Lazy day of SUPER STABBINGS!

Ah, clinics. Those little rooms where, as a student, you sit within and are expected to be quiet while the grownups are talking.
I managed to, out of sheer stupidity, fail at signing up for clinics (as mentioned previously). Oh, I did put them down in my timetable, I just managed not to write my name in the clinic sign up sheet.

Good work.

So instead, I slept in.

It was wonderful!

Wednesdays, like most Wednesdays (well, like most Wednesdays from now on) involve whatever I manage to get done in the morning, followed by my GP placement in the afternoon.

I was quite excited about my GP placement, though also a little nervous as the GP mentioned after our first session, that he would be having me helm the remaining consults. He seemed to think I was ready for it, but I certainly didn"t think so.

In order to calm myself, I decided to do some reading and revision. After making this decision, I went to the kitchen and cooked myself an elaborate pasta dish. It was delicious and I now have lunch for the next few days... By the time this was done, it was time to leave. In fact, I was late. Instead of a nice leisurely stroll to catch the bus, I sprinted and found that the bus was late anyway. Hooray for Adelaide public transport!

On arriving at the GPs, I found that he indeed wanted me to sit in "the big boy chair" and take charge of the consults. Using all my training as a Flinders medical student, I managed to look confident as I said "No problem!"

Surprisingly, it really wasn"t a problem.

Covering crazy situations from musculoskeletal causes (?tricompartmental osteoarthritis, carpal tunnel, whiplash injury) to inflammatory causes (plantar fasciitis, peritonitis, dermatitis) to simple surgical follow-up for workcover (inguinal hernia). I managed not to stuff things up too badly. Probably the most difficult was the young lady who came in with tiredness (who knows, she was tired!).

I even managed to do a few procedures, seeing as I was in charge. With an experienced GP as my personal assistant (he gave me examples on what I could tell assistants to do, such as cut things, pick up things, shine my shoes and get me coffee), I again made use of my super Flinders training and made myself appear to be a seasoned veteran, as I did my first flu vaccination.

The practice sessions at looking confident helped even more when I had the chance to do my first punch biopsy (just like an apple corer!), as well as my first suturing of something that wasn"t the refrigerated amputated trotter of a pig (oh my, its so much easier!).

All in all, a successful day of firsts.

A tasty day.

Today started as any other, with my rising before the sun. I was annoyed, but that was usual. I was actually annoyed slightly less today as I knew there would be a group meeting with FREE BREAKFAST!

I cheerfully arrived at ward rounds, right on time and eagerly awaiting breakfast. I knew we could fly through the 4 patients we had in a flash and move on. Unfortunately, we managed to acquire 4 more patients overnight. I really can"t complain as everyone else I know of seems to have 20+ patients on their wards. Oh well.
That"s when the Registrar started playing with my emotions. He told us there wasn"t a meeting today.
My fellow students and I cried. Or at least, we were greatly disappointed.
After dragging ourselves through ward rounds, taking our time, our resident super nurse told us that we should be getting to the meeting. My eyes lit up, there was indeed a meeting today! My Registrar was wrong!

30 minutes later, I was satisfied (though not as much as I could be, there were bacon and egg wraps last week!) with mini pancakes, muffins, strawberries and yogurt. It was time for theatre.

Laparoscopic bilateral inguinal hernia repair, laparoscopic umbilical [EDIT: or rather, para-umbilical] hernia repair, zzz...


I managed to eventually escape so I could waste my time travelling to Centrelink for an appointment just so I could tell them things I could have told them on the phone...

Blah.

Squash in the afternoon was fun, as was a little bit of gym work.

I had decided yesterday that for dinner tonight (and for lunch tomorrow and probably the next day...) I would make pasta. I had purchased pasta sauce (because I cheat like that) on special (2 jars for $3!) and some fettuccine on special (500g for $1!).

Recipe as follows:

Ingredients:
500g beef mince

500g jar of pasta sauce (any flavour)
3 tomatoes
2 carrots
2 onions
1 head of brocolli
4 little chillis
as many mushrooms as you can find in your fridge (in my case, 4)
salt
pepper
tomato sauce
bbq sauce
500g fettuccine

Directions:
1. Brown beef mince. During this time, dice tomatoes, carrots, onions, brocolli, chilli and mushrooms.
2. Add tomatoes, carrots, onions, brocolli, chilli and pasta sauce. You may need to transfer to a pot as I did.
3. Add 250mL of water (half fill the pasta sauce jar and shake) and the mushrooms. Allow to simmer.
4. Boil water, adding some salt. Add fettuccine.
5. Taste your pasta sauce, add salt and pepper to taste. At this stage, the sauce should taste good, but quite mild. I like my sauce with a bit of zing so I added some tomato sauce, bbq sauce and lots and lots of pepper.
6. Check your fettuccine, I like mine slightly more on the solid side, but cooked.
7. Drain your pasta and serve in a bowl with a generous serving of sauce, with grated cheese.

I omitted some details in my preparation such as dancing around my house meeting and ending up with a ridiculous amount of pasta and sauce. I think I have enough for the next 3 lunches.

Of course, I"m not complaining. It"s good.