What did the Doctor definitely, definitely not want to be when she was little? And does this Doctor clap for herself on Thursdays at 8pm?
Gwen reveals all about her own trip to the Doctor following an escapade with a mouse, and gets some health tips straight from the Doctor's mouth.
Tune in to find out all about what a GP Doctor does at work; you might be surprised!
I am a 7yr old. My name is Gwen Rose. I wanted to do this podcast so all the girls, boys and me could learn about what adults do all day. Visit our website for past episodes and to find out what's coming soon: https://gwengetstowork.com/
Produced by Enigma Records: https://enigmarecords.co.uk/
What did the Doctor definitely, definitely not want to be when she was little? And does this Doctor clap for herself on Thursdays at 8pm?
Gwen reveals all about her own trip to the Doctor following an escapade with a mouse, and gets some health tips straight from the Doctor's mouth.
Tune in to find out all about what a GP Doctor does at work; you might be surprised!
I am a 7yr old. My name is Gwen Rose. I wanted to do this podcast so all the girls, boys and me could learn about what adults do all day. Visit our website for past episodes and to find out what's coming soon: https://gwengetstowork.com/
Produced by Enigma Records: https://enigmarecords.co.uk/
Have you ever been asked? What do you want to be when you grow up?
Gwen's Mum :Gwen Get's To Work.
Gwen :I like talking to people. And they like talking back to me. Well, that's what I think. One day I asked my mum, what, how do I know what I want to be when I grow up? My mum said, if I interview people about, like their jobs and things like that well, I will find out and like, all the people who are listening. Um, you will find out too, if you don't know. Let's get to work! We have all been thinking about the NHS and the people who look after us. Well, this week I interviewed a GP Doctor about what a Doctor actually does at work. I hope you find it interesting. Hello.
Dr. Kate :Hello. How can I help you today?
Gwen :Is it okay if we interview you?
Dr. Kate :Of course of course I'd love to tell you all about my job.
Gwen :Anyway. What did you want to be when you were little?
Dr. Kate :What did I want to be when I was little? Well, I really just wanted to be a Mummy. But I also thought I was going to be a Teacher. I definitely, definitely did not want to be a doctor.
Gwen :I don't really want to be a Doctor because you have to look at gross things sometimes and I don't like looking at them. Especially on TV.
Dr. Kate :On TV?
Gwen :Like the cat ones, or Vets, when you have to look at their...cutting open or whatever.
Dr. Kate :I don't really do animals. I just look at people
Gwen :It's a bit gross also looking at people because sometimes they have something really bad on them.
Dr. Kate :Yeah, I guess so. Not always though. The nice thing about being a doctor is that if there is something the matter with them, you can help make them better.
Gwen :Yeah. Next question.....When we clap the NHS every Thursday, do you clap for yourself?
Dr. Kate :Oh, that's a really good question. Gwendoline. D'you know, I don't actually, because at the moment I'm not at work. And that's because I've just had your baby cousin. So because she's still really, really tiny isn't she? So I'm actually not at work at the moment. So when I go outside of my front door and stand on the pavement, I clap for all of my friends who are working, especially those ones who've caught the bug and have been a little bit poorly. But I also clap for all the other people who work for the NHS, and in residential and nursing homes. So lots of doctors and nurses and physio therapists, and cleaners and porters and receptionists and paramedics. And the OTs, and lots of people really we're all like little bits of one big machine and we all help it to work. So I clap everybody.
Gwen :When you were in school, what was your favourite subject?
Dr. Kate :Well, I loved science. I went to a school with really nice science teachers and lovely labs to learn science in and so I really enjoyed my biology, my chemistry and my physics lessons. I also quite liked geography. And I loved my piano lessons randomly as well.
Gwen :What kind of Doctor are you?
Dr. Kate :What kind of a kind of doctor am I? Well, I am something called a GP. And that's the kind of doctor that you might go to see if you're feeling a bit poorly if you've got a horrible cough or sore ear your mum might take you to see your GP.
Gwen :Do you prefer looking after adults or children?
Dr. Kate :Umm, well I quite like both, which is why I decided to be a GP. So if you when you're learning to be a Doctor, after you've left University, so you can go and work in all these different areas that we just talked about. And sometimes people like to look after children or tiny babies, or they might like to look after people maybe with heart problems or problems with their tummy. I found it all really interesting. So that meant that I, if, when you're a GP, you have to know a little bit about everything, because anybody could walk in with anything wrong with them. And so I like looking after people with all sorts of things wrong with them and of all ages. So from the moment they're born until the end of their life.
Gwen :Is it hard to become a doctor and how many exams have you take...do you have to take?
Dr. Kate :My goodness, how many exams? I don't think I could count Gwen, but it is quite hard. You have to work quite hard at school and you have to do certain exams. Certain subjects like chemistry, when you get a little bit older when you're in high school, senior school. And then you go off to University, and I spent, I took a year out in between actually, and went off and did something fun, but then I went to Cardiff University for five years. And that's quite a long time at University.
Gwen :Wow.
Dr. Kate :Yeah.
Gwen :Do you have a daily schedule?
Dr. Kate :A little bit, I guess when I get to work, I go in and I have a look at who I've got coming in to see me that morning, I try and file (which means work out what to do) with lots and lots of blood results. And that means people who have had a blood test, and we've sent it off to the hospital and the hospital have written back to us with all the numbers and I've got to work out what to do with them. So I try and do that first. And then I speak to some people and then I see lots of patients until lunchtime, and I'll tell you, I always run late Gwendoline because one thing you'll know about me is that I like to talk.
Clip :[...]
Dr. Kate :And so I'm often about an hour late by the end. And I think I attract patients that also like to talk. So between them and I, we often run late, and then I, if I'm lucky, I quickly grab some lunch, and then head off on some home visits with my big heavy bag in my car. I go and see people in their homes who can't get into the surgery. And then I start on the afternoon list. And I see all the people that are coming in then, and then I do some more phone calls, file some more results. Look at some letters that the hospital have sent me. And I signed lots and lots of prescriptions. And then when I've finished I head home.
Gwen :Yeah! What is the worst kind of thing has happened to you and what you had to do with someone.
Dr. Kate :Oh goodness. So I think one of the hardest things that I have to do is to give people sad news, because it's really upsetting for me, but not half of as upsetting as I know it's gonna be for them. And so I have to really take a deep breath before I do it and think about the most gentle way to break that sad news to them because I think if you can break sad news really well, it helps the other person. But I think one of the most horrid things that happened to me was when I spilt a whole jam jar of somebody's wee down my dress, my legs and into my shoes.
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Gwen :So we have a new game and you're the second person to try it.
Dr. Kate :Oo okay.
Gwen :So, tea or coffee?
Dr. Kate :Tea. Definitely tea.
Gwen :High heels or trainers.
Dr. Kate :Oh that's tricky. Now I would say trainers but if you asked me 10 years ago I would definitely have said high heels.
Gwen :Skirts or trousers?
Dr. Kate :Skirts. Doesn't really go with trainers so well it does it?
Gwen :Kind of, not that much. Apples or bananas?
Dr. Kate :Bananas
Gwen :Pen or pencil?
Dr. Kate :Pen
Gwen :Swimming or cycling?
Dr. Kate :Definitely swimming. Definitely swimming.
Gwen :Countryside or seaside?
Dr. Kate :Oh Gwen, I think you know the answer to that do you? For me?
Gwen :Ummm seaside?
Dr. Kate :Seaside!
Gwen :I was going to ask you is your job sad? Very sad, but it probably is.
Dr. Kate :Yes, it can be sad Gwen, you know, I think a big part of what I do as well, as well as being a GP, I also do something called end of life care, which is when I look after people right at the end of their life when I, I can't make them better. But what I can do is I can make them feel better. And I can look after the people who are important to them at the same time. Sometimes when when you're doing that, even though the situation's really really, really sad, you feel that you've had a really big impact which means try to make things better for people in a really difficult situation and that that makes you feel like you've done something important and something worthwhile.
Gwen :So do you enjoy your job?
Dr. Kate :I absolutely love my job Gwen. As I said, I think it's a, people tell you things that they don't tell anybody else and it is such a privilege to know things. I think sometimes, one of the good things and one of the bad things about being a doctor is that you're always doctor. So yes, I do love it but I am always a doctor whether I'm at work or not. So sometimes I might just want to be Mummy, and I can't so the last three aeroplane rides I have been on Gwendoline the the air hostess has put out the 'bing bong' is there a doctor on board? And I've had to go and help people on my flights and Emily and Lucy have sat there with their colouring books and reading books and said "Oh, not again" and they've had to sit and entertain themselves while I go off and sometimes I take their daddy too because he's a doctor and we've both had to get involved and the air hostesses have had to look after the girls. And so, yeah, that that's a bit tricky sometimes. But yeah, but it, overall Gwen it's an amazing job because you you can just do so much to help people.
Gwen :So do you do that on your holiday on the way?
Dr. Kate :That was, yeah, the last three aeroplane flights I have been on I have been called to help. On one of them, it was so complicated, unfortunately, and there were some other doctors on the plane as well, but we had to turn the aeroplane back to where we came from so that the patient could be looked after more quickly.
Clip :[...]
Gwen :What would you be now if you couldn't be a doctor?
Dr. Kate :Hmm golly, what would I be? D'you know Gwe, I loved organising my wedding and I'd love to be a wedding planner. Or I love baking. Maybe I'd be, maybe I'd make fancy cakes, great birthday cakes.
Gwen :That sounds fun. When you poorly, um, are you a doctor or do you get looked at by other doctors?
Clip :[...]
Dr. Kate :If I'm really poorly, I would go and see my own GP because doctors and nurses are usually really bad at looking after themselves and knowing when they're not right, and it works the same for my children. I try not to be their doctor. I try to let somebody else be their doctor because you can't think clearly when you're a parent too.
Gwen :What does your doctor's bag hav in it?
Dr. Kate :Oh goodness. Well you know me Gwen, I like to carry the whole world and the kitchen sink around with me, so it's a very, very big bag and I have in it a thermometer to measure somebody's temperature. I have my stethoscope to listen to their chest. I have a little finger probe which measures their pulse and their oxygen levels. I've got little blood bottles and a little band called a tourniquet that I might use on their arm. I've got some emergency medicines like antibiotics in there. I have a prescription pad and some pens and a tape measure, and some bandages and some plasters and a few charts with important numbers on that I might need. I'm sure there's lots of other things because it's a very heavy bag.
Gwen :Do you ever get people with really loud heartbeats? Not really no, not really loud heartbeats. I sometimes get, listen to heartbeats that aren't beating in the same rhythm so instead of going bu boom, bu boom, they might make all sorts of book bu ba ba bum, bum, bum bu bum.
Dr. Kate :So sometimes I hear that but not really loud ones, no.
Gwen :Ha ha. Do you ever get people who have been hurt by animals?
Dr. Kate :Yes I do but probably more when I did my A&E training when I worked in A&E. So sometimes we'd get dog bites in, and cat scratches, hamster bites occassionally but then they're not really big enough usually to come to the doctor, are they?
Clip :[...]
Dr. Kate :But yes, I have had a few dog bites.
Gwen :Because once I had a mouse climb up on my face.
Dr. Kate :I remember!
Gwen :And then it scattered all over my face and then I went into my mummy's room. And she said, and then I told her but I didn't know it was a mouse and then she said, it must be a cat, one of the cats, so Archie or Picasso, and then she woke up in the middle of the night whilst I was asleep and she saw a mouse nibbling on her hair. And in the morning, we found cuts on my face.
Dr. Kate :My goodness me. That's pretty unusual, isn't it?
Gwen :I had to go to the doctor. But we asked where the nearest hospital was.
Dr. Kate :Mm hmm.
Gwen :And it took us literally like, an hour to get there. And then we just, and then all they did, they put like this type of special water or whatever it was on my head, and we had to wash it every night. So they told us.
Dr. Kate :Keep it clean?
Gwen :Yeah.
Dr. Kate :Yeah, that's pretty unusual Gwen. I think you're the only person I know who was had a mouse in their hair, I have to say.
Gwen :Do your feet ever get tired?
Dr. Kate :No, they don't really, my voice gets tired by the end of the day.
Gwen :Do you have a bed in your office and any machines?
Dr. Kate :I do have a couch where patients can lie on so then I can examine them. I have my special torch to look in people's eyes and ears, I also have a machine that I can go and get if they need a special mask to have some medicine in to help them breathe. And I've got, there's another machine in the cupboard that I can get out that measures people's heart activity and it's called an ECG machine and they have lots of sticky labels put all over them and lots of wires and I have to make sure I set it up right so I get the right picture.
Gwen :How big is your like, where you check people up?
Dr. Kate :Um, it's, I've got probably one of the bigger rooms actually because I share it with one of the partners who works on different days to me, and we're both the lady doctors so we have lots of equipment in there that we would need. And so there's room for a couch and a bookshelf and a twirly chair and a big desk with a big computer screen on it. A sink so that I can wash my hands and some hand towels and a little pot of alco gel which is the gel you grab on your hands to clean them if you can't wash them, and some drawers with lots of things in and I also have a little tiny table and chair in there and that's where people's children often sit and colour whilst they're waiting for their mummies and daddies.
Gwen :Um, I like spinny chairs because I cuz um in my....errr, I guess you could say her as a stepsister, but she's 10.
Dr. Kate :Okay
Gwen :And she has a spinny chair in her room and whenever I sit on it, one of my other stepsisters, which is the same age as me, but, um, she's gonna turn eight soon, she always comes in and spins me and when I get up i'm, I can't even walk i'm so dizzy and I just fall over! Can you tell us the most important things to remember to stay healthy?
Dr. Kate :Oh, yes. Okay, so drinking lots of water is really important.
Gwen :I love water, it's my favourite drink.
Dr. Kate :That's very good. There we are. I can see you having a big drink now, very good. Washing your hands after you've been to the toilet with soap and water. Yeah, that's important. Eating healthily and not lots and lots of sugary things. So not lots of biscuits and chocolates and sweets, but lots of fruits and lots of vegetables.
Gwen :And we also need to remember to not ever take a big mouthful of sugar.
Dr. Kate :Definitely. Yeah, doing lots of exercise is important. So running around and playing games and you asked me if I like swimming or cycling at the beginning and both of those things are really good to stay healthy, aren't they?
Gwen :And running, walking, jumping, whatever.
Dr. Kate :Swiming, dancing, definitely exercise is really important.
Gwen :Singing? Warming up your voice?
Dr. Kate :That's one of my favourite things to do, isn't it? I sing in a choir. Singing is excellent.
Gwen :Thank you, I can say Dr. Kate.
Dr. Kate :My pleasure Gwen, it's nice to speak to you.
Gwen :I know you're very busy. That was really interesting.
Dr. Kate :Thank you. I hope you learnt lots and maybe..
Gwen :I did.
Dr. Kate :...maybe you might change your mind about being a doctor now.
Gwen :Yeah, maybe. Bye!
Dr. Kate :Bye!
Gwen :In next week's episode, I will be interviewing my Aunty who is a Barrister in London in the UK and we played a court room game of true or false. So tune in to find out if she often has to say, "Silence!", and that sort of thing.
Gwen's Mum :Make sure you don't miss next week's episode. And if you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to leave a review. Thank you. Transcribed by https://otter.ai