Category Archive

I drew my first blood today. No one died, passed out or ended up with giant bruises.
YAY!

that is all

So I did my exams, and I passed. Yay!
<little jig of victory>

Wasn’t as bad as i thought’d they be and obviously my scotch habit hasn’t diminished my capacity too much.

OH yes, my blog traffic was very exciting for a while, I thought that my little corner of the web was somehow super interesting but it turns out that simply having the worlds ‘bill henson’ was enough to make this a superstar blog.  I need to preemt the next controversy….

anyways, i ought to go do some busywork - make some more inappropriately reactive software. bah.
Thought puddle was looking a bit empty. And i do apologise that it hasn’t really been a joyful trundle of late - it was supposed to be an entertaining record of adventures.  Hopefully fun times are ahead

bissous

So exams are upon me. I think I’m doing ok, aside from eating my body weight in ’study cookies’ over the last few weeks.

I’m really over it. its been a long slog and I just want holidays now. Not that they’re going to be much of a holiday as I’m designing for a new show, but still it’ll be a good break.
I ought to go back to study, but just came across this article in the New England Journal of Medicine, and its quite a touching story about how close things are to going wrong.

Warning : Med nerdiness

So coming from non science background, medicine is like a whole new language - it sounds like english, but it clearly is not.
So, stupid things that I have been caught out on

the Null Hypothesis
everyone kept going on about it, but I kept thinking that it was clearly stupid to create an experiment where your hypothesis was where nothing happened. Turns out that Null does not mean your zeroth proposition, but that it is generated AFTER your hypothesis for statistical pruposes.

Anti Human Antibodies
Which clearly has far too many ‘anti’s in it to be healthy. I was all confused as I thought that ‘anti human’ obviously meant that they dont like humans and so would stay the hell away. For example, if I am anti football, you wouldn’t ever see me anywhere near a football. But it turns out that they really do like Human Antibodies.

It means nothing, but its one of the little things that, silly as it is keeps me going.
We had our first formal assessment today, a ’standard’ patient, who is an actor pretending to be a patient and we have to take a history from them ; you know, whats wrong with them, how they feel about it, etc etc.
I managed to get most of the information I needed in 12 minutes and she liked me enough to give me an empathy score of 7/7 (huggy-feely score) and said that she felt really comfortable talking to me.

It is of course entirely arbitrary, and the last SP I saw was less than impressed with me. But still, little things like that reassure me that I made the right choice, and its all going along ok.

So Audaci, Yay and Polly have all posted their thoughts on future specialties as of now, so I thought I’d join in the fun, though with a mere 9 weeks of medicine under my belt consider it a very ill informed list.

Surgery - Yup
-currently considering plastic/reconstruction - seems like a field that is a bit creative, lots of variety.
-trauma - excitement plus
-paediatric surgery - like surgery, but smaller.

Emergency - Yup seems interesting. short attention span, no ongoing care which is good and bad.

Cardio - maybe. I like the heart.

Respiratory - no idea. I liked the resp physician who treated me?

Haematology - hell no. Interesting but nah.

O&G - interesting, but being a guy probably not

GP - possible esp rural

Gastro - not at the mo

Dermatology - not at the mo

Paeds - yes, like internal medicine, but with small people.

Anaesthetics - maybe - the anaesthetists i know are a happy bunch

Radiology - not at the mo

Path - unlikely

endocrinology - unlikely

General Physician - possible

Nephrology - no. I hate kidneys. complicated bastards they are.

Head explody-ness

so we did a mock exam. I actually did pretty good on it, was very happy, for 8 weeks total science career I think I aquitted myself alright.

However we started a new block and I’m back to feeling like the toeslime of the PBL group again.  I’m really hanging for the time that it becomes a roughly even playing field.  There’s all this information which I get the distinct feeling that I ought to know but I just don’t, and no matter how fast and how much I read its never right. I read a bucket load of papers to be told that they were the wrong papers. I mean how the frick do you know which are the RIGHT ones?

On a brighter note, we had a rural day where we got to learn suturing, plastering, cannulating and resuscitation with a laryngeal mask.  Big fun.

Just how many people who require their services is simply amazing. Props to the colo-rectal surgeons

We had a Cultural Awareness day last week. It was strictly an Indigenous Culture Day but I’m just being pedantic.
It was partly great and partly woeful.

But I have ranted about it enough to everyone at uni and its rather specific so I’ll leave it off the blog. However we did get treated to a woefully stupid lecture on unresolved grief events.  It was an explanation of how intergenerational grief can be seen to be responsible for the current state of Indigenous Health.  I’m slightly dubious on this, I would think its the gross inequality of social and economic circumstances faced by indigenous communities, would play a tremendous role. But I’ll give her that if she wants it, certainly emotional reasons play a real part in health. However, she went on to say that cancer was in fact caused by grief (intergenerational or otherwise) and that while we might treat cancer with drugs and surgery now, in future, we’ll refer cancer sufferers to grief counsellors like her to be cured.

I mean WTF?! Oh, you have a nasty pancreatic cancer, why dont you go see a grief counsellor, have a hug and see how that goes?

She then went on to explain how international grief is causing global warming - with the solution being in 7 easy steps involving crying, hugging, dancing, singing, alone time etc. I’m sure those things are very nice to do, its effectiveness on global warming is slightly more dubious.

Bah

Funny cartoons

pt1

pt2 

But people buy this stuff

My story of alty crap medicine  :

It was a few years ago and I wasn’t doing too great, nothing specific mind you, wasn’t sleeping well, general malaise and some of my friends suggested seeing esther, a lady renowned for her healing powers. I thought what the heck, see how it goes

Her treatment modality was truly something to behold. Her diagnosis is truly astonishing, she holds your hands, while muttering to herself - at this point she is talking to your cells directly and asking them what is wrong.
Phase two is also something to behold, you lie down and she holds your head while she reads off a photocopied piece of paper a chant which goes something like this
” I ask you cells to heal yourselves in the correct time, not too fast adn not to slow. Oh liver I ask  you to regain your balance…..”

By this point i couldnt’ quite decide whether to collapse in giggles or explode in incredulity. I think i settled for a mild spasm, which she probably took as efficious treatment.

I got a bunch of herbs too with the parting note that I could always just send some hair if i couldn’t make it into see her personally and she would treat me from afar.

It cost $125.

I did feel better after that, though I think it was because I haven’t had such a good giggle for a while, but after that I learnt that she claimed to cure cancer as well, where my angry set in.
Its one thing to treat non-specific minor complaints - in some ways its the suckers fault (i learnt my lesson) but to advocate her ‘treatment’ over something as serious as cancer really pissed me off

I’m not good at lectures. Yay for tablet  laptops!

intro to human homeostasis …

intro to something or other…

Bel from Audaci’s comment made me thunk and will hopefully change my mindset as I’m woeful at taking my own advice.

But really I should try to be proud of the baby steps of progress so far.  I have learnt stuff, I may not know as much about <insert enzyme/hormone here> as some others but I’m learning stuff.

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and now for something completely different

On another note, i saw Leigh Warren and Dancer’s new piece, Seven at the Adelaide Fringe, which was great. It was terrific seeing my friends perform and obviously relish the performance, though it made me more than a little wistful.  But really, despite the workload and the constant feeling of overload, I’m really enjoying medicine and can look back on my performing fondly and without too much sadness.

I do miss being creative though, and have signed up for our Health and Human Rights Group as junior media rep, which hopefully will prove fun.  The cynic in me says that no way a small bunch of wide eyed med students can never make much of a difference which  is balanced against the wide eyed optimism that the sentiment is worth working for and that we certainly can make a difference to communities in need.

I also miss teaching, I really have to find somewhere to teach…

Bel’s post on the transition from creative industries to medicine made me think over my transition too. (just to add to the list, here is another ex-dancer turned med student)

I enjoyed my time in the arts. I loved it. I loved the camaraderie of creating a performance, performing it, touring with it and growing with it. I loved many of the people I met, I loved the thrill of creating my own work, realising my vision.  I guess why I left was of practicality, and also a feeling that I needed a change.  I was satisfied with what I had done. Like Audaci I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it made sense to me, and it seemed ‘right’ and still does despite my whinging and bitching.

There was certainly an element that it was no longer as fulfilling as it was before. Those who’ve read this for a while know my issues with the whole system of publically funded art, the politics of getting the money and also a certain angst of, what is it, cosmically speaking, all for?  I never did get a good answer to that, but along with a feeling that dancing was no longer the most fun I could have and the very real prospect of being ‘damaged goods’ due to bodgy lungs, it seemed ripe to change.

 ”The one thing that art and health have in common is the human experience.  Across both you will see the full spectrum of human suffering and elation.  The former may be a more abstract, disconnected version of, but the link is there.  Across both you will find your mind challenged, twisted in ways you never thought possible, you’re exposed to depths of knowledge hitherto unimagined.  So similar, but so different.  The problem solving too, the starting with nothing and creating a whole picture is so similar.  You need that same arsenal of skills, even though the skills themselves may differ.  And the sense of personal challenge is the same. “

I was just talking about it to a friend of mine, and I really do see a continuum across my eclectic background.  The challenges, the element of the human - its frailty, its beauty and its many faces, the drawing and synthesis of ideas from disparate sources,  the learning, the teaching and sharing of knowledge and experience, it is, as Bel says, same same, but different.

I don’t know if this post makes any sense, but I’ve been trying to get down some thoughts as I muddle my way through this med school thing.

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for bloggers/forum junkies

Bilateral Salpingo Oopherectomy - removal of both fallopian tubes and ovaries

I think I have to get over being stubborn and competitive. I feel really bad that I have nothing to contribute to my group that they don’t already know, so I compensate by spending inordinate amounts of time digging up journals and such just so I have something to say. Its taking up way too much time.

I think it goes back to my time as a performer. I never was the most naturally talented, but I made it through stubborness and competitiveness.  I would pick people who were superb and use them as a benchmark across various skills. So now I’m pitting myself against physios and Phd holders in biochemistry.  No wonder I feel like I’m going under.

So here I am, first time on the wards, out to take a history, something exotic and exciting. Like House. Amyloidosis, lupus, something exciting.
No such luck, broken head of femur and surgery to fix. Still, i’m all dressed up, and talking to a patient.

She cries

awesome

———–

Holy hell. First 2 weeks of med school done. It was intense, there are 135 people to meet, new routines, a hospital and campus designed to bewilder and confuse.  I’m kind of settling in - enjoying the challenges and the people, but I’m feeling my lack of science background tough to handle.
I’m already having to stay back till stupid hours just to keep afloat-I haven’t read a textbook since high school!  But hoping that it will get easier as it goes on.  I can however draw totally awesome pictures which is my contribution in PBL sessions.   To be honest, I am roughly on par with the science kiddies, I fall behind in the biochemestry and some of the cohort have PHD’s in their pet hormone so I’m never going to catch up there, but overall I’m happy with it.  Though I’d love to try and find a way to have a life as well.
I’m missing dancing and being active, other than becoming increasingly squishy, its odd not feeling stretched. There is a sensation in the body when you’re in top shape, it feels somehow ‘ready’. Ready for whatever silly thing I have in mind. Now I feel disconnected, or in James Joyce’s words, ‘lived a little distance from his body’.

However I have been able to go climbing at a lovely spot a short way out of town, though in keeping with the theme of my adventures - for those of you who have followed them, I managed to make it all the way up a grade 18 arete - which isn’t all that hard but I haven’t climbed above 16 for 6months, and was about to top out when my hand ventured near a hive of particularly territorial wasps which promptly swarmed and stung the crap outta me.  Apparently it my a few seconds to decide that letting go was the better option to being stung, and came back down. I was more than slightly concerned as I’m rather allergic to bees and other stingy creatures, but it seems i’m reasonably immune to wasp venom. THough I do swell up  in entertainly huge, painful and itchy lumps.

But anyway, overall this adventure is going well, the people are great (if all scary overachieving types), and I’m having fun. Hopefully there will be stories of debauchery, nurses and on call rooms soon, as I”m doing med for the nookie!

Terranik has been accepted as a Medical Trainee to the RAAF!

Basically it means she is paid by the RAAF a salary while studying as well as all study expenses covered during medical school. Post graduation she eventually becomes a Medical Officer to the RAAF, which I think is  GP with aeromedicine specialisation and she will work on base, as well as overseas deployments.

Props from me, and the best wishes to her as the first year through Notre Dame Sydney