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.
Showing posts with label ward rounds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ward rounds. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Short week.
A short week pretty much covered with me being sick (An actual flu! Gosh!) and trying to avoid writing an ethics essay (from henceforth known as The Worst Essay Ever).
Tuesday morning started with the biggest rainfall I had ever seen in Adelaide for a long, long time. The thunder and lightning was also quite pretty! As I had been so sick (poor baby), I considered using the rain as an excuse not to go in (Yes, thats right. The rain would be the excuse, not the headache, hacking cough, raw throat or muscle aches), but as it approached the point of no return, the rain stopped and I was forced to get ready and go in for ward rounds... Which were uneventful.
On the other hand, it did allow me to find the details of the patient I wanted for my ethics assignment. Oh, don"t get me wrong, I did plan this all out ages before, I just managed to forget exactly which patient it was... Little boys with croup all sort of merge together after a while...
Wednesday and Thursday passed by pretty uneventfully as well, with quite possibly the most ordinary Paediatric Grand Round ever... The free food was almost not worth sitting in on that presentation.
So Friday and a week off! I woke up really, really early (After having a dream in which I really didn"t wake up early and I was terribly late...) to catch the bus in order to make it to the city by 7:45am so I could make it to the bus to Millicent. Somehow I managed to get to the city by 7:15am. A tad early, so I dozed ever so nicely in the bus terminal to the soothing heavy rock of the instrumental disc of Nightwish's Dark Passion Play. After hours on the bus which were plagued by technical difficulties (a leaking roof), roadworks (everywhere!), dangerous conditions (lots of rain!) and bogan attacks (literally, a bogan attacked a poor mother concerned about the welfare of her children in the presence of cigarette smoke), I managed to arrive safely in Millicent.
So here I am, its freezing, but its a nice calm place that makes me want to sleep 18 hours a day. I"m not entirely sure why. Maybe its something in the water...
Or maybe its the civil wars that seem to go on in these parts...
Tuesday morning started with the biggest rainfall I had ever seen in Adelaide for a long, long time. The thunder and lightning was also quite pretty! As I had been so sick (poor baby), I considered using the rain as an excuse not to go in (Yes, thats right. The rain would be the excuse, not the headache, hacking cough, raw throat or muscle aches), but as it approached the point of no return, the rain stopped and I was forced to get ready and go in for ward rounds... Which were uneventful.
On the other hand, it did allow me to find the details of the patient I wanted for my ethics assignment. Oh, don"t get me wrong, I did plan this all out ages before, I just managed to forget exactly which patient it was... Little boys with croup all sort of merge together after a while...
Wednesday and Thursday passed by pretty uneventfully as well, with quite possibly the most ordinary Paediatric Grand Round ever... The free food was almost not worth sitting in on that presentation.
So Friday and a week off! I woke up really, really early (After having a dream in which I really didn"t wake up early and I was terribly late...) to catch the bus in order to make it to the city by 7:45am so I could make it to the bus to Millicent. Somehow I managed to get to the city by 7:15am. A tad early, so I dozed ever so nicely in the bus terminal to the soothing heavy rock of the instrumental disc of Nightwish's Dark Passion Play. After hours on the bus which were plagued by technical difficulties (a leaking roof), roadworks (everywhere!), dangerous conditions (lots of rain!) and bogan attacks (literally, a bogan attacked a poor mother concerned about the welfare of her children in the presence of cigarette smoke), I managed to arrive safely in Millicent.
So here I am, its freezing, but its a nice calm place that makes me want to sleep 18 hours a day. I"m not entirely sure why. Maybe its something in the water...
Or maybe its the civil wars that seem to go on in these parts...
Monday, March 29, 2010
Oops!
So its been nearly two weeks since I last blogged... My bad.
But seriously, its my blog, meaning that in theory, I can blog whenever I damn well want to and should not have people bugging me about not blogging right?
Unfortunately not, it would seem.
Anyway.
So 2 weeks of paediatrics down, and I still love playing with children and distracting them and receiving that little look of gratefulness from the doctor. It almost makes me feel like there is a point to me sitting in the corner of a little clinic room, sneakily asking questions to the mother/father when the doctor needs to go out to find something or clumsily poking and prodding a small child when the doctor asks me to perform an examination or take blood pressures.
Children have such small arms, yet they manage to make so much noise with them. Curious isn"t it?
The past week has been a lot of fun, with another week in clinics.
I sat in on the Child Assessment Team ( or the CAT team if you wanted to make use of the silly way in which people like to make use of silly repetition in such acronymerised names, such as like in ATM machine or BAT team - Brain Attack Team for you people not in the business.) which seemed interesting. Interesting in that it seemed like the most expensive play session you could organise with your child without actually investing in diamonds or a circus. 6-8 specialists sitting in to watch a child play with toys and draw.
I also sat in on a less expensive version in which the child was assessed by the speech therapist, physiotherapist and occupational therapist.
I was lucky to sit in on a Renal clinic as well, which happens only once a month at FMC. The consultant was a hilarious man with a very relaxed attitude and amusing manner. His questions to me were straightforward and naturally difficult (especially to me, as I discovered that I had managed to forget just about everything about the kidneys...) but was quite willing to teach me when there was time.
The most exciting thing about the past week is that my daddy was here!
Lots of good home made food (which were I less lazy, I could also make, but the laziness usually pulls me to quicker, just as delicious meals...) as well as a restocking of my freezer. I should be set if the Australian Army decide to come over for dinner.
This weekend was quite a bit of fun as well as Friday afternoon started off with a feast put together by my dad, and continued with the celebration of the birthday of a Britannian/Prydein colleague in true boozer style starting at some bar and leading on to some indie bands, most notably Flat One which stars a current intern of Flinders. Very inspiring and really ruins my excuse of not having time to do anything...
This was very enjoyable but the late nights and moderate alcohol consumption made the next day quite troublesome. Pancakes (with bacon, caramelised bananas and real maple syrup) on Sunday was thoroughly enjoyable as I didn"t even need to go anywhere as another fellow colleague (this one from Canadia) brought everything over to my house to make!
Definitely fun as we poor sAdelaide residers were graced with the presence of a very much loved colleague who usually resides where the general human population is probably outmatched by the population of horses and livestock.
So yes, a thoroughly enjoyable weekend to top off a quite enjoyable week!
This week: Inpatients!
Ward rounds and history taking seems to be on the menu.
Which reminds me, what should I make for dinner?
But seriously, its my blog, meaning that in theory, I can blog whenever I damn well want to and should not have people bugging me about not blogging right?
Unfortunately not, it would seem.
Anyway.
So 2 weeks of paediatrics down, and I still love playing with children and distracting them and receiving that little look of gratefulness from the doctor. It almost makes me feel like there is a point to me sitting in the corner of a little clinic room, sneakily asking questions to the mother/father when the doctor needs to go out to find something or clumsily poking and prodding a small child when the doctor asks me to perform an examination or take blood pressures.
Children have such small arms, yet they manage to make so much noise with them. Curious isn"t it?
The past week has been a lot of fun, with another week in clinics.
I sat in on the Child Assessment Team ( or the CAT team if you wanted to make use of the silly way in which people like to make use of silly repetition in such acronymerised names, such as like in ATM machine or BAT team - Brain Attack Team for you people not in the business.) which seemed interesting. Interesting in that it seemed like the most expensive play session you could organise with your child without actually investing in diamonds or a circus. 6-8 specialists sitting in to watch a child play with toys and draw.
I also sat in on a less expensive version in which the child was assessed by the speech therapist, physiotherapist and occupational therapist.
I was lucky to sit in on a Renal clinic as well, which happens only once a month at FMC. The consultant was a hilarious man with a very relaxed attitude and amusing manner. His questions to me were straightforward and naturally difficult (especially to me, as I discovered that I had managed to forget just about everything about the kidneys...) but was quite willing to teach me when there was time.
The most exciting thing about the past week is that my daddy was here!
Lots of good home made food (which were I less lazy, I could also make, but the laziness usually pulls me to quicker, just as delicious meals...) as well as a restocking of my freezer. I should be set if the Australian Army decide to come over for dinner.
This weekend was quite a bit of fun as well as Friday afternoon started off with a feast put together by my dad, and continued with the celebration of the birthday of a Britannian/Prydein colleague in true boozer style starting at some bar and leading on to some indie bands, most notably Flat One which stars a current intern of Flinders. Very inspiring and really ruins my excuse of not having time to do anything...
This was very enjoyable but the late nights and moderate alcohol consumption made the next day quite troublesome. Pancakes (with bacon, caramelised bananas and real maple syrup) on Sunday was thoroughly enjoyable as I didn"t even need to go anywhere as another fellow colleague (this one from Canadia) brought everything over to my house to make!
Definitely fun as we poor sAdelaide residers were graced with the presence of a very much loved colleague who usually resides where the general human population is probably outmatched by the population of horses and livestock.
So yes, a thoroughly enjoyable weekend to top off a quite enjoyable week!
This week: Inpatients!
Ward rounds and history taking seems to be on the menu.
Which reminds me, what should I make for dinner?
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Great Exceptations
I typed the title of this post last night intending to blog about stuff, instead I ended up changing it and leaving the below post. Now I forget why I wanted to use this title.
On new housemates:
My unit is now a bustling suburban bedroom mini-community. From the first year aquaculture/marine biology students to the first year health science student to the German exchange psychology student, we"ve got it all! A friendly bunch indeed, mostly away from home for their first time, getting used to not having the roving parental eye of control over them.
On a failure of a Monday:
For the second time this rotation, a certain consultant has been away and unable to give us our eagerly awaited lecture. This is getting to be quite annoying, as they get their lecture times in advance by quite a few weeks, certainly enough to tell someone if a conference happens to be on that week...
On free food:
Ahh, O-week. With the new students coming in, the great annual welcome begins, with BBQ lunches, dinners, morning teas, afternoon teas, ice cream... All free! All it requires is a few omitted truths or small lies, and you"re free to munch away! Alternatively, you can do what I do and make use of the most important piece of information I learned on the wards: Look confident. As long as I look as if I should definitely be doing this and that it would be pure stupidity on anyone else"s part if they were to interrupt and question me about this, I can do (or eat!) just about anything.
On the gym and associated activities:
The annual free week from the gym, a time to stock up on exercise and activity to make up for the lack of these over the remainder of the year... I don"t know where I was going with this topic. All I really needed to say was that I"ve been going to the gym for the last week and now I will stop due to outrageous membership prices. Outrageous.
On surgeries and complications:
So being on the Surgery rotation, it would be expected that I should be going into theatre and seeing some interesting surgeries. Yesterday was one of those days with a laparascopic anterior resection. The initial preparation of detaching peritoneum (sigmoid mesocolon?) from the colon went smoothly enough, until the surgeon started exploring higher and managed to nick the splenic artery. This obviously wasn"t quite too big a problem as the surgeon deadpanned "Oh. No no no, don"t do that." and proceeded to clamp off the artery and asked for sutures, prodding on the nurse with an equally unexcited "Sutures, sutures, we have a bleeder." As I then expected the surgeon to cut open the abdomen due to the complication (which we were trying to avoid due to the patient being quite old and having an open surgery would make recovery a lot longer), I was very impressed with what happened next. The surgeon proceeded to suture laparascopically, which looked very difficult (much like trying to have dinner using 50cm cutlery) but it was done and the surgery was continued with no further complications. The patient looked well and in good spirits this morning. Wow.
On the musculoskeletal workshop:
Now, I don"t expect this to reach anyone that this will matter to, as I don"t believe I know of anyone placed locally in the course that actually reads this blog... I could be wrong of course, but judging by the lack of hits and the rare comments only by fellow bloggers in other areas, I"m probably quite accurate.
We had a musculoskeletal workshop yesterday, lead by a doctor who I believe gave us a spine examination session during GP week last year. It was brilliant. The notes given would have been worth their weight in gold (and a significant weight indeed) had they been given to us last year for when we were doing musculoskeletal clinical skills last year, but for now, they are just incredibly useful. These notes cover the various musculoskeletal and rheumatological examinations and include a DVD with clinical examinations. We"ve also been given an almost definite OSCE station, so that"s a good start too. For anyone who has yet to sign up or go and was considering skipping it, don"t, it"s well worth the four hours it takes (unless you"re a physio, then you know everything anyway...) and a lot of good practice too.
On expectations:
I"m not sure what I wanted to relate regarding this topic. It probably had something about the need to be in two places at once, but the consultant this week (the proper consultant, not the evil substitute one, mentioned previously... or not, that seemed to have been on a power trip as the main one was on holiday) was cordial, in fact I would say almost soft drink.
We had theatre this morning (a simple stoma reversal) followed by a tutorial on evaluation and causes of post-operative fever and presenting a surgical history. The consultant was very good actually, pushing for knowledge but not criticising the lack of it. I"m quite sure that I am seen as a moron as after a few seconds of silence and possibly a look of fear in my eyes, the consultant proceeded to answer the question given moments earlier. This consultant is also the first one to have given a set system for presenting a surgical history to a surgeon. In a nutshell (Oh help! I"m in a nutshell!): keep it simple. They don"t want to know all the "crap"* physicians care about, they just want to operate, "because honestly, its a lot of fun"*. So they just want "a history, not a bedtime story."*
All in all, an interesting week and it"s not even Friday yet!
Oh darn. SMS from Intern says Ward Rounds will start at 7:30am tomorrow. Not a good start.
* Indicates actual words/quotes from the consultant. Wonderful!
On new housemates:
My unit is now a bustling suburban bedroom mini-community. From the first year aquaculture/marine biology students to the first year health science student to the German exchange psychology student, we"ve got it all! A friendly bunch indeed, mostly away from home for their first time, getting used to not having the roving parental eye of control over them.
On a failure of a Monday:
For the second time this rotation, a certain consultant has been away and unable to give us our eagerly awaited lecture. This is getting to be quite annoying, as they get their lecture times in advance by quite a few weeks, certainly enough to tell someone if a conference happens to be on that week...
On free food:
Ahh, O-week. With the new students coming in, the great annual welcome begins, with BBQ lunches, dinners, morning teas, afternoon teas, ice cream... All free! All it requires is a few omitted truths or small lies, and you"re free to munch away! Alternatively, you can do what I do and make use of the most important piece of information I learned on the wards: Look confident. As long as I look as if I should definitely be doing this and that it would be pure stupidity on anyone else"s part if they were to interrupt and question me about this, I can do (or eat!) just about anything.
On the gym and associated activities:
The annual free week from the gym, a time to stock up on exercise and activity to make up for the lack of these over the remainder of the year... I don"t know where I was going with this topic. All I really needed to say was that I"ve been going to the gym for the last week and now I will stop due to outrageous membership prices. Outrageous.
On surgeries and complications:
So being on the Surgery rotation, it would be expected that I should be going into theatre and seeing some interesting surgeries. Yesterday was one of those days with a laparascopic anterior resection. The initial preparation of detaching peritoneum (sigmoid mesocolon?) from the colon went smoothly enough, until the surgeon started exploring higher and managed to nick the splenic artery. This obviously wasn"t quite too big a problem as the surgeon deadpanned "Oh. No no no, don"t do that." and proceeded to clamp off the artery and asked for sutures, prodding on the nurse with an equally unexcited "Sutures, sutures, we have a bleeder." As I then expected the surgeon to cut open the abdomen due to the complication (which we were trying to avoid due to the patient being quite old and having an open surgery would make recovery a lot longer), I was very impressed with what happened next. The surgeon proceeded to suture laparascopically, which looked very difficult (much like trying to have dinner using 50cm cutlery) but it was done and the surgery was continued with no further complications. The patient looked well and in good spirits this morning. Wow.
On the musculoskeletal workshop:
Now, I don"t expect this to reach anyone that this will matter to, as I don"t believe I know of anyone placed locally in the course that actually reads this blog... I could be wrong of course, but judging by the lack of hits and the rare comments only by fellow bloggers in other areas, I"m probably quite accurate.
We had a musculoskeletal workshop yesterday, lead by a doctor who I believe gave us a spine examination session during GP week last year. It was brilliant. The notes given would have been worth their weight in gold (and a significant weight indeed) had they been given to us last year for when we were doing musculoskeletal clinical skills last year, but for now, they are just incredibly useful. These notes cover the various musculoskeletal and rheumatological examinations and include a DVD with clinical examinations. We"ve also been given an almost definite OSCE station, so that"s a good start too. For anyone who has yet to sign up or go and was considering skipping it, don"t, it"s well worth the four hours it takes (unless you"re a physio, then you know everything anyway...) and a lot of good practice too.
On expectations:
I"m not sure what I wanted to relate regarding this topic. It probably had something about the need to be in two places at once, but the consultant this week (the proper consultant, not the evil substitute one, mentioned previously... or not, that seemed to have been on a power trip as the main one was on holiday) was cordial, in fact I would say almost soft drink.
We had theatre this morning (a simple stoma reversal) followed by a tutorial on evaluation and causes of post-operative fever and presenting a surgical history. The consultant was very good actually, pushing for knowledge but not criticising the lack of it. I"m quite sure that I am seen as a moron as after a few seconds of silence and possibly a look of fear in my eyes, the consultant proceeded to answer the question given moments earlier. This consultant is also the first one to have given a set system for presenting a surgical history to a surgeon. In a nutshell (Oh help! I"m in a nutshell!): keep it simple. They don"t want to know all the "crap"* physicians care about, they just want to operate, "because honestly, its a lot of fun"*. So they just want "a history, not a bedtime story."*
All in all, an interesting week and it"s not even Friday yet!
Oh darn. SMS from Intern says Ward Rounds will start at 7:30am tomorrow. Not a good start.
* Indicates actual words/quotes from the consultant. Wonderful!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
It"s been a long day
Ah, Matchbox Twenty...
Where was I?
Oh yes, blogging. Just to switch things up, lets Tarantino this a bit. I"m going to start with the end of this story:
I had a nap. This morning. Before lunch.
Now lets flash back to the beginning:
-fzztwhirkdsafh;gssssssooooooooooooooooo-
Waking up at while its dark is not good.
Ward rounds was uneventful, though there were some quite interesting patients (with one a possible CoC subject!), the fact that it was bloody early kind of toned down my interest.
We then attended a presentation by our very own registrar, who was amusingly anxious about the whole thing, though us students didn"t really mind, we were kind of more interested in the breakfast that was provided...
A very impressive breakfast spread it was, with sweet pastries, mini quiches, a large variety of fruits and what I"m going to call "slices of closed pizza" (otherwise known as toasted focaccia).
Afterwards I went to have a chat with one of the interesting patients, taking a history and performing a basic physical examination of all systems. As a random point of interest which came up during our conversation, we found out (despite the over 40 year difference in ages as well as residence in different states) that we had previously shared the same GP! Small world indeed...
Such a long day, in fact, I"m quite tired...
-ooooooooooooooooossssssg;hfasdkrihwtzzf-
Where was I?
Oh yes, blogging. Just to switch things up, lets Tarantino this a bit. I"m going to start with the end of this story:
I had a nap. This morning. Before lunch.
Now lets flash back to the beginning:
-fzztwhirkdsafh;gssssssooooooooooooooooo-
Waking up at while its dark is not good.
Ward rounds was uneventful, though there were some quite interesting patients (with one a possible CoC subject!), the fact that it was bloody early kind of toned down my interest.
We then attended a presentation by our very own registrar, who was amusingly anxious about the whole thing, though us students didn"t really mind, we were kind of more interested in the breakfast that was provided...
A very impressive breakfast spread it was, with sweet pastries, mini quiches, a large variety of fruits and what I"m going to call "slices of closed pizza" (otherwise known as toasted focaccia).
Afterwards I went to have a chat with one of the interesting patients, taking a history and performing a basic physical examination of all systems. As a random point of interest which came up during our conversation, we found out (despite the over 40 year difference in ages as well as residence in different states) that we had previously shared the same GP! Small world indeed...
Such a long day, in fact, I"m quite tired...
-ooooooooooooooooossssssg;hfasdkrihwtzzf-
Good mor- ITS STILL DARK OUTSIDE
Waking up and getting ready for ward rounds doesn"t feel right when the sun isn"t even ready for the day yet...
Oh well. Beach later today!
Oh well. Beach later today!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Friday! Finally!
4 weeks done, meaning that next week, I start on General Surgery at the Repatriation General Hospital.
This could be a good thing or a bad thing, I haven"t quite worked it out yet.
Today was a good day though, waking up for the first time in 3 or 4 days not feeling like absolute crap. I think this cold is finally moving on, so in the next few days I should be all good.
Made it to ward rounds on time, which is always a good start, especially when you"ve missed the last two days (illness, breast clinic) and it being the final day on this ward. The Senior Fellow was really cheerful, and usually in these cases, its a trap.
And it was.
She had decided that we would do a mini-CEX (or "mini sex" as she pronounced it) after ward rounds. Oh hooray.
Surprisingly, I did quite well. Sure, it didn"t feel like it when I was under the spotlight, with her firing question after question at me during the history. But afterwards she gave some very good feedback and gave me good marks! I received a 6, which is quite a surprise because in our introduction lecture when they explained the mini-CEX, they told us to expect the initial few to be very bad...
So I"ve been pretty happy.
This could be a good thing or a bad thing, I haven"t quite worked it out yet.
Today was a good day though, waking up for the first time in 3 or 4 days not feeling like absolute crap. I think this cold is finally moving on, so in the next few days I should be all good.
Made it to ward rounds on time, which is always a good start, especially when you"ve missed the last two days (illness, breast clinic) and it being the final day on this ward. The Senior Fellow was really cheerful, and usually in these cases, its a trap.
And it was.
She had decided that we would do a mini-CEX (or "mini sex" as she pronounced it) after ward rounds. Oh hooray.
Surprisingly, I did quite well. Sure, it didn"t feel like it when I was under the spotlight, with her firing question after question at me during the history. But afterwards she gave some very good feedback and gave me good marks! I received a 6, which is quite a surprise because in our introduction lecture when they explained the mini-CEX, they told us to expect the initial few to be very bad...
So I"ve been pretty happy.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Thursday morning
Slept in. Who cares about ward rounds right?
Its all good, I have breast clinic at 9, so I can make that and use that as an excuse as to why I didn"t go to ward rounds. Despite the reason that ward rounds started at 8...
But I"m sick!
I"m out of drugs, so I was up half the night coughing :(
Gotta go buy some hard drugs* after this clinic.
*Note: Hard drugs mentioned include something containing codeine phosphate and pseudoephedrine hydrochloride. This phenylephrine crap doesn"t do anything.
Its all good, I have breast clinic at 9, so I can make that and use that as an excuse as to why I didn"t go to ward rounds. Despite the reason that ward rounds started at 8...
But I"m sick!
I"m out of drugs, so I was up half the night coughing :(
Gotta go buy some hard drugs* after this clinic.
*Note: Hard drugs mentioned include something containing codeine phosphate and pseudoephedrine hydrochloride. This phenylephrine crap doesn"t do anything.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Bleh.
I feel like crap. Sore throat, couldn"t sleep, muscle aches.
Hopefully its just viral and will die down soon.
So I"m taking the afternoon off. I"m going to make myself a nice yummy lunch and have a nice long sleep.
I managed to go to ward rounds this morning, which was good fun because it seems like half the patients are being discharged today. Unfortunately we had a MDT (multi-disciplinary team) meeting today and from lack of seats, I was seated in the front row, alongside all the consultants and senior consultants.
If you haven"t been to an MDT meeting before, picture this:
A nice quiet room, the soft hum of a computer and projector, main lights are off and instead you bask in the nice warm glow of a projected contrast CT image of a patient"s lower abdomen. Beside that is a large LCD screen displaying a beautifully colourful slide, a slice of the vague metastatic growth from said abdomen.
As the drone of the radiologist slowly relaxes you, you fight.
You fight with all your will because you know the consultants have to turn to look past you in order to make eye contact with the radiologist, for politeness" sake, as well as to get his attention to ask questions, or he may go on forever.
Suddenly, out booms the voice of a certain anatomist/histologist we shall call "TT". His golden voice rings throughout the room, conjuring to mind a majestic and brave lion or perhaps an overly tanned well build older man.
"Yes!" you think to yourself, "I can"t possibly fall asleep with him talking!" But as your eyes droop, you realise far too late that histology is and has always been a trap. Luring you in with pretty colours and golden voices, it takes you and leads you, like a child, with wide eyes questioning all. But just like a child, you grow weary of such opulence, not understanding the point behind it all. Your eyes close, you sleep. Until the new day dawns.
Or at least until you start driving a pen into your leg because you really, really, really don"t want to be falling asleep in front of everyone. Really.
Hopefully its just viral and will die down soon.
So I"m taking the afternoon off. I"m going to make myself a nice yummy lunch and have a nice long sleep.
I managed to go to ward rounds this morning, which was good fun because it seems like half the patients are being discharged today. Unfortunately we had a MDT (multi-disciplinary team) meeting today and from lack of seats, I was seated in the front row, alongside all the consultants and senior consultants.
If you haven"t been to an MDT meeting before, picture this:
A nice quiet room, the soft hum of a computer and projector, main lights are off and instead you bask in the nice warm glow of a projected contrast CT image of a patient"s lower abdomen. Beside that is a large LCD screen displaying a beautifully colourful slide, a slice of the vague metastatic growth from said abdomen.
As the drone of the radiologist slowly relaxes you, you fight.
You fight with all your will because you know the consultants have to turn to look past you in order to make eye contact with the radiologist, for politeness" sake, as well as to get his attention to ask questions, or he may go on forever.
Suddenly, out booms the voice of a certain anatomist/histologist we shall call "TT". His golden voice rings throughout the room, conjuring to mind a majestic and brave lion or perhaps an overly tanned well build older man.
"Yes!" you think to yourself, "I can"t possibly fall asleep with him talking!" But as your eyes droop, you realise far too late that histology is and has always been a trap. Luring you in with pretty colours and golden voices, it takes you and leads you, like a child, with wide eyes questioning all. But just like a child, you grow weary of such opulence, not understanding the point behind it all. Your eyes close, you sleep. Until the new day dawns.
Or at least until you start driving a pen into your leg because you really, really, really don"t want to be falling asleep in front of everyone. Really.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
There's a fine, fine line...
Big day yesterday!
Had a nice sleep in (9am! Wow!) after staying up until 1am playing 4-player Super Mario Bros. on Wii. Sat around browsing the internets for random things for an hour or so before deciding it was probably time for breakfast. I threw together some goodness (ham, mushrooms, basil, chives, iggs) into a pan and a magical omelette appeared. It was magical.
Started transferring my little assorted notes taken on ward rounds into my computer. Took a lot longer than I expected, as I have horrible writing, partly due to my rush to get the information down, partly due to having nothing to adequately brace my pad on, and partly due to my own mutant inability to write legibly.
Finally noticed the time and after a warp speed shower, threw together a ham/cheese sandwich and rushed out to get to the city, where a group of us saw Avenue Q!
It was amazing!
I"ve been listening to the soundtrack now for a few hours, with my favourite song in the title above. Personally, I still liked Wicked better, partly due to the easier sung songs (yes, I like to sing, despite having the vocal range of a deaf mute bear), but Avenue Q had very memorable moments (and one in particular that cannot be unseen...) and was hilarious.
Went to a friend's place afterwards for a house-warming, which was really good. Had okonomiyaki, cold rolls, and beer/cocktails/wine/mead (yes, mead!). Good food, good drinks, good company, what more can you ask for? An amusing quote? Yes, that was done too. An amusing period of confusion as a friend on the phone was confused as to the people that were at the party. Ah, good times.
[EDIT: I forgot to mention the dessert! Banana cake with a cream cheese/icing sugar icing, with ice cream covered in chocolate flavoured topping, chocolate and rainbow sprinkles!]
So now its Sunday, I have minimal work done, I have washing to do, cleaning to do, music to listen to. So much to do, so little time...
Maybe if I sit here for a while, things will just go away...
A fine, fine line between reality and pretend.
Had a nice sleep in (9am! Wow!) after staying up until 1am playing 4-player Super Mario Bros. on Wii. Sat around browsing the internets for random things for an hour or so before deciding it was probably time for breakfast. I threw together some goodness (ham, mushrooms, basil, chives, iggs) into a pan and a magical omelette appeared. It was magical.
Started transferring my little assorted notes taken on ward rounds into my computer. Took a lot longer than I expected, as I have horrible writing, partly due to my rush to get the information down, partly due to having nothing to adequately brace my pad on, and partly due to my own mutant inability to write legibly.
Finally noticed the time and after a warp speed shower, threw together a ham/cheese sandwich and rushed out to get to the city, where a group of us saw Avenue Q!
It was amazing!
I"ve been listening to the soundtrack now for a few hours, with my favourite song in the title above. Personally, I still liked Wicked better, partly due to the easier sung songs (yes, I like to sing, despite having the vocal range of a deaf mute bear), but Avenue Q had very memorable moments (and one in particular that cannot be unseen...) and was hilarious.
Went to a friend's place afterwards for a house-warming, which was really good. Had okonomiyaki, cold rolls, and beer/cocktails/wine/mead (yes, mead!). Good food, good drinks, good company, what more can you ask for? An amusing quote? Yes, that was done too. An amusing period of confusion as a friend on the phone was confused as to the people that were at the party. Ah, good times.
[EDIT: I forgot to mention the dessert! Banana cake with a cream cheese/icing sugar icing, with ice cream covered in chocolate flavoured topping, chocolate and rainbow sprinkles!]
So now its Sunday, I have minimal work done, I have washing to do, cleaning to do, music to listen to. So much to do, so little time...
Maybe if I sit here for a while, things will just go away...
A fine, fine line between reality and pretend.
Friday, February 5, 2010
FIGJAM
A nice and early finish today, which is great for a Friday. Nothing worse than hanging about all afternoon wishing you could be out doing... stuff...
Yeah.
So a very exciting ward round today, especially one patient who seemed to have actually* had every possible medical problem previously. She was in high spirits though, despite the pain and it seemed that she needed blood taken for random tests (specifically FBC, EUC, Coags and LFTs). Being the great blood thief that I am, the task was left to me.
So as the ward round continued on as I was set loose on the ward looking for tools of the trade, being tempted by the copious amounts of food left out in the open...
The patient being a nurse, as well as having a rare blood condition (essential thrombocythemia!) was very used to taking blood and having blood taken from her (amusingly, a name I recognised in her history was her haematologist, a past lecturer and course coordinator with the initials BK...). She happily consented to my thievery of her blood and decided that as I looked quite amateurish (despite me taking the time to prepare my "confident face"), would talk me through it. I started by asking her to sit down and expose a preferred arm for me, which she obliged, showing me the one vein she liked to call "old faithful" (right arm, cubital fossa). She confidently stated that there was no chance of missing it, and I gave a polite little laugh, all the while thinking that she"ll probably regret challenging me like that...
Surprisingly, she was right.
After marvelling at my choice of instruments (butterfly + vacuum) and allowing me to alcoholerise her skin, I waited the customary few seconds for complete dryness and dove straight in. Immediate flashback. I somehow managed to maintained my "confident face" instead of reverting to my "shocked face" and started plugging in the tubes, one at a time, starting with the coags (yes, must remember that...). I started to wonder whether I had struck an artery, as each of the tubes filled in approximately 2.4 seconds. I then realised how nice it is taking blood from a (relatively) healthy and young woman, rather than a ninety-something old man with calcified veins and powder for blood.
After that was all done, she congratulated me and stated that it was wonderfully done, handing me her imaginary "FIGJAM" cape. As I hadn"t heard that term before, I had to ask her what that was, and the answer made me feel a lot more confident for the future.
FIGJAM.
* as opposed to those interesting patients who just think they"ve had every possibly medical problem previously...
Yeah.
So a very exciting ward round today, especially one patient who seemed to have actually* had every possible medical problem previously. She was in high spirits though, despite the pain and it seemed that she needed blood taken for random tests (specifically FBC, EUC, Coags and LFTs). Being the great blood thief that I am, the task was left to me.
So as the ward round continued on as I was set loose on the ward looking for tools of the trade, being tempted by the copious amounts of food left out in the open...
The patient being a nurse, as well as having a rare blood condition (essential thrombocythemia!) was very used to taking blood and having blood taken from her (amusingly, a name I recognised in her history was her haematologist, a past lecturer and course coordinator with the initials BK...). She happily consented to my thievery of her blood and decided that as I looked quite amateurish (despite me taking the time to prepare my "confident face"), would talk me through it. I started by asking her to sit down and expose a preferred arm for me, which she obliged, showing me the one vein she liked to call "old faithful" (right arm, cubital fossa). She confidently stated that there was no chance of missing it, and I gave a polite little laugh, all the while thinking that she"ll probably regret challenging me like that...
Surprisingly, she was right.
After marvelling at my choice of instruments (butterfly + vacuum) and allowing me to alcoholerise her skin, I waited the customary few seconds for complete dryness and dove straight in. Immediate flashback. I somehow managed to maintained my "confident face" instead of reverting to my "shocked face" and started plugging in the tubes, one at a time, starting with the coags (yes, must remember that...). I started to wonder whether I had struck an artery, as each of the tubes filled in approximately 2.4 seconds. I then realised how nice it is taking blood from a (relatively) healthy and young woman, rather than a ninety-something old man with calcified veins and powder for blood.
After that was all done, she congratulated me and stated that it was wonderfully done, handing me her imaginary "FIGJAM" cape. As I hadn"t heard that term before, I had to ask her what that was, and the answer made me feel a lot more confident for the future.
FIGJAM.
* as opposed to those interesting patients who just think they"ve had every possibly medical problem previously...
Thursday, February 4, 2010
A brand new da- team.
So the wards have been abuzz with the changing of the guard, which started yesterday, and was probably supposed to end too, but we"re still missing our RMO...
Luckily, we have a temporary RMO, who"s here for one day. That must feel weird, working a job for one day...
Our Senior Fellow is with us now though, which is great! She"s an amazingly focused woman, but also able to joke. Best of all, she actually teaches us! She had me listen to some lungs, she quizzed us on some x-rays and CTs, and taught us a heap of presentations and treatments, some of which I even managed to write down so I can type them up later... Lunch break for now though, then off to read some anaesthetical things...
Luckily, we have a temporary RMO, who"s here for one day. That must feel weird, working a job for one day...
Our Senior Fellow is with us now though, which is great! She"s an amazingly focused woman, but also able to joke. Best of all, she actually teaches us! She had me listen to some lungs, she quizzed us on some x-rays and CTs, and taught us a heap of presentations and treatments, some of which I even managed to write down so I can type them up later... Lunch break for now though, then off to read some anaesthetical things...
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Rotation 1 - Surgery - Day 1
Alright, so its 2 weeks past my first day of 3rd year, and I"m typing this on Wednesday, but Monday was such a productive day that I"ll have to talk about it.
While I"m at it, I"ll talk about today as well. Tuesday should be stricken from the history books though.
Monday, a beautiful morning, a smooth transition from waking up to ward rounds.
Always a good start, but it would get better. The ward rounds went smoothly, lots to learn but also lots learnt. Coffee break was a great change from our usual routine (no coffee), a nice treat from our Registrar, who has moved on to greener pastures (or maybe not... Modbury?).
I topped off the morning with a nice and easy bit of blood thievery, using for the first time a butterfly needle/vacuum tube. Left handed. Without a spoon.
Tuesday. Bleh.
Wednesday, today, a good morning which started with great anticipation, as the great handover would occur. Our new Registrar managed to find us, but our RMO was nowhere in sight. Luckily her pager was available. Sitting on the computer in front of us. Convenient, but understandable as they apparently have a full day orientation session. Probably high ropes and lots of clapping and laughing (yes, that is an inside joke, but you can laugh with me anyway whoever you are reading this).
So after about 30 minutes our Registrar left us, leaving the ward round to 2 interns, a GEMPIV and 3 GEMPIIIs. Big G* was eventually left behind, getting some paperwork done leaving Dr T* to lead the team. For amusement"s sake, I began to write "Colorectal Ward Rounds - Dr T* & Team" in the patient notes, half hoping that he would be called out, leaving us medical students to continue the ward rounds, perhaps flounder and drown. Moments later, Dr T"s pager pinged.
Unfortunately, we weren"t to be left to our own ward rounds. A patient on the wards had the Met team called, which gave us the chance to see what happens in a real Met call. Nowhere near the excitement of television, but interesting anyway.
To top off a fun morning, there were brownies in the intern room.
Ah, good times.
*Note: Names used are not their real names, but amusing replacements which the author has made up on the spot. They amuse me.
While I"m at it, I"ll talk about today as well. Tuesday should be stricken from the history books though.
Monday, a beautiful morning, a smooth transition from waking up to ward rounds.
Always a good start, but it would get better. The ward rounds went smoothly, lots to learn but also lots learnt. Coffee break was a great change from our usual routine (no coffee), a nice treat from our Registrar, who has moved on to greener pastures (or maybe not... Modbury?).
I topped off the morning with a nice and easy bit of blood thievery, using for the first time a butterfly needle/vacuum tube. Left handed. Without a spoon.
Tuesday. Bleh.
Wednesday, today, a good morning which started with great anticipation, as the great handover would occur. Our new Registrar managed to find us, but our RMO was nowhere in sight. Luckily her pager was available. Sitting on the computer in front of us. Convenient, but understandable as they apparently have a full day orientation session. Probably high ropes and lots of clapping and laughing (yes, that is an inside joke, but you can laugh with me anyway whoever you are reading this).
So after about 30 minutes our Registrar left us, leaving the ward round to 2 interns, a GEMPIV and 3 GEMPIIIs. Big G* was eventually left behind, getting some paperwork done leaving Dr T* to lead the team. For amusement"s sake, I began to write "Colorectal Ward Rounds - Dr T* & Team" in the patient notes, half hoping that he would be called out, leaving us medical students to continue the ward rounds, perhaps flounder and drown. Moments later, Dr T"s pager pinged.
Unfortunately, we weren"t to be left to our own ward rounds. A patient on the wards had the Met team called, which gave us the chance to see what happens in a real Met call. Nowhere near the excitement of television, but interesting anyway.
To top off a fun morning, there were brownies in the intern room.
Ah, good times.
*Note: Names used are not their real names, but amusing replacements which the author has made up on the spot. They amuse me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)