Rural (3
Weeks)
Me and a Friend were allocated a Rural Town in
Victoria for our Rural Rotation. The first week involved Lectures in Shepparton
for a few days on Rural and Aboriginal Health before we headed off to our
respective Towns which involved a tour of the different Hospital Departments. To
be honest we didn’t actually do much Clinical work coz we had a 20 Minute
Powerpoint Presentation to work on and present at the end of THIS Rotation,
which was actually very stressful given the seeming lack of Direction in the
Assignment and difficulty collecting relevant Data in the allocated Time.
We got to stay in a House that was shared with 2
Nursing Students who provided interesting Social Company at the Time. One of
the Nursing Students was a Mature-Aged Student who had 3 Nephews with Asperger
Syndrome which amused me greatly. I found it interesting to hear more in depth what
studying and working in Nursing was like, and she also provided a bit of Advice
on how to deal with Patients.
The Rural Rotation was also an Opportunity to practice
Domestic Tasks like Cooking and doing the Laundry, which I’m usually too lazy
to do at Home… : )
ED (3 Weeks)
3 Weeks for ED was surprisingly short given that it’s
actually a Core Rotation (10 weeks) in Internship. It also didn’t help that it
was our final Rotation for Semester 11 and I was frantically preparing for Exams.
The other Students were preparing for Exams and Internship Applications, which
made them even more stressed out. I’m aware that in the new MD Course, it’s now
8 weeks but also fuses Elements from the other Adult Medicine Specialties from
our MBBS Course (eg Endocrine for Diabetic Ketoacidosis). We had a few Tutes which
IMHO were overly detailed, and I learned and retained the most by actually going
to the ED and speaking to Patients.
I loved the Practicality of ED. Triage was very useful
for OSCE practice coz I had to take a targeted History for a Presenting
Complaint and rule out the Differentials in a rapid Manner, along with
presenting the Info to an ED Registrar / Consultant. I think when you are under
Pressure to perform, you tend to acquire the necessary Skills a lot quicker out
of Necessity. In my case, it was only a matter of Days in which I could
memorize the Questions to ask for an AMI (Heart Attack) / Angina, and know what
Tests to order, followed by initial Management. It’s not expected to CURE a
Patient at the ED, but one can always try to make a quick positive difference which
was what I liked.
It also provided Opportunities for IV Cannulation and
Venepuncture, of which I got a few Cases signed off. Similarly, Clerking was
easier, coz the Patients were relatively “new” to the hospital and haven’t been
“interrogated” by all the Healthcare Staff, so were more receptive to answering
medical Questions and being physically examined (providing they were
conscious!). I also appreciated that as a Student, it was considered acceptable
to come to the ED at Night-time or early Morning for extra experience, as other
staff would assume you were rostered onto a late Shift!!!
During this Rotation, I was so enamored by ED’s Practicality
that I was interested in ED Training as a serious Alternative to Pathology. Interestingly,
both Specialties have a preliminary Exam that tested on Pathology (from the “Robbins
& Cotran - Pathologic Basis of Disease” Textbook). However, an ED Registrar
suggested I don’t, and instead pursue the latter, as there was currently an
oversupply of ED Registrars, for which there’ll be a insufficient ED Consultant
(and ongoing ED Registrar) Posts in about 3 years’ time. She also said that the
Shift Work would eventually take a toll on your Physical and Mental Wellbeing
to the Point where you won’t be able to enjoy the Work as much as you’d like.
Although one of my Medications (Modafinil) is officially indicated for Shift
Work, I was inclined to agree with her given my previous Experiences. What a shame…
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