The last year at medical school was marked by a gathering sense of dread as Finals approached. Although we had had innumerable tests over the years, these were just way marks. Qualification rested entirely on the results of a heavy schedule of written and viva voce exams taken in late May and early June, and […]
Archive | Medical School
Turbulent priests
By Catherine Robinson on 8th April 2022 in Medical School, Medical Values, Professional Boundaries, Psychiatrists, Religion
In the 1950s and 60s, christenings of babies were important gatherings in the British summertime. They were one of those regular rituals that brought families together to drink warm German wine and to fall out with each other. Nearly everyone was christened, even if their parents had a lukewarm relationship with Christianity. I have only […]
Never work with children or animals
By Catherine Robinson on 29th March 2022 in 1970s, Children, Medical School, The winter of discontent
As soon as I finished my psychiatry attachment, my girlfriend and I got married. Obviously, Woolwich Town Hall first thing on a cold December morning would not be anyone’s idea of a nice day for a white wedding, but, like my grandfather’s funeral shortly before, we constructed a bespoke occasion that was congruent with the […]
Psychiatric Epiphany Part 3: The winter of discontent
By Catherine Robinson on 19th February 2022 in 1970s, Medical School, Mental Health, Psychiatry, Uncategorised
Having decided to become a psychiatrist, I watched the autumn of 1978 fade into the notorious Winter of Discontent, the prelude to Margaret Thatcher’s first election victory. Leaving aside public sector strikes and severe cold weather, rather a lot of significant events in my life happened in the last three months of 1978. My long […]
Psychiatric Epiphany part 2: Formerly Surrey County Asylum
By Catherine Robinson on 17th January 2022 in 1970s, Hospitals, Medical School, Mental Health, Psychiatry
My wife has a habit of forgetting to tell me things. When she was at university, she neglected to tell me that her parents would be moving house before she came home for the holidays and I only found out by accident. She denies that this was an attempt to dump me and says she […]
Psychiatric Epiphany Part 1: Walking to Dartford Heath
By Catherine Robinson on 8th January 2022 in 1970s, History, Medical School, Mental Health, Psychiatry
When I was growing up, Bexley Hospital was the psychiatric facility for our part of London. “You belong in Bexley, you do!” was a regular childhood taunt. In 1968, when I was 12, my Auntie Peg was admitted to Bexley Hospital, where she was given a course of ECT and she was started on the […]
Freedom for Tooting Part 2: Desmond’s Hip City
By Catherine Robinson on 31st December 2021 in 1970s, Diversity, Hospitals, Medical School, Medical Values
At the start of the course, most of the medical students either lived in University Halls of Residence or, like me, with their parents. Over time, people drifted into shared flats clustered around the course of the Northern tube line through South West London. I had had enough of living at home, but I knew […]
Northern Line Part 4. A bucketful of eels
By Catherine Robinson on 17th December 2021 in 1970s, Education, Life, Medical School, Politics, Social Mobility
During the two years that I attended King’s College London, I lived with my parents. Our relationship had been turbulent in my mid-teens. There had been pointless battles over hair and clothes, the common intergenerational battleground of the time. These things mattered to them because they retained a fierce working class pride. I thought that […]
Northern Line Part 2. Jeremy Bentham’s head
I doubt that I would ever have bought a King’s College London scarf, sweatshirt or tie even if I had gone to university straight from school. Twelve months of intense life experience as a hospital porter had led me to believe that I was a fully formed adult, and I was positively disdainful of student […]
The Northern Line Part 1. The Spider Club
By Catherine Robinson on 1st November 2021 in 1975, Alcohol, Class, Hospitals, Junior Doctors, Medical School, Medical Values, Medicine, Social Mobility
Between 1733 and 1980, St George’s Hospital and its medical school were located at Hyde Park Corner, one of the best sites in Belgravia. The building was grand but neglected. In 1980, just before I sat medical school finals, we were allocated our pre-registration house jobs. I was not looking forward to working as a […]