Lucky

That word just doesn't even begin to describe my second assessment for the placement unit.

23 drugs to memorise (the indications, counselling points, and all the other nitty gritty stuff) and 27 primary care topics to read. Daunting enough for you?

It definitely was for me. It left me in a dark, dark place for a week prior. Reading and reading, and eventually feeling that all the words just flew over my head. The night before the assessment, I read in between naps. In the end, I wasn't really sure if I had done enough of the two.

T (my tutor) was supposed to visit me at the pharmacy at 10.30am. But she turned up suddenly at ten past. We exchanged pleasantries and then she got down to work. She flipped through my workbook and placement diary (I smiled nervously throughout). She asked me 4 questions in total for the oral test. Lithium and metronidazole (from the drug list). Cradle cap and weight loss (from primary care). I couldn't believe it myself.

After T left, my preceptor, P, asked me what questions did I get. I answered truthfully. And he raised an eyebrow. "Lithium? I shouldn't have told you what question D got for her oral exam. But then you knew the answer when I asked you." I was beaming. "Didn't I asked you metronidazole the other day?"

"P, maybe you have some sort of prediction power," said J (the intern).

Maybe he does have clairvoyance. As for the two primary care topics I was tested on? They just so happened to be the ones I read on the way to work. I really have to thank my lucky stars for that. T was happy with my marks, considering I failed my first assessment. Remembering her "You have a lot of work to do" comment after my previous test with her still makes me cringe.

But then again, just before T left, she talked briefly with P. I overheard snippets of their conversation. It was something along the lines of "real life situations are not the same with test results"... something like that. I sighed silently in my heart. We cannot win all the time, can we?