A Week of Transition
For the first time in about two-and-a-half years, I went back to study.
I've been enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine at Monash University for close on a decade now. For my first three years I was a product of the old six-year course and somehow wheedled my way through the preclinical years with a couple of tortuous episodes. In the first year of the new millenium, I completed a BMedSc project on autism. I'm surprised, given the mental state I was in at the time, that I ever made it to the end.
In 2002, when I was attempting my first semi-clinical year at Monash Medical Centre, everything went pear-shaped. I was forced to defer from my course, and, having grown tired of more than 15 years of being a sheltered, life-experience-free intellectual quasi-nerd, thankful of taking a break from my studies. I went on an eight-week jaunt in a couple of hospitals in China, staying with my family. It was one of the trips of a lifetime and a journey which in many ways, enabled me to get some grip on my identity. The most memorable aspect though was being caught in the middle of the SARS crisis - disagreeing with many of the government-enforced procedures in light of it, and learning (and managing, of which I am not noted for), to shut up.
Since then I've been pretty much working full-time until last week, when everything came crashing back to reality with a thud. The year 2005 promises to be a time of 7am lecture starts, judicious juggling of study and work, and somehow putting together my terminally rusted clinical skills. Last Wednesday - 2 days into the year, I had my first assessment on history taking. I forgot way too many of the questions, but I'm glad to report that my communication skills held up - the mock patient even mentioned I treated her as a human being!
One of the highlights this week was doing two nursing shifts with the support staff of the Orthopaedics and Trauma Ward. This was my first clinical contact in close on two years and gave me some impression of how different health care professionals interact on the wards, as well as doing my first subcutaneous injection. So I can now proudly say that I have done an IM, IV and SC injection at some point. I know I'll never be a surgeon thanks to my klutzy hands and lack of interest in anatomy, but luckily this particular jab wasn't as hard as it seemed.
This week I've got to know most of the seven team members I've got for the year for tutorial groups (case presentations) and rotations. It's a nice cultural and ethnic mix, and I look forward to working with them.
posted by Max Soy @ 10:37 PM
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