RE: Keeping up to date for eg Cert knowledge- how do people do it?

Julian Earl — Sat, 11 Jul 2020 11:25:31 GMT

[quote userid="2462" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/29208/keeping-up-to-date-for-eg-cert-knowledge--how-do-people-do-it/224154#224154"]Head injuries are hard along with everything else.[/quote]

Sadly that is very, true. I learnt the hard way that when your head "goes", everything goes! Physical fitness, balance, confidence, energy and get up and go much of the time. Concentration is often very difficult. Short term memory in my case as I became even more forgetful than before head-butting the kerbstone! I commented that I seemed to have aged 30 years in an instant but luckily my long-term memory is still present. One nuisance was the loss of hearing in my left ear due to the skull fracture affecting my inner ear bones! My wife noticed, not me, when having the |TV or radio too loud for her Sorry dear!!

For the record, and wanting to be open and honest with colleagues and friends... I have been officially diagnosed with depression and anxiety which I was reassured is nothing to be ashamed of and is extremely common after severe head trauma. It is not a sign of weakness and I should talk to people about it. So that is why I am typing this. Everyone on here has been very helpful and supportive after I lost my career in a moment and was later diagnosed as having PTSD due to my brain not working the same anymore! That has was the start of my route into depression I think. I have always recognised that my wonderful neurosurgeon at Hull Infirmary had the technical skills [ he is a brain surgeon after all!] to repair my skull and put the implant in, a shunt, not a new brain!! and he laughed and credited his staff when I told him that he is officially my hero! But it has been family and friends who have kept my inner spirit alive, so thank you to you all.Two bodies do deserve special mention: Vet-Life who put me on a watch-list I think when I expressed distress at losing my lifelong dream-career and the then-head of Vet -Life Prof. Rory O'Connor travelled from London twice just to see me face to face. Beyond the call of dutyI think. I now class Rory as a good friend.

Secondly I have to mention Sheep Veterinary Society that I joined in 1983 for CPD but in fact made lifelong friends. My first conference was in 1984 in a town of which I had never heard: Horncastle, Lincolnshire. Little did I suspect that I would be moving there to work 5 years later in 1989, and here I am still!

I have tried explaining to m wife that when I travelled from Lancashire there, and I saw this attractive young lady walking round the town and had to wait five years before a job appeared in the area. Not only that but when shown around the practice; who was there cleaning the operating theatre but this same young lady?. I eventually married her a couple of years later! For some reason, Annika, my wife does not believe me on this motivation for my coming to Lincolnshire! ! As if I would lie to my beloved??

It pains me greatly that Annika says she cannot remember when I first met her in that operating theatre. She says she must have been concentrating on her job! Whereas I was in the middle of an important interview! Nevertheless I bamboozled the current partners at Banovallum Veterinary Group to offer me the job and the rest as they say, is history!

Thanks for your patience in reading my self-indulgent waffle!

RE: Keeping up to date for eg Cert knowledge- how do people do it?

listhestar — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 16:26:45 GMT

[quote userid="3094" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/life-in-practice-discussions/29208/keeping-up-to-date-for-eg-cert-knowledge--how-do-people-do-it/224152#224152"]Hence I go mainly for social reasons.[/quote]

Nothing wrong with that if it helps you. Sorry to hear about your accident. I've just googled it all- apologies. My goodness. Head injuries are hard along with everything else.

Regards

Lisa

RE: Keeping up to date for eg Cert knowledge- how do people do it?

Julian Earl — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 15:27:39 GMT

The usual magazines; Record/ Times/ are there any others??

Plus nowadays webinars are useful.

Conferences: specifically Sheep Veterinary Society's if feasible for me. For these in particular I joined in 1983 for reasons of CPD but acquired lifelong friends who have been exceptionally supportive since my accident. Hence I go mainly for social reasons. But I still feel sad that I'll never use the information presented at these conferences. Hey-ho!!

No other societies mean s much I'm afraid.