In case you don't already know via other social networking sources, I got my 7th preference (out of 14) for internship. It's Wollongong.
Pros:
I have lots of relos down that way
It's near the beach
I went to Wollongong Uni for four years (in the mid-90s), so I'm familiar with the area
It's not too far from friends and family in The Shire.
Cons:
It's too far from friends and inner-city lifestyle in the inner west
It's not in Sydney
I have to move house, and a considerable distance.
I've been whinging about it, but the pros outweigh the cons - I need to just shut up and get over it. I tried to swap, but no-one wants to swap into Wollongong - only out of there! So today I bit the bullet and accepted the place.
It seems like people either got their first choice or their 7th/8th/9th choice. I've heard of a few in-between, but they're the minority. So much for IMET telling us that everyone gets within their top 4 or 5! On average, maybe.
In other news, I've just finished my week of holidays. I had grand plans for the holidays - especially working on my photography. Unfortunately I got the (most likely, swine) flu last weekend, so that ruined it. I had no energy and was very unwell, especially earlier in the week. I seem to have come good now, but my throat's still not 100%.
So it's back to uni tomorrow, and I feel like I've hardly had a break at all. I'm doing Paediatrics, and I really wish I had more energy before starting this block.
Also, I recently agreed to take on the role of Yearbook Editor for our class. This may prove to be a very unwise move - I always over-commit and end up stressed out. Although it certainly is a good role for me - project management, editing, proofreading. It'll really test my powers of delegation! (And I'm very happy to have Liz helping me out...)
Does anyone remember this song? I loved it back in the day:
So the Hottest 100 of All Time has come and gone. No surprises about #1 (Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"), though I was very pleased with #2 (Rage Against The Machine, "Killing In The Name Of"). Thought there would've been more women in the list - the only lead vocals were Massive Attack's "Unfinished Sympathy" (LOVE that song, and the video) and "Teardrop" (not a fan, can't believe it charted so highly). Surprised that Björk didn't make an appearance, let alone Tori Amos and PJ Harvey. (I know I didn't vote for them, but they're JJJ favourites.) Only one of my top 10 songs made it into the list - Jeff Buckley's "Lover, You Should've Come Over" at #56. No R.E.M.! Devastating.
In other news, I've pretty much finished my GP rotation. Just one presentation and one quiz left on Wednesday. The second part of my rural placement in Menindee was, as predicted, very dull. Many days with no doctors and very few patients. As planned, we got our assignments done, and I also worked a lot (gotta keep earning the big bucks).
We were in Menindee for a weekend without a car, and it was very painful. We asked to borrow one of the Health Service cars, but we were declined in no uncertain terms. In fact, the whole time we were there no-one took us for a drive around town. And seeing as Menindee is all about the lakes outside of town, we were not impressed. The sunrises and sunsets were lovely though. And we frequented the pub, playing pool (badly) against the locals. Aaaand of course there were some good photo opportunities.
Foggy sunrise in Menindee
Alongside the Darling River in Menindee (I really like this one for some reason)
Back in Sydney (finally), I started my three-week urban placement at a bulk-billing GP practice in the city. I expected a lot of transient patients, but was pleasantly surprised to find that a lot of people use the GPs there as their regular GPs, because they don't have time to visit their local doctors outside of work hours. Unfortunately, being a bulk-billing place we had SO MANY people with colds, wanting medical certificates. If they'd had to pay, there's no way they'd have bothered coming to the doctor. I caught two colds during the rotation. Plenty of 'flu cases around too, including swine 'flu.
My GP supervisor was very friendly. He was happy for me to see patients, so I was relieved that I didn't have to sit there and watch him all day. (Watching him type notes onto the computer was especially painful, but he soon realised that and let me do the typing.) We alternated with each patient who came in (unless it was a WorkCover matter, which I let him deal with). I did heaps of vaccinations and am very confident with those now. Far too many patients needed their ears syringed - gross! I'd be happy to never do that again! Lots of STIs, a bit of this, a bit of that. It wasn't too bad.
My supervisor gave me some nice feedback. He said that I'm a good listener and can quickly establish rapport with patients (which I knew already, but it was nice to hear anyway). On my evaluation form he wrote, "Will make a great doctor". Awwwww.
So why am I ponderous? Well of course doing this rotation makes me think about my career path again. My main areas of interest so far have been Psychiatry and Anaesthetics. GP is also a possibility, because I could do a lot of Psychiatry as a GP. I'm good at establishing rapport and talking to patients - considering that, perhaps Anaesthetics isn't for me? Perhaps I wouldn't be playing to my strengths. Hmmm much to think about, but no rush...
Triple J are running the Hottest 100 of All Time in July. They last did it back in 1989, when this song was number 1 (I suspect it'll be up there this year too):
I voted this week, and it was difficult! First you creat a shortlist, and then you select up to 10 favourites from that list. You can also nominate your number 1 song, which enters you in a prize draw.
I browsed my iTunes collection (over 10,000 songs) to create my shortlist of 55 songs. From that, I had the torturous task of selecting just 10 songs. Here they are (in no particular order, apart from number 1), with my reasoning behind each choice...
This song just makes me happy - the melody, the lyrics, and the association it has with happy moments in my life. Also, I love to dance to it. In my loungeroom.
(The Cure's 'In Between Days' could've easily made it into the top 10. I love to dance to it too.)
2. 'Find The River' R.E.M.
That's the acoustic version - you can find the original music video on page 2 at this site.
R.E.M. are my favourite band, in case you hadn't already figured that out. 'Find The River' and 'You Are The Everything' are my two favourite songs, but 'Find The River' wins for the sheer joy I feel listening to it. The instruments, the harmonies, the lyrics - perfect.
3. 'Disarm' Smashing Pumpkins
This song reminds me of uni in the early 90s. I have a specific memory of a summer holiday down the south coast of NSW, listening to this song over and over. We especially loved the line, "To wither in denial".
Oh yes, and I should mention - as a (bad) violinist, I love string arrangements in pop/rock songs. *swoon*
4. 'Light & Day' The Polyphonic Spree
This one should also come as no surprise. A beautiful, joyful song. Great to sing along to in the car. It's a good motivational song too.
5. 'I've Got A Plan' My Friend The Chocolate Cake
One of my favourite Australian bands. I first discovered them in the early 90s with my first boyfriend (he's now gay, and one of my best friends, and isn't that a whole other story?), and I've lost count of the number of times we've seen them live. This song in particular resonates for me, but there are so many to choose from.
6. 'Lover, You Should've Come Over' Jeff Buckley
The 'Grace' album is amazing of course, and many people love the more well-known songs like 'Last Goodbye', 'Grace', and 'Hallelujah', but I adore this one. My favourite line is, "She's the tear that hangs inside my soul forever". I was lucky enough to see Jeff in concert in 1995 - amazing.
7. 'At First Sight' The Stems
My favourite Aussie love song. "Just say the word and I would die for you."
8. 'The Rainbow Connection' Kermit the Frog
What's not to love? I saw The Muppet Movie at a drive-in in 1979 or 1980. We owned the LP soundtrack too. Hmmm, I wonder if my Mum still has it somewhere...
9. 'Even When I'm Sleeping' Leonardo's Bride
Another wonderful Australian love song. I saw Abby Dobson perform this at The Famous Spiegeltent in December last year, backed by her old bandmate Dean Manning. It brought a tear to my eye.
I was a late convert to the Dave Matthews Band - they're not hugely popular in Australia (at least not on the radio), and I first heard this song on an American workmate's computer back in about 2005. I quickly amassed all their albums, and saw them live in 2007. They've just released a new album, which I need to buy. I love many of their songs, but this one is my fave.
It's the beginning of week 3 of my GP term and, as predicted, I'm bored.
I'm on my rural placement in far western NSW with another student from my uni. We thought we were going to Broken Hill, but we've actually done one week in Wilcannia, and just started a two-week placement in Menindee. They're both very small towns.
Wilcannia was an eye-opener. It's a really depressing place. It used to be a thriving riverside town - the beautiful old sandstone buildings are a reminder of that time. But now it has one shop (a supermarket where, for example, broccoli costs $13 a kilo), one pub, and one club - and a raft of social, cultural, and health problems. There is a large indigenous population.
The hospital is very nice (another gorgeous sandstone building), and our accommodation was better than expected. But we couldn't go out at night, and felt very isolated. Even walking to the supermarket at 4pm on a Wednesday meant encountering groups of drunk men walking the streets.
It's a frustrating place. I have a lot of respect for the people who are trying to make it better, but I don't know how they can handle it. Small steps, I suppose. Health has improved in recent years with the implementation of a chronic disease monitoring program, and an early childhood program. Change is coming - slowly. But there's just so much that needs to be done - not just in healthcare. It's a place that many people have tried to fix over the years, but the list of failures is long.
One night we put our names down for ambulance/ED callout, and were woken at 1am. There was a brawl - one man had been glassed and he was in the ED, very aggressive and not allowing anyone to examine him. It was obvious that he hadn't just been drinking. Drugs are having more and more of an impact on the community. The perpetrator was there too - he'd broken his arm.
I was given the task of examining a woman who'd come in after having the crap beaten out of her by her drunk partner. I'd never examined an assault victim before (I'm sure it'll be all-too-common next year though), and I was pleased that I stayed calm and got a good history and did a good examination. In the ED we have to phone the on-call doctor at the RFDS base in Broken Hill, and she was happy with my assessment. Thankfully, the woman was not too seriously injured (no broken bones).
We found it hard to learn much about general practice because the doctors weren't there every day. One day, the RFDS doctor couldn't land due to fog, so we ran his clinic and called him to sign off on what we were doing. Sounds interesting, but it wasn't too challenging and we weren't getting feedback on our performance, so it didn't feel worthwhile. The clinic staff were very grateful for our help though. The worst thing we saw was a child's infected scalp still crawling with lice. (I just typed that and then scratched my head - happens every time I think about lice.)
We arrived in Menindee this morning, and the healthcare setup is more of the same - except there are even fewer doctors here, and fewer patients coming to the ED. Today dragged like you wouldn't believe - and I'm here for 11 days. Thankfully this town is more functional than Wilcannia (two shops, two pubs!), and we feel safe walking around. But it's cold and windy and rainy, and we've already had enough.
The aim for the next two weeks is to knock over all of my uni assignments so that I can relax when I get back to Sydney. It'll be good to do my urban placement with one GP who I can build a relationship with over the three weeks, and hopefully learn from.
PS. We were quite amused to see that Wilcannia Hospital made the news while we were there! Thanks to Yay for letting me know...
Hit 30 and decided to change careers, so now I'm a doctor. It's good, bad, fascinating, mind-numbing, but ultimately wonderful. I think I've found the thing that I should be doing. I hope.
