So it seems I haven"t blogged in so long, I don"t even know where I"m up to.
Quick summary of the last week or so (if you want more info, you"ll have to ask for it...)
Tuesday, 11th of May: Handover. Wards. JMO teaching - A visiting ophthalmologist gave a quick spiel regarding outreach clinics - I jumped up as soon as he was finished to talk to him and spent the afternoon making the necessary arrangements.
Wednesday, 12th of May: Handover. Journal Club. Wards. Bedside Teaching. Tried to get a miniCEX done, consultant was busy. Went out to the Beachfront for drinks at trivia night.
Thursday, 13th of May: Woke up at 5ish to catch a taxi at 5:45am to the airport. Flight was slightly delayed but had a nice chat with the ophthalmologist during the wait and eventually got into a little 2-engine (pressurised) 9-seater plane that carried the pilot, the ophthalmologist and myself. I felt like I had my very own private plane. Continued chatting with the ophthalmologist about life, the universe and medicine, while the pilot did his thing. A short flight later (20 minutes or so), we arrived in Daly River and got into the 4WD to take us to the clinic. The little town was cute and quite developed, though we learned that it had a very high suicide rate. A little sad there. The morning was spent waiting for patients to come in (which they didn"t until 10:30 or so) so during that time, I learnt the basics of ophthalmology, how to do visual acuities, how to take intraocular pressures, how to visualise the optic disc using the indirect method, and the basics of the slit lamp. It was fun. Over the course of the day, I proceeded to assess each of the patients in these things, with the ophthalmologist giving them the slit lamping and calling me over to look at things. We ran late as is the norm with these things, finally getting into the plane and getting back home around 6:30pm. It was a fun day and the ophthalmologist was amazing. Total mancrush.
Friday, 14th of May - Handover. Teaching rounds with miniCEX, did well. Finished up on paperwork and went to chat to the ophthalmologist again. Learnt to spell ophthalmology (you think I"m kidding...). Renewed mancrush. Finished up with the NTCS and handed in all my ID and pager. Went out for drinks at the Trailer Boat Club and Ski Club. Managed to get to the airport way too early. Checked in. Napped.
Saturday, 15th of May - Caught the flight at 2:40ish am. Got to Adelaide at 6:15ish am. Got home and accompanied a friend to the airport and to Ikea for breakfast. Went shopping. Came home and decided not to sleep, but to clean up my room. For some reason, it looked like someone had broken in and messed everything up. I realised I had left it like this when I left, a month ago. Oops. Went to a friend"s house for dinner. Slept, wonderful, wonderful sleep.
Sunday, 16th of May - A blur of sleep and nothingness.
Monday, 17th of May - O&G begins. Long day, lots of bajingo. Giggling at naughty words.
Tuesday, 18th of May - O&G continues. Still giggling at naughty words.
Tired. Sleep.
Showing posts with label darwin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label darwin. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
A long day
Well, yesterday was the long day, with today really being quite a short one. Actually now that I think about it, yesterday only felt long while today felt short. In fact, today was the longer day but it went easier than yesterday which was the shorter one.
Get it?
Anyway, a colleague and I went for a massive ride (on pushbikes) around Darwin, starting from home we rode out towards the beach and down the coast to reach the Museum.
I was quite surprised by the amount on display at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. The displays were very pretty and the exhibit on Cyclone Tracy was quite moving. Sweetheart the crocodile was massive and a good, but sad little tale. They had displays on the wildlife from the aquatic life to the amphibious to the terrestrial. From ages long past to the modern era. They also had a massive exhibit on crocodiles which discussed how things changed since time began. All in all, a great way to spend a few hours and I kind of wish I had a few more hours to spend there as it felt like we rushed through a lot. Did I mention that it was free? Darwin seems to be great on my wallet... Well, apart from the food part.
After the Museum we decided that lunch was in order. This made sense as it was about 1:30pm and we had done a lot of riding in the morning. So we got on our bikes and went searching for food. Unfortunately, due to it being a public holiday (May Day), most shops were closed. We rode into the city (or is it "town"?) and after much cruising around with a few stops (such as one of the 2nd hand bookstores), we finally decided to stop into a pub (amusingly, Shenanigans) for a fine pub meal of a burger and chips. I, feeling like I was lacking blood, had a beef burger with chili jam which was really good (of course I would say that, I say that about just about anything with chili in it...) and my colleague had himself a barramundi burger.
After that we went for a short tour of the Esplanade and then started the long ride back home.
The ride turned out to be approximately 35km. We were very impressed by that until our hosts mentioned that they used to ride more than that in a much, much shorter time.
Well, my legs feel impressed by the distance we rode, as does my behind. My legs are very... Happy.
Topped the day off with a big meal and a bigger dessert of banana cake, chocolate icecream and home made peanut butter and chocolate chip biscuit crumbs. Yum!
Also, *big hugs* to my favouritest person in the whole world, Ellicia. Just thought everyone would like to know that she"s the best! (P.S. Love you lots!)
Get it?
Anyway, a colleague and I went for a massive ride (on pushbikes) around Darwin, starting from home we rode out towards the beach and down the coast to reach the Museum.
I was quite surprised by the amount on display at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. The displays were very pretty and the exhibit on Cyclone Tracy was quite moving. Sweetheart the crocodile was massive and a good, but sad little tale. They had displays on the wildlife from the aquatic life to the amphibious to the terrestrial. From ages long past to the modern era. They also had a massive exhibit on crocodiles which discussed how things changed since time began. All in all, a great way to spend a few hours and I kind of wish I had a few more hours to spend there as it felt like we rushed through a lot. Did I mention that it was free? Darwin seems to be great on my wallet... Well, apart from the food part.
After the Museum we decided that lunch was in order. This made sense as it was about 1:30pm and we had done a lot of riding in the morning. So we got on our bikes and went searching for food. Unfortunately, due to it being a public holiday (May Day), most shops were closed. We rode into the city (or is it "town"?) and after much cruising around with a few stops (such as one of the 2nd hand bookstores), we finally decided to stop into a pub (amusingly, Shenanigans) for a fine pub meal of a burger and chips. I, feeling like I was lacking blood, had a beef burger with chili jam which was really good (of course I would say that, I say that about just about anything with chili in it...) and my colleague had himself a barramundi burger.
After that we went for a short tour of the Esplanade and then started the long ride back home.
The ride turned out to be approximately 35km. We were very impressed by that until our hosts mentioned that they used to ride more than that in a much, much shorter time.
Well, my legs feel impressed by the distance we rode, as does my behind. My legs are very... Happy.
Topped the day off with a big meal and a bigger dessert of banana cake, chocolate icecream and home made peanut butter and chocolate chip biscuit crumbs. Yum!
Also, *big hugs* to my favouritest person in the whole world, Ellicia. Just thought everyone would like to know that she"s the best! (P.S. Love you lots!)
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Big weekend
So another weekend come and just about gone.
I say "just about" because it seems that this weekend is yet again a long one.
Friday night was a bit of fun with a small group of us going to see Iron Man 2 at Casuarina.
It wasn"t too bad I guess. Incredibly cheesy lines though.
We went out afterwards into the city to meet others who decided that dancing had better appeal than a man in a robot suit breaking stuff. Crazy kids nowadays.
Got home preeeeeetty late, so Saturday was a very lazy morning and day. So lazy in fact that I felt that I needed to redeem myself and went into the hospital until midnight.
Actually it was a pretty quiet night too.
Sunday began a little late due to the late night before, but soon grew as a colleague and I decided to go visit some crocodiles. We made our way over to Crocodylus Park, just in time for a guided tour.
It was very impressive as we got to see some jumping crocodiles, violent territorial females, little tiny baby crocodiles (yearlings), turtles, monkeys, emus, lions, a tiger, a wombat and more. It was a lot of fun as I got to feed a crocodile (actually I was meant to yank the meat away but I failed and it got me) and also to hold a little tiny baby crocodile!
I have a heap of photos which I"ll do something with at some point.
The afternoon was spent in Leanyer Recreational Park, where there was a swimming area, a playground with water guns and the like (and a giant that slowly fills with water before tipping the lot out in a giant rush!) as well as 3 big water slides!
After a few hours on the slides, we decided it was time to go home and with a couple of colleagues, had a wonderful dinner of crocodile burgers, crocodile sausages and crocodile skewers.
Started and ended the day with crocodiles, delicious!
I say "just about" because it seems that this weekend is yet again a long one.
Friday night was a bit of fun with a small group of us going to see Iron Man 2 at Casuarina.
It wasn"t too bad I guess. Incredibly cheesy lines though.
We went out afterwards into the city to meet others who decided that dancing had better appeal than a man in a robot suit breaking stuff. Crazy kids nowadays.
Got home preeeeeetty late, so Saturday was a very lazy morning and day. So lazy in fact that I felt that I needed to redeem myself and went into the hospital until midnight.
Actually it was a pretty quiet night too.
Sunday began a little late due to the late night before, but soon grew as a colleague and I decided to go visit some crocodiles. We made our way over to Crocodylus Park, just in time for a guided tour.
It was very impressive as we got to see some jumping crocodiles, violent territorial females, little tiny baby crocodiles (yearlings), turtles, monkeys, emus, lions, a tiger, a wombat and more. It was a lot of fun as I got to feed a crocodile (actually I was meant to yank the meat away but I failed and it got me) and also to hold a little tiny baby crocodile!
I have a heap of photos which I"ll do something with at some point.
The afternoon was spent in Leanyer Recreational Park, where there was a swimming area, a playground with water guns and the like (and a giant that slowly fills with water before tipping the lot out in a giant rush!) as well as 3 big water slides!
After a few hours on the slides, we decided it was time to go home and with a couple of colleagues, had a wonderful dinner of crocodile burgers, crocodile sausages and crocodile skewers.
Started and ended the day with crocodiles, delicious!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Week 2... is nearly over. Oops!
So last weekend was pretty massive.
A fun housewarming party hosted by the "young 'uns" from JCU was an interesting night as everyone was greeted with a moustache (if they didn"t already have one of course) and tequila! Also a very large amount of nachos... But yes, there were sombreros and pinatas and it was all fun and games, even when the stick shattered at one point across a pole...
Saturday was quite uneventful, but Sunday was our planned day out!
I and 3 other colleagues drove out to Litchfield National Park where we saw magnetic termite mounds, went for walks through the rainforest (at Wangi Falls), waded through rockpools (at Buley Rockhole) and swam under waterfalls (at Florence Falls)!
It was a beautiful day, amazing weather and the water was clear and cooling. We had goggles with us which allowed us to see fish swimming around (I almost managed to catch one!) wondering what all these silly humans were doing.
Such fun times really had to be ruined by something as I somehow ended up with viral gastroenteritis, which has kept me from the hospital for the last few days, finally getting back in today. I"m not sure if I caught it from one of the kids on the Isolation Wards, but it didn"t kick in until Monday.
Tonight, the Mindil Beach Markets starts up which is sounding like it will be spectacular, looking forward to that!
I"ve realised one problem with being up here and seeing so many cool things is that I don"t have a camera, so I can"t really share the sights I"m seeing.
I"ll have to borrow one. We"ll see.
A fun housewarming party hosted by the "young 'uns" from JCU was an interesting night as everyone was greeted with a moustache (if they didn"t already have one of course) and tequila! Also a very large amount of nachos... But yes, there were sombreros and pinatas and it was all fun and games, even when the stick shattered at one point across a pole...
Saturday was quite uneventful, but Sunday was our planned day out!
I and 3 other colleagues drove out to Litchfield National Park where we saw magnetic termite mounds, went for walks through the rainforest (at Wangi Falls), waded through rockpools (at Buley Rockhole) and swam under waterfalls (at Florence Falls)!
It was a beautiful day, amazing weather and the water was clear and cooling. We had goggles with us which allowed us to see fish swimming around (I almost managed to catch one!) wondering what all these silly humans were doing.
Such fun times really had to be ruined by something as I somehow ended up with viral gastroenteritis, which has kept me from the hospital for the last few days, finally getting back in today. I"m not sure if I caught it from one of the kids on the Isolation Wards, but it didn"t kick in until Monday.
Tonight, the Mindil Beach Markets starts up which is sounding like it will be spectacular, looking forward to that!
I"ve realised one problem with being up here and seeing so many cool things is that I don"t have a camera, so I can"t really share the sights I"m seeing.
I"ll have to borrow one. We"ll see.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Darwin - The Saga Begins
So we"ve started at the hospital now, so our holidays are over...
Monday was pretty much just administrative issues with a brief period on the wards.
Tuesday was much of the same, though we had a lunchtime JMO teaching session with food! Very impressed with the food, as I was pretty much expecting sandwiches but instead got greeted with trays of lasagna, chickpea curry, stirfry, cottage pie, salad... So yes, a good feed. The teaching session was quite interesting as well as it seems that they have started using an electronic prescribing system up here. An interesting change from the written ones back in Adelaide...
Today is when the real fun began, as I rode into the hospital, leaving my items in a room and having a shower before handover and ward rounds. I have a feeling that I will be a lot more fit by the end of this, assuming I survive biking around everywhere...
I"m based in the Isolation wards, which is pretty much infective things. Most patients appear to be bronchiolitis and diarrhoea. So I"ve been trying to remember things about these, especially dehydration and rehydration issues. Not so easy to remember.
Luckily, everyone here is very helpful, printing protocols and guidelines off for us left/right/center!
In fact, as I sit here typing this, I probably should be reading these guidelines on dehydration and paediatric fluids... But I"ll do that later.
I"m actually currently still in the hospital, as today is the day I"ve been allocated as being "on take". I"m not entirely sure what that means, but so far it involves me eating the rest of my lunch and trying to read up on different conditions. I will have to ride home in the dark too :S
I"m sure I"ll survive, though I"m supposedly supposed to be here until 10pm, though I"ve been told by my superiors that I can leave whenever I want to. I do want to admit a patient at least though.
Anyway, hopefully I"ll be able to get some real internet soon (at home rather than only here at the hospital) and I"ll be able to blog a little more frequently.
Don"t hold your breath though.
Monday was pretty much just administrative issues with a brief period on the wards.
Tuesday was much of the same, though we had a lunchtime JMO teaching session with food! Very impressed with the food, as I was pretty much expecting sandwiches but instead got greeted with trays of lasagna, chickpea curry, stirfry, cottage pie, salad... So yes, a good feed. The teaching session was quite interesting as well as it seems that they have started using an electronic prescribing system up here. An interesting change from the written ones back in Adelaide...
Today is when the real fun began, as I rode into the hospital, leaving my items in a room and having a shower before handover and ward rounds. I have a feeling that I will be a lot more fit by the end of this, assuming I survive biking around everywhere...
I"m based in the Isolation wards, which is pretty much infective things. Most patients appear to be bronchiolitis and diarrhoea. So I"ve been trying to remember things about these, especially dehydration and rehydration issues. Not so easy to remember.
Luckily, everyone here is very helpful, printing protocols and guidelines off for us left/right/center!
In fact, as I sit here typing this, I probably should be reading these guidelines on dehydration and paediatric fluids... But I"ll do that later.
I"m actually currently still in the hospital, as today is the day I"ve been allocated as being "on take". I"m not entirely sure what that means, but so far it involves me eating the rest of my lunch and trying to read up on different conditions. I will have to ride home in the dark too :S
I"m sure I"ll survive, though I"m supposedly supposed to be here until 10pm, though I"ve been told by my superiors that I can leave whenever I want to. I do want to admit a patient at least though.
Anyway, hopefully I"ll be able to get some real internet soon (at home rather than only here at the hospital) and I"ll be able to blog a little more frequently.
Don"t hold your breath though.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Darwin Day 1 and 2
Day 1:
Finally in Darwin! For those that missed the news, I"ve come up to Darwin with a colleague for 4 weeks of our paediatric rotation. It will be grand!
Arrived at 2:05am Saturday morning, it was a nice cool 26 with about 70% humidity, it was wonderful!
Made it back to our holiday house (well, not ours...) and got shown to our rooms with nice big queen sized beds and airconditioning. We decided that it was time to crash (rightly so, it was about 3am...) and so we did.
Saturday morning (part 2) started with waking up to a beautiful day, mid-20s and of course, very high humidity. Our host took us out for a drive and tour of the area and the hospital, eventually leading to Casuarina, where we went shopping and picked up the essentials (chocolate and snacks...). Came back home and realised we forgot to grab some coldies! Silly us...
Another colleague of ours picked us up after his dance class (which he teaches, so talented...) for a late lunch on the wharf. Took the scenic route there and I spent my time trying to remember any of it from when I lived here. Since I left in 1995, this place has expanded so much! I had me some crocodile meat (delicious, very much a fusion of chicken and fish) which was great, my a colleague had camel burger (sounds meaty!) and our Darwinian colleague had a boring laksa... Hah.
Following the nice lunch, we went on for a big Darwinian tour and picked up a few more essentials (bike locks, beer) and came home to just kick back. I started/finished a book gifted by a funny accented colleague which was good, but kind of sad because of finishing a book I brought up in day 1... John Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, a wonderful book, well told story with amazing description and atmosphere.
Finished off the day with a nice light dinner and then some phone calls to family and friends.
Day two began early, as we decided to accompany the host to the Rapid Creek Markets. A nice busy market with fresh vegetables of the more asian variety, and a lot of food. We decided to pop by the Nightcliff Markets as well and found some more things (mostly food!) and then went to the Nightcliff jetty to eat up and relax.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing with drinks and reading.
The evening was spent at a beautiful place called the Darwin Ski Club (photos to come later!) where we relaxed (recurring theme here...) and enjoyed some cheap Coronas. We then went back to our colleagues place and had a delicious barramundi green curry.
Overall,the water is a beautiful colour here, a nice aqua/light blue which tempts you to go in, but unfortunately, there is way too many things here wanting to kill you. Swim at your own risk!
The weather is absolutely perfect at this time of year. Not too humid (well, probably too humid for some) and not too hot (again, mid-20s to low 30s, so possibly too hot...) and with a nice breeze most of the time. I love it! Since we"re just at the end of the wet season too, everything is wonderfully green and lush. We may see that all change before we leave though...
So thats all from me for now, things may be a little quiet from my end as the internet isn"t very accessible at the moment. Not that I need any excuse not to blog...
Ciao for now!
Finally in Darwin! For those that missed the news, I"ve come up to Darwin with a colleague for 4 weeks of our paediatric rotation. It will be grand!
Arrived at 2:05am Saturday morning, it was a nice cool 26 with about 70% humidity, it was wonderful!
Made it back to our holiday house (well, not ours...) and got shown to our rooms with nice big queen sized beds and airconditioning. We decided that it was time to crash (rightly so, it was about 3am...) and so we did.
Saturday morning (part 2) started with waking up to a beautiful day, mid-20s and of course, very high humidity. Our host took us out for a drive and tour of the area and the hospital, eventually leading to Casuarina, where we went shopping and picked up the essentials (chocolate and snacks...). Came back home and realised we forgot to grab some coldies! Silly us...
Another colleague of ours picked us up after his dance class (which he teaches, so talented...) for a late lunch on the wharf. Took the scenic route there and I spent my time trying to remember any of it from when I lived here. Since I left in 1995, this place has expanded so much! I had me some crocodile meat (delicious, very much a fusion of chicken and fish) which was great, my a colleague had camel burger (sounds meaty!) and our Darwinian colleague had a boring laksa... Hah.
Following the nice lunch, we went on for a big Darwinian tour and picked up a few more essentials (bike locks, beer) and came home to just kick back. I started/finished a book gifted by a funny accented colleague which was good, but kind of sad because of finishing a book I brought up in day 1... John Steinbeck Of Mice and Men, a wonderful book, well told story with amazing description and atmosphere.
Finished off the day with a nice light dinner and then some phone calls to family and friends.
Day two began early, as we decided to accompany the host to the Rapid Creek Markets. A nice busy market with fresh vegetables of the more asian variety, and a lot of food. We decided to pop by the Nightcliff Markets as well and found some more things (mostly food!) and then went to the Nightcliff jetty to eat up and relax.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing with drinks and reading.
The evening was spent at a beautiful place called the Darwin Ski Club (photos to come later!) where we relaxed (recurring theme here...) and enjoyed some cheap Coronas. We then went back to our colleagues place and had a delicious barramundi green curry.
Overall,the water is a beautiful colour here, a nice aqua/light blue which tempts you to go in, but unfortunately, there is way too many things here wanting to kill you. Swim at your own risk!
The weather is absolutely perfect at this time of year. Not too humid (well, probably too humid for some) and not too hot (again, mid-20s to low 30s, so possibly too hot...) and with a nice breeze most of the time. I love it! Since we"re just at the end of the wet season too, everything is wonderfully green and lush. We may see that all change before we leave though...
So thats all from me for now, things may be a little quiet from my end as the internet isn"t very accessible at the moment. Not that I need any excuse not to blog...
Ciao for now!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)