about his levels of energy and if he was tired, he said yes he thought he must be as he had an app on his iPhone that had informed him he had slept badly and had not had his optimal eight hours. Technology has saved the College a lot of paper over the years. No longer do I have to dither about how best to phrase notes to Tutors and Directors of Studies, correct my spelling and, depending on whom I am writing to, correct my punctuation and so use up several bits of notepaper; now I just send a quick email. On the other hand this quick email can of course just be forwarded on and so I do still have to check my content and my grammar. The effort is the same; it is just the paper that is saved. ARTICLES
Technology has also saved the College a lot of time in recent years. Computers are now commonplace and don’t actually save time in my experience, but in my line of work the electronic thermometer has been a revelation! No longer do I have to silence patients for three whole minutes while waiting for a mercury thermometer to cook properly, not allowing them to speak or breathe through their mouths for the entire time – all I do now is poke them in the ear with a gadget and in less than three seconds the patient’s temperature is known. In the 1990s I remember a student who had developed what can only be described as a boil on his bottom. I had to examine him to assess the situation and decide what to do about it, but it was in a place that he himself really couldn’t see very easily. He couldn’t screw himself up and contort himself enough to be able to view it so he asked me to take a photograph of it. He was very charming, and could talk the birds off the trees, so eventually I was persuaded to take the photo. I am not sure how well the picture came out, as of course in those days cameras had film, which had to be developed, so I couldn’t check the standard of my photography. Also there was no chance of a quick photo appearing worldwide on Facebook in a matter of seconds, which is probably a good thing. Last term another young man came to see me with a similar boil on his bottom in a similarly inaccessible place. This time there was no need to examine him or take a photograph as he had brought his iPad with him, complete with a photo that he had taken of the boil on his nether regions. Close-ups were possible with just a sweep of a finger. No need for examination skills or examination gloves – time has moved on and things have progressed. E-medicine has come to St John’s! Although technology has changed, students and the timing of their difficulties haven’t. College nursing has seasonal aspects and the academic year starts with
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