Today was a much more interesting day- I thought. Class didn’t start to 9am today, so I had time to talk to Brent for a little bit before school. I was raining again this morning- but this time it didn’t last very long.
We had an hour or two of lecture all together this morning mostly explaining our “option” (which I’ll explain), and the opportunities available through the university to get involved in rural medicine. Every student has to do an “option” that is due in July of 2008. We can choose almost anything!!! Some ideas they gave us were medical research, clinical experience, medicine and music or even building houses and educating people in Uganda. They offer some options through the faculty here, but they are also open to suggestions from the students. So- pretty much any medical related projected (so long as it is approved by the school) is ok! The project has to take about 40 hours to complete and you have to write a paper on how it benefited your personal and professional development in medicine.
After those lectures, the class split into 4 groups and you had to attend 4 different stations- Assessment, Pathology, IT/Computers, and Themes. There were all really interesting- except for the computer one cause I hate computers- still (and especially since Jamie isn’t here!).
The assessment station was mostly about how we are going to be evaluated. We found out when our exams are and which ones count. For the first year and a half (and maybe longer) there are no grades. You are marked: excellent, satisfactory, undecided, or unsatisfactory. Obviously, you need a satisfactory to pass. They say this helps students work together in groups and to help each other (as you would in medicine), instead of having to be competitive and selfish to improve your class ranking. We have a few other things we have to do- like the “option”, a “poster project” and a “portfolio”, but they seem to be most concerned about our attendance at this point. I guess uncle Rob wouldn’t have done very well in this program. He he he
Our next station- pathology was really interesting. Just before we went into the classroom in the pathology building (on the 5th floor), I saw a GIANT spider on the wall. All the Australians were laughing at me since I was so shocked by it. They say they see those spiders all the time- and I think they said they were called Hunter Spiders since they hunt cockroaches. I guess that’s a good thing- but it really looked so scary. It was gray and furry and GIANT.
Anyway, we only spent a few minutes in that classroom before we got to go to the Pathology Museum. It was so neat! It was full of over 1500 preserved specimens. Every specimen is labeled under the system of the body it belongs to, as well as the pathological condition. We saw so much and we weren’t even in there very long! Anthrax (on the skin), gangrene (in the foot), all kinds of cancers, rickets (on the femur), tuberculosis, coal workers lungs, heart diseases, osteoporosis and heaps more that I can’t remember. While we were in the museum, we also met our PBL (Problem Based Learning- like they do at McMaster) tutor groups. These are groups of about 8 people and we meet 3 times a week to discuss a “case”. In the first session we are given most of the patient history and we have to come up with a hypothesis as to what is wrong and what is causing the problem. (Then we have to go and research and read about it.) In the second session we get to ask the “patient” more questions and come up with a diagnosis… etc. In the third session we have to come up with the mechanism (of the condition) and then plan a treatment. Every week we get a new case and have to go through the same steps. Apparently there are about 140 of these cases throughout our years here- meant to cover the 140 main problems that a doctor would come across. Anyway- my PBL group seems really great. There is one lady (probably in her thirties) who is from South Africa and the rest are from Australia. I had lunch with them today. They were laughing because I said ‘eh’ a few times and they said I say ‘about’ like ‘ABOOT’ (but I really didn’t think that I did)!
Anyway, after lunch we had the IT session for an hour. I’m not really sure what was going on- but most other people didn’t either, so I didn’t feel that badly. Also, I have a new email now that I will be using in addition to my jossyd@hotmail.com. It is jdes5706@med.usyd.edu.au .
Our last session was called Themes and it was really interesting too. We heard a story about a couple who had just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary early last year. Two weeks after their party for it, the wife went to see her GP and revealed a HUGE fungating breast cancer (the cancer had grown so much that it had grown out through her skin). The doctors wondered why she had left it so late. They soon found out that it had spread to her lungs (and was causing a cough) and to her knee (which was causing her pain). The woman said that she just wanted to make it to her 50th wedding anniversary and didn’t want to be a burden on anyone. L It was a very sad story (and the lady died about 6 months after- even though the doctors only thought she had about 3 months to live). Anyway, at the rest of the session they talked a lot about the 5 different themes/sections that the Sydney Medical Program focuses on. They are Doctor-Patient relationships, Doctors and their communities (the differences between practicing in big cities, rural areas, developing countries…etc), Evidence Based Medicine (looking at past procedures, treatments and outcomes…etc), Professional and Personal Development and Basic Science and Clinical Skills. They told us how lots of people think that medicine is just about knowing your basic science and clinical skills (which they say IS very important), but that the other areas of medicine are just as important.
After school, I went over to Broadway shopping mall to get a few groceries and things- and I ran into my friend Charlie (from Sudbury). He is still looking for a place to live and he says it is just impossible. He had written off the village last week (where I’m living), but decided that he’d take a look today since he is getting pretty desperate. There are still some studio apartments available in my complex, but they don’t have kitchens, so I’m not sure if Charlie will take one or not.
When I got home from school, Brent’s Australian friend, Alphabet, called me. He is the head of the Rescue and Lifesaving Program in Northern Sydney and was one of the people who wrote Brent a letter to help with his visa. Alphabet gave me all is contact info and told me to call him anytime if I ever needed anything! He says he is going to call me every few weeks to check up on me too. He was really really nice!
I have to take a few of my earrings out for tomorrow since it is our first day at the hospital. They told us that older patients (especially) don’t want to see tattoos or too may earrings…etc. on their doctors.
I’m going to try to get to bed early tonight since it is going to be a VERY long day tomorrow.
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