Happy 4th of July

Aldi is selling American peanut butter and other American products for the 4th of July.   It is absolutely delicious…. so, we stocked up. We go through about one of those jars a week, so it won’t last long!

Also, went out to the Gaff last night for a friend’s birthday and they were having an Independence Day party. This is the first time that being an American in Australia has worked in my favor. They saw our ID’s (i have a US driver’s license, another one of my friends had his US passport), and they LET US IN FOR FREE!!! haha. The bouncer was yelling out to the door people, “These guys are American. Americans get in free tonight for our Independence Day party.”   :)  It was a fun night! Also the music there was really fun! I love dancing.

Fonetically spelled names

So… i’m still plugging away at pediatrics.   I have to be honest… I am not really enjoying myself.   It’s really odd—-so far, some of the rotations that i thought i wouldn’t like have turned out to be the best rotations, and the ones i looked forward to are … not so great. For example, I totally thought psychiatry would be a “soft science,” touchy-feely rotation, and i ended up loving it.   Also, i really liked my obstetrics and gynecology rotation despite all of my misgivings and initial anxiety about performing pap smears and assisting with deliveries.   It was a great rotation (I think it helped that the doctors were all excellent teachers and that the rotation in general was very well-organized).

Pediatrics, on the other hand, is organized to its detriment.  It’s quite ridiculous really, the amount of forms we need to get signed, the attendance taken at various sessions, etc.   Oh well.    Currently,  I am on the Adolescent Medicine team and it’s pretty interesting.  Most of the patients have psych issues.  Most of the young female patients are being managed as inpatients for eating disorders.   Some of these girls are so young, it’s really sad to see how eating disorders can affect not just teens but … children. They are children, there is no other way to describe them.   I definitely never had thoughts about my weight or appearance at the age of  10.   It’s really sad, but thankfully, adolescent medicine professionals are some of the most patient people I’ve ever encountered.  For example, I spent 45 minutes on Monday watching a patient eat a peanut butter sandwich and an apple….

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I don’t want to portray pediatrics as a totally depressing specialty, so here is an anecdote from a rotation i had a few weeks ago.  It was my first day on the new rotation and i was looking at the patient census that the resident printed for me. I noticed that a lot of the names were spelled phonetically, for example, “Tylah”  or “Taylah”  instead of Tyler or Taylor.  For the non-Aussies reading this, some people from Sydney might pronounce Tyler as “Tylah.” And certain people would enunciate this “ah” sound more than others.   :)

I must have mentioned something about it to my resident… I think that I asked him (jokingly) if i still had to pronounce it the way it was spelled even though I don’t have an Australian accent (I really think it would be hard for me to say Tylah since to me it such an ACCENT-specific thing and not the way I would normally say the name).  My resident basically told me that, in his experience, if a patient’s name is spelled phonetically, they usually end up being from a lower socioeconomic background… and it is safe to assume that social work will need to be involved.  This is probably an extreme generalization, but during my time with that team, it actually held true.

I’m sure that this sort of phonetic expression happens in every country. For example, if you have ever seen Mean Girls, there is a part in that movie where Cady’s teacher talks about his nephew, “Anfernee.”

Mr Duvall: Cady Heron. Where are you, Cady?
Cady: That’s me. It’s pronounced like Katie.
Mr. Duvall:  My apologies. I have a nephew named Anfernee, and I know how mad he gets when I call him Anthony. Almost as mad as I get when I think about the fact that my sister named him Anfernee.

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No disrespect to any Anfernees. (Anfernee Hardaway. ) Also no disrespect to any Tylahs, Taylahs, Huntahs, Alexandahs, or Kristafahs.

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Vivid!

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Ok so i am a little late in posting this, but last weekend, 3D and i went downtown to Circular Quay for Vivid Sydney: a “festival of music, light, and ideas.”   They had lights being projected onto the Opera House & the Museum of Contemporary Art, and various light sculptures in other parts of the city.  There was also a performance piece, “Fire Water.”  This was a dramatic reenactment of the last voyage of the convict ship, The Three Bees, which sunk in Sydney Harbor in 1814.  They definitely like to pay homage to their convict heritage here in Australia.   ;)

Below are pics of The Three Bees and the sinking of the ship… Fire Water.   :)  I’m glad that i was dorky and brought my tripod, by the way, or these probably wouldn’t have come out.  (Click on pics to enlarge).

And another pic of the Opera House with a different light projection.

Below: My friend and me & a different Opera House projection… and 3D playing with another light sculpture. This one captured images in front of a camera and projected it onto a wall in the Rocks in a kaleidoscope fashion. The blue is from a blue milk crate someone cleverly put in the field of the camera.

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And here are various patterns being projected on to the MCA.

The one on the bottom right looks a bit like red blood cells! :)

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Reason number 2 to immunize your kids against pertussis.

In my readings on whooping cough while studying for pediatrics, I came across this lovely gem:

“These coughing spells can be so severe that they cause pneumothoraces, epistaxis, or rectal prolapse.”

Awesome.

(By the way, the number one reason:   … Worldwide, pertussis is still one of the most common causes of vaccine-preventable deaths.)

Your tax dollars at work…

The US spent almost $2,000 per person on military defense in 2008 (per-capita rate second only to Israel!) with a whopping total of $607 billion spent last year.

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Why is it that when tax dollars are spent on defense, it’s patriotic and conservative… but when that same money goes to health care, it’s socialism?

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*Defense spending figures and image taken from an Economist article here.

good day… bad day

It’s been a good day academically, but a not so good day socially/family-wise.

The father of a close friend of ours passed away yesterday and he was way too young to die (almost 10 years younger than my own dad).  I’m saddened for our friend, but also, selfishly freaked out.   I don’t know what we would do if one of our fathers…..

The good news is academic-related and it’s two-fold.

First of all, about a week ago I found out that international students are exempt from doing a rural general practice (family practice) rotation this year. And this year alone.   It has something to do with that they are integrating 3rd year and 4th year rotations,  so this year there are double the amount of students during the GP term.   Therefore, international students were given the option to organize our own GP term where ever we wanted as long as it’s not with a University-affiliated GP (since they are busy with the over-abundance of students).  This was good news to me, because doing a rural rotation would require more time apart for 3D and me, and we really don’t like that.  :-P Also, my birthday falls during that time that i would be away.  Last year, 3D got a really great placement on the Central Coast and it was warm and gorgeous, and he and 2 other students were housed in a beautiful university apartment that was a 5-10 minute walk from the beach.  There is no guarantee that i would get such a posh placement, so I decided to take the rural exemption.  Although i knew the rural experience would be wonderful, i did spend 1 month in the past on a rural general surgery experience, so i am not entirely missing out.   Also, i heard of a great local GP from another student who is there now, so I know that i will get a great educational experience.   The doctor is a graduate of our own medical school and owns a large practice with several residents etc, so I will get some diverse patients and learning experiences.   Also it’s very close to my home, within biking distance, but not in my own suburb so i won’t run into patients on the street.   So that was also good news.   I printed out a letter and CV the other day and the doctor called me this morning to say that she was happy for me to do a rotation at her practice! :)  Yeah!!

The second piece of academic good news is more personal but is something I was worrying about for a long time… so that’s a relief…  :)

In other news, 3D started his Emergency rotation today. Surprisingly, he should be working fewer nights now (more good news!) than he was on Ob/Gyn.  This whole week,  he’s working this shift that ends at midnight, but the good news is that we at least get to see each other at night.

the graduation ceremony

So…. here are some pics from 3D’s graduation ceremony (which you can click to enlarge).  It was very nice.  The weather was great and we went to the university early to see the other half of 3D’s class after their ceremony.  For some odd reason they HAVE to use this one particular hall to do the graduation ceremonies and it’s not big enough to fit our whole graduating class, so they split them into two groups on the same day.  They get different commencement addresses and everything.  It’s weird.  (I don’t understand this odd tradition—- I think it’s time for a change.)  Anyway, 3D’s best friend from med school was in the earlier ceremony, so we went early to see them and take photos etc. The actual ceremony was really boring (and a bit anticlimactic since the graduates have all been working since January and had to take a day off from work to be there), but afterward they have a nice little reception in the Quad with food and stuff.

After the reception, we went to play Lawn Bowls, which is an Australian tradition.  It’s sort of like bocce ball or lane bowling but it’s on this green and you can order beer and champagne that they serve to you out on the field.  It’s awesome.   :)  We went with 3D’s friend and his partner and mother (who was visiting from Canada) and 3D’s mom, visiting from the US.   It was so much fun!! I definitely want to do it again but on a sunny, summer day.

I most likely won’t be here for my own graduation ceremony since it’s sooo long after we actually finish medical school (6 months later–come on, get your act together Uni!!).  We most likely will be moved back to the US by then.  On one hand, I’m a little sad that i will miss it since 3D’s was so nice.. and also i was talking to my dad  once and he said he would fly here for it if we were here, which would be really nice.  But on the other hand, I don’t really mind that I won’t be there. I don’t have a core group of med school girlfriends that I would love to “walk” with like i did when i was graduating from Cornell.  (My closest friends here aren’t from med school.)  In fact, when i graduated from undergrad, i got to walk twice!  I finished all of my degree requirements 6 months early, so I got to walk in the December ceremony with a close friend who was as crazy as I was, AND got to walk in the May ceremony with the rest of our class.  My family came up for BOTH ceremonies. They’re the best.

For med school, I will just graduate “in absentia” and will still get to take pics with the robe and stuff.

In other news, I start pediatric surgery on Tuesday. We have off on Monday for the Queen’s Birthday! :)

pediatric rehab is depressing

My first pediatric rotation is the most depressing thing ever.

So far the patients i have seen on the pediatric rehabilitation service fall under one of these categories:

• Patients with a traumatic brain injury from a motor vehicle accident (MVA)
• Patients with a traumatic brain injury from a non accidental injury
• Patients with cerebral palsy
• Patients with spina bifida
• Patients with neurological deficit following debulking or excision of a brain tumor

All children.

I don’t really want to give any detailed stories because of confidentiality but most of the stories just break your heart.

For example:

• Our patient (around 8 years old) who was struck by a car while walking home from school (which led to her brain injury)
• Our patient who was in a MVA with her mom and dad. The dad and the patient now suffer from paraplegia. The mother is being trained for whole life care for both her husband and child.
• Our patient (also around 8 years old) who was in a car accident several months ago, and has had such severe post-traumatic amnesia that they have a little sign next to her bed saying where her mom is and when she’s coming back. (The patient forgets where the mom went a few minutes after she leaves the room, even if she just goes to the cafeteria or bathroom etc).
• Our patient with severe cerebral palsy (GMFCS V) who CAN use an eye gaze computer to communicate but whose family cannot afford one, so must wait a couple more years to communicate until funding comes through

The stories are all heart-breaking but they are also up-lifting——the way the families come together, the cards from classmates surrounding the children’s beds, the way they always seem to smile no matter how grim their prognosis…  When i hear a new history,  i initially feel a huge wave of sadness, and I almost cry with nearly every new patient we see (which the pediatricians have assured me is a normal human response, like how your eyes water when someone hits you in the nose) . As has been the case in other difficult rotations, I’m surprised at how I’m not letting myself be overwhelmed by the sadness.  I recognize the situation for what it is, but still find happiness in my day and in my life. I also recognize that there is NO WAY that I could ever be a pediatrician and see this sort of tragedy every day. There is seriously a special place in heaven for pediatricians/pediatric nurses/etc.

And I am awestruck/glad/proud that i’m married to man who wants to be one of those people.

Map o’ Tazzy

So, 3D’s mom came to visit us for a couple of weeks in April for 3D’s graduation ceremony. While she was here, we went to Tasmania and it was a really fun experience. I maybe recommend going when it’s not quite as cold (it was much cooler than Sydney!), but we had a great time. We saw a lot of wildlife on various hikes that we did, and saw some gorgeous beaches (this is why i wish it was warmer when we went!). For anyone who doesn’t know, Tasmania is an Australian state, and it is an island off the south-eastern coast of Aus.

We were only there for 3 days and we managed to see a lot.

Day 1. We flew into Hobart, arriving at 9 pm. Picked up our rental car and drove straight for Freycinet National Park. I was instructed at the car rental place that it is pronounced “Frey-ci-ney.” We rented a cabin at a holiday park/camper van park type place, which we have done several times before in Australia when traveling with more than just 3D and me. I actually really like that because it’s a cheap way to get 2 separate bed rooms, plus a kitchen etc. We got there after midnight. It was sleeting and raining the whole drive there. It was a scary drive–no lights! We only saw 2 cars on the 3 hour drive from Hobart to Freycinet.

Day 2. Woke up bright and early for our hike around Freycinet National Park.

A Wallaby on the hiking trail and a view of gorgeous Wine Glass Bay.

At the beach of Wine Glass Bay.

A rainbow over the Hazard Mountains and playing cards in our cabin. Uno!

Day 3. We drove back to Hobart for the famous Salamanca Markets. Also saw some beautiful sights along the way. The drive from Hobart to Freycinet (on the east coast of Tasmania) is gorgeous, and it was nice to drive back during the day so we could see everything. In Hobart, we went to the market, and went to a couple of museums to read about the history of the Indigenous people of Tazzy and also the “convict heritage.”

Pit stop and Salamanca Markets.

Day 4. We weren’t flying out until later in the day so we drove to Mt. Field National Park, about an hour outside of Hobart. We saw more wildlife here, but sadly never saw any Tasmanian Devils.  I did, however, get a cute Tasmanian Devil Christmas ornament for our collection!

Russell Falls and Horseshoe Falls in Mt. Field National Park.

Huge gum tree!!!

woot woot

Easiest. Job. Application. Ever.

Here is a link to the networks from 2008, (which are mostly the same as the 2009 networks) and our post from 3D’s application.

PS.  Why is it called “Prevocational training” if you’re actually working/getting paid and you’re a doctor?