My first exam of the day was a 2-part (written and practical) Basic Life Support Test and was painless thanks to my 6 summers at the beach. Also, we have new defibrillators in the hospital here that are completely fool-proof (they have compression sensors and metronomes to make sure you are compressing at the correct cadence), so that made it even better.
In the late afternoon I had my clinical exam. My examiner was an intensive care specialist and there were four students (including me) in the examination group. The exam consisted of a 10-15 minute history, a 10 minute orthopedic examination, a 5 minute presentation of the case and then some feedback from the group and the examiner.
I took the history of a 53 year old woman who had been recently diagnosed with Susac’s Syndrome. The disease was only recognized in 1975 and is characterized by encephalopathy, retinal artery occlusions, and hearing loss. It is caused by the immune system attacking healthy tissue, and can lead to mental disorders. Of course, I did not know any of this at the time (and neither did the doctor!) since there have only been ~ 200 cases of this syndrome ever reported! But, I think my history went well, nonetheless.
For my orthapedic examination, I was asked to do a full wrist and hand examination, which I was happy about because I had practiced it quite a bit (and I knew a lot of the anatomy which makes it easier to convince people that you know what you are talking about)- he he he. The presentation of the case was definitely the most intimidating part, though- especially cause the guy who presented his case before me got about 10 minutes of ‘constructive critism’ afterwards. We had to stand outside the room (immediately after our history and examination) and basicly tell the doctor everything we had heard from the patient without writing it down (but organized into a summary). Also, when you present your case, you have to stand with your feet together, your hands behind your back (pretty much perfectly still), and looking the doctor in the eyes for your entire 5-minute speech. AND, the doctor interrupts you in the middle of it with extra questions to make sure that you know what you are talking about! For example- I had to name the 8 carpal bones of the hand, a bunch of joints around the wrist, and some deformities that can commonly occur in the hands. Luckily, I got really good feedback, except that I didn’t have my hands behind my back during the presentation of my case. Our doctor said that he didn’t really care about that, but that it was a good habit to get into… and I’m sure I won’t forget to do that next time! He also told me that ‘whoever taught me orthapedics taught me well’… :) So I guess all in all, my exam went as well as I could have hoped. Also, one of the ladies in the room (who was in another bed, but watching us) called me over to her bed and told me that I had done the best examination of the day :) - which was obviously really nice to hear.
Too bad this exam didn’t count for anything! He he he.
Anyway, enough about my exams! This past weekend was our Med Ball. It was at a really nice Convention centre overlooking Darling Harbour and over 600 med students from all four years came! It was really nice, but I’m not sure it was worth 105 dollars. I think if I had have drank about 15 more beers, I might have got my moneys worth. He he he.
Everyone was so dressed up, I couldn’t believe it! A lot of the guys wore tuxedos and girls were wearing ball gowns. I think that I was quite underdressed, but at the end of the night I was very pleased that I had worn an old $50 dress from Le Chateau and had straightened my hair by myself (especially after hearing what some girls paid for their dresses, hair and makeup!).
I also randomly met Alice (Tom’s medical student) in the washroom while I was at the ball! I guess she recognized me from some pictures! So, I talked to her for a long time (in the washroom) until her boyfriend started sending people in looking for her. He he he. Anyway, she was really nice and it sounds like she had a really great time in Whistler so I’m hoping that I can do a rotation (or two!) there! 
The weather has been awful here lately… 10-20 degrees and RAIN RAIN RAIN! I can’t wait to get home to the nice, warm, sunny weather! And the long days!ONLY 5 more days and I’ll be on my way home! I can’t wait. If anyone needs to get a hold of me while I’m home, you can call Brent’s cell phone (and if you don’t have the #, just email me!)
Miss you guys and see lots of you soon!
ps. Here are a few pictures from our "Blue" pubcrawl in the rocks a few weekends ago too!
On Tuesday, my friend Nick Wu invited me to a dinner with his bible study group. They were apparently all going out for dinner in Newtown, and were allowed to bring a friend, so he invited me to go. I didn’t really know what to expect from the night- I think I assumed it would be pretty informal and relaxed. But... it turned out to be more of a recruiting session (the people there were mostly protestant), so one of the ‘friends’ there who happened to be an atheist really got a mouthful! It was an interesting night, though, and I got a good perspective on some things… but I really think that it could have been the POLAR opposite to how I spent my night yesterday.
Last night I went to my first ALL NIGHT Dance party (8pm-7:30am!)! I was volunteering with an Organization called Unimed (which I recently joined). They provide first-response first aid for large functions, parties, concerts…etc. A lot of the people who volunteer are doctors, nurses and paramedics, but there are some medical students as well. There is a big waiting list to get into the organization, but I know a couple of the 2nd year medical students, so they got me in early! So, I got to do my first event last night. It was a giant “White Party” (everyone was wearing white) and Armin Van Buuren was the DJ (apparently, he is a very popular European trance artist). The concert/party was at Olympic Park and there were over 5000 people there (who had all paid at least $85 to get in). It was a really interesting experience and I managed to stay awake without a problem… although it did ruin my day today! Since it was a fairly small event, we only had 3 paramedics, 1 nurse and 4 med students. I was paired up with one of the paramedics for most of the night which was good because I learned a lot about primary care. The nurse also taught me how to bandage knees depending on which ligaments need support (ex. ACL vs. MCL etc…). I also learned how to take blood pressure without a stethoscope since it is way too loud to hear anything in those places! I don’t have any official Unimed training yet (cause that will be in July), but I got to do a little bit because of my experience with some lifeguarding (and 1st year med) stuff.
In general though, it was apparently a pretty quiet night. There were a lot of hurt ankles, knees and toes and also a LOT of ecstasy overdoses. We had a diabetic with VERY low blood sugar who stayed with us for a few hours. (This first aid team is not like the beach where we would call for ambulances right away. We try to monitor the patients until they are better and we ONLY order an ambulance if the patient is deteriorating, or if they really need it.) We also had one really interesting patient who had overdosed on GHB. I’d never seen anyone who had overdosed on this drug before, so it was really interesting. The guy could not even walk when the boys brought him in. He was not breathing very well and had low oxygen saturation in his blood. We put him on oxygen and monitored his vitals and his airway. He kept passing out, but would wake up every 5 minutes or so, speak some polish and then try to leave, before passing out again. We also got to use the sternum rub to wake him up a few times… and it actually works!! We kept him with us for about 3-4 hours and by the time he left it was like nothing had even happened! It was so crazy. He said it was his first (and last) time ever taking GHB. (I’m not sure if I said this in my blog back in my drug and alcohol units, but GHB is the drug that is made from ink jet printer cartridges or industrial floor cleaner- which is then metabolized in your body to a naturally occurring substance found in your central nervous system- a depressant. They have a really good write up on Wikepedia about GHB, if you are interested.)
We had to wear the blue paramedic cargo-type pants (which reflective stripes on the side), a medic shirt and also those “ear-piece” radios so we could always here what was going on (since we were on the same channel as security). When we were out in the crowd, we had to wear these fluorescent yellow vests that said MEDIC on it… which really REALLY stood out in the big sea of white. We also had to walk around the venue every once and a while to make sure the people “sleeping” along the sides of the stadium could be woken up. Most of them were fine- and I assume probably some of them were just actually sleeping since they had been up ALL night!
On a totally different note, I haven’t had a chance to meet up with Tom’s medical student yet- but will hopefully be able to soon! For those who don’t know, uncle Tom’s medical student this spring was a girl who is in 4th year at my school! I obviously didn’t know her, but Tom has put us in touch, so we have been trying to find a good time to go for lunch!!
We figured that Milad had to see the Opera House at night and get some pancakes from the 24-hour restaurant, “Pancakes on the Rocks” while he was here. We had to wait over 20 minutes to get a table even though it was past 2 am!! 
Harry with 2 casts on... 
2 Casts at once!
In the afternoon we went through some more musculoskeletal exams and then had a lecture on radiology. Reading x-rays is really quite hard (and pretty boring). I don’t think I’m going to be a radiologist. (Sorry Brent- I know you had your heart set on that one ;) he he he).
Ps. Do you know what they call drunk driving here?? They call it “drink driving”!! How weird is that???! They are so strange sometimes.
I’ve had another pretty busy week! My weekend ended up being pretty full even though I didn’t have much planned. Friday was Stuey’s birthday, so a big group of us went to dinner at a Japanese restaurant right around the corner from me. 
Stuey had gone to the campus bar straight after class (for a few hours before dinner), so he showed up to the restaurant already drunk. After dinner we went to the Marly Bar (right around the corner from my apartment too), but only stayed there for about an hour because Stuey kept getting kicked out. Eventually his luck ran out and changing his clothes didn’t fool the bouncers anymore. :( 
We had just finished our week on Alcohol abuse, so Janice, Brooke and I found the whole thing pretty entertaining. He should have been our binge drinking case study! Slurred speech, motor ataxia, loss of inhibitory control, super talkative and emotionally labile…! On his walk home he apparently stepped on some glass that went right through the sole of his shoe and cut him really badly. Luckily, Len and Janice were with him (and noticed the blood before he got into bed), so they wrapped his foot up with a sock and some tape to stop the bleeding. 
We were all home before midnight! He he he.
In the morning we had a long session on Basic Life Support. It felt like 3 weeks of headguard training squished into about 3 hours. It was a really good review, though! We had manikins hooked up to machines which told us if we were compressing the patient properly (hard enough and fast enough) and if we were getting the right amount of air into the lungs. It’s amazing how much energy it takes to do the new CPR standards properly! No wonder you have to switch every two minutes now. We also learned a lot more about AEDs and about the pericardial thump (which can apparently work)!
In the afternoon we met our new tutor. His name is Dr. Sew Hoy and he is an orthopedic surgeon based in Manly. He was really organized- gave our group of 6 a personal power point presentation, handouts and then did an example hip examination on me for the group. After that we got into partners and did examinations on each other. He gave me all kinds of tests that I could do on Dad, but I don’t think I’ll be able to now that Dad’s surgery has been pushed up to June 7th!
In the evening, we had another 2 hour lecture on ‘party drugs’ (mostly about GHB, ecstasy, and methamphetamines). It was really interesting, but didn’t finish till 6:30 pm!
Our case of the week is ‘Heroin addiction’, which we should be finished tomorrow. Next week is a motor vehicle accident, but we don’t know what happens yet!
Last Tuesday I went on a student- organized boat cruise in the harbour at night. It was really nice and Janice and I took lots of pictures.
I strongly recommend doing this when you ALL come to visit me (soon)!
I had a good weekend- but it ended up being busier than I would have liked. I went to watch a Rugby Union game at the university on Saturday with Brooke and Janice. Brent’s friend, Alphabet, invited us to come since he was part of Manly’s first aid team. It was kind of neat to be there (for free too!), but despite having played a season in high school, I really had no clue what was going on. After the rugby game, we went to a housewarming party at Jacqui’s house. 
They had a really good barbeque and a massive gelato cake for Bryan’s birthday- it was probably my first real meal since Fiji! 
On Sunday I got up pretty early and went for breakfast with Janice and Brooke in a really nice suburb called Glebe. If Brent is here by next year I’d really like to live there! (Brooke lives there now and it totally reminds me of the beaches- but with no beach :(…) In the afternoon I went to St. Paul’s college to play croquet with Sadiq, Len and Jacqui. 
It was actually really fun and there were even organized wine breaks added in to the game.
After croquet we had dinner at a Japanese restaurant on King St. right around the corner from my apartment. It was great!! And another real meal! :)
Anyway, enough about the drugs. After the hospital on Monday, I got a ride to Ikea, which was great since I needed a few more things for my apartment. Tuesday I had a long day of classes and Wednesday I had no classes at all, so was able to catch up on cleaning and some studying. Only 52 days till I get to come home! I can’t wait!
One more quick thing from me! This is really random- but Dad is always telling me to floss my teeth and I’ve never been very good at keeping up with it on a daily basis-! BUT I’ve recently started flossing my teeth in the shower and I seem to be able to get it done every day that way! I don’t know why it seems like less of a chore this way- but it does! So if you’re not very good at your daily flossing, I highly recommend trying it! (I’m not sure what Tom would say about its affect on my ecological footprint and wasting water, but better oral health could equate to a lot of money, time, and resources being saved, so maybe it would equal out?!?!) he he he.